Reginald Denny Interview

This is a video of an excerpt from an interview with Reginald Denny, who was beaten nearly to death by six men during the 1992 L.A. riots. On April 29, 1992, a white truck driver (Reginald Denny) was dragged out of his truck and severely beaten. The assault was recorded by a news helicopter and broadcast live on national television. Fortunately, four South Central residents, who witnessed the entire incident on the news, rushed to the scene. They risked their own lives by diving into the middle of the riots to grab Denny and drive him to a nearby hospital, where doctors were able to save his life. However, due to the severity of his injuries, Denny's ability to talk and drive were affected, and he had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy.

In the video, Denny discusses his feelings about the attack after so many years. While he remembers some moments of the attack, he does not think about it or have any feelings towards it. He also does not harbor any ill feelings towards his attackers and states that his thoughts and view on racism have not changed since before the attack. As Denny says in the video, “what people seem to forget is that it was black folks who saved my life… on the one hand, there are some [black men] that would try to do me in, and on the other hand [black men] are trying to save me”. There are no good or bad races; there are ignorant people in every race and there is good and bad in every color. It would have been easy to have hatred for his attackers or to hate on skin color, but Denny remained rational even after his attack, and does not hold any bitterness or resentment towards his attackers. I think this is very admirable and teaches an important lesson about forgiveness and kindness in the face of hate. 

-Anjali Dileep