Map of Chaos

Map of Chaos

Article: https://la.curbed.com/maps/1992-los-angeles-riots-rodney-king-map

Note: The numbers in parenthesis refer to the small numbered sections that chronicle the major events of the LA riots.

While surfing the interweb, I discovered an article mapping out major events that were significant turning points in the LA Riots. Among them are the Rodney King beating (1), the acquittal of the police officers (3), and the murder of Latasha Harlins (2). I travel through Parker center (4), the police headquarters where the protests against the court verdict marks “one of the first structures claimed by the ensuing riots” (Chandler, Kudler, Barragan). I discover more about “the symbol of mismanagement” that the City Hall represented (12), with its slow response to the chaos and the miscommunication among the mayor and police chief. Other important locations marked on the map tell stories like the first death on Central avenue (13), the shooting of a firefighter on 31^stand Western (15), and the deployment of the National Guard across Los Angeles (18). We’re told about the thousands of distressed calls for help from the fire department ((15) and how Stevie Wonder’s radio station diverted from playing music to hear calls from distraught listeners (11).

Number three on the map depicts where the acquittal of the police officers involved in the Rodney King beating took place. You’ll notice that the trial transpired so far from the bulk of the action, not only far from the location where the atrocity actually took place, but far from other major events that passed during the riots. I’m not familiar with LA so I didn’t recognize the neighborhoods that were mentioned in some of the readings. When I learned that the trial was moved to a suburb where most of the police force inhabited, I couldn’t formulate a visual representation in my head to help put things into context. But seeing the map brought to mind the concern that emerged from the realization that most of the police force lived in a suburb so far away from the inner city: how are you supposed to protect Los Angeles residents if you aren’t present half the time? 

-Farida Salifou