The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 left a death toll of nearly 51 and material damages of at least 3.7 million dollars and up to Billion US Dollars. Estimates were made from Shinyodo Marketing and Helen Zia a Chinese-American woman with experience in auto assembly and with Ms. magazine.
The Book by South End Press: The State of Asian America: Activism and Resistance in the 1990's describes many types of activism. Labor Unions, Anti-domestic-violence, anti-racism,Cambodian struggles for self developement, The racist Dot-buster violence in New Jersey [Puerto Rican gangs who attacked and killed and injured Indian-American immigrants.], and the Miss Saigon protests among other topics.
On page 114 there is a chart.
Entitled Damage to Asian american-owned Businesses
Korean American 2,300 Businesses 0.00 Million USD
Chinese American 262 Businesses million US Dollars
Japanese American 10 Businesses .2 Million US Dollars
Filipino American 25 Businesses .5 Million Dollars
Hispanic Esimates were that 30% of all shops and businesses burned, looted, destroyed or damaged were Latino owned. This is not included in the above. The above is an estimate by Shinyodo marketing survey.
Helen Zia estimated 1 Billion US Dollars based on direct violence as well as loss of income, loss of delivery services, repair costs, and loss to sales persons who have a decent living from working with businesses.
One person reported in a book on Immigration that the Revolutionary Communist Party was involved in the first night. This is a group that is neo-Maoist and believes in maximum violence as was done in THe Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) in China when between 28 million and 50 million people died and in the Great Proletarian Cultural revolution when Mao unleashed a wave of terror against people starting by having Comunist Youth beat up and kill several thousand high schoo teachers in Beijing in August 1966 and then millions were hounded out of work, tortured and sent to remote forced labor camps seperated for years from family. Their was little formal education as universities lay convulsed in chaos.The so-called Cultural revolution lasted from 1966-1976 when the Gang of 4 was arrested.
I am writing these facts because I care about what happens to angelenos in the city of cities. It is an important city and Cesar Chavez's message of non-violent action is being organized under in Atlanta Georgia. We are calling Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. We are working to empower: Learn, earn...don't burn! You can destroy people in various ways left, right or corporate, cult.Ask for your Bookstote to stock this book and we will go farther towards unity. Unity is a mind thing..you acnnot say it is only an ethnic thing because ethnicity is only one aspect to someones life.
Shortened due to time/account restrainst.
Paul Hays Congress of the Streets (Democratic Socialist-Green) soyboy_@hotmail.com
Original: The Horror of Mass Violence April 29,1992 Los Angeles Citizens and Residents