The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the La Riots ebook

by Assistant Professor of History Brenda E Stevenson

Assistant Professor of History Brenda E Stevenson Americas

Brenda Stevenson is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles She lastly focuses on the connection between Harlin’s murder and the LA riots of April and May 1992.

Brenda Stevenson is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her books include The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimke and Life in Black and White: Family and Community in the Slave South, selected as an Outstanding Book by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. She lastly focuses on the connection between Harlin’s murder and the LA riots of April and May 1992.

Stevenson Brenda (EN). Helicopters patrolled low over the city, filming blocks of burning cars and buildings, mobs breaking into storefronts, and the vicious beating of truck driver Reginald Denny. For a week in April 1992, Los Angeles transformed into a cityscape of rage, purportedly due to the exoneration of four policemen who had beaten Rodney King. It should be no surprise that such intense anger erupted from something deeper than a single incident.

Brenda Elaine Stevenson is an American historian specializing in the History of the Southern United States and African American history, particularly slavery, gender, race and race riots

Brenda Elaine Stevenson is an American historian specializing in the History of the Southern United States and African American history, particularly slavery, gender, race and race riots. She is Professor and Nickoll Family Endowed Chair in History and Professor in African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Stevenson was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, the second child of James William and Emma Gerald Stevenson

Brenda Stevenson, a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the LA Riots, and appears in both the Showtime and A&E documentaries.

The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the LA Riots (Oxford University Press, 2013), James Rawely Prize Winner, 2014. Family and Community in Slave Narratives, in John Ernest, e. The Oxford Handbook of the African American Slave Narrative, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 277-297.

ABSTRACT Brenda E. Stevenson is assistant professor of history at UCLA. ABSTRACT Brenda E.

The Los Angeles Riot of 1992 was one of the most destructive civil disturbances in twentieth century America. Dozens of people died, and the property damage estimate was in the billions of dollars. The most powerful images from the riots remained etched in America's collective memory: Reginald Denny being beaten in South Central, the beating of Rodney King, towering plumes of smoke throughout the city on a crystal-clear day, and Korean shopkeepers perched on rooftops with rifles, defending their property.

Brenda Stevenson discussed her book,, about the 1991 killing .

Brenda Stevenson discussed her book,, about the 1991 killing of a 15-year-old African-American girl by a Korea. This interview, recorded at the University of California, Los Angeles, is part of Book TV’s College Series.

Store owner Soon Ja Du testifed that her son Joseph had told The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins her about people who wore clothes like Latashas: they were, according to him, gang members and dangerous. Latashas clothes, her age, and the color of her skin made her, in Dus estimation, an other who was not to be trusted, but who was to be feared. Dus perception of Harlins as a racial and/or ethnic stranger as it were, also resonates with national homicide statistics. Tree out of ten homicides are interracial when the victim is a stranger. Most stranger homicides also involve a gun. 3.

Vetalol

My only disappointment with this book was the fact that the author spent so much time on the backstory of the three primary individuals. I was hoping for an in-depth examination of the murder of Latasha Harlins and the court case that followed. However, this book is still highly recommended. There were dozens of books written about Rodney King. As far as I have been able to determine, this is the only nonfiction work that examines the murder of Latasha Harlins in any depth.

WOGY

The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: This is an excellent book based on the story of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old African American girl, shot in the head and killed by store owner, Soon Ja Du. Brenda Stevenson provides a detailed narrative of the murder, and delves deeply into the background stories of Latasha and Soon Ja Du. She also discusses the life of Jewish Judge Joyce Karlin, and traces the relationship between Jews, African Americans, and Asians, focusing especially on the ways in which the experiences of discrimination are similar and different for members of each group. She gives personal biographies and family histories for each subject and places them within the historical context of their racial or ethnic group. She discusses the evolution of a racial hierarchy, immigration, and how each character was affected by many more forces than simply this one murder case. She also recognizes the unique nature and significance of this case in that it centers around three women with extremely different stories. She discusses the immigrant experiences in the US economy in chapter 2 and also examines the relations between blacks and Asians, especially Koreans, historically. She focuses on the roles of women in education, the legal profession, and in the economy, and spends a chapter focusing on Karlin’s judicial reasoning. She lastly focuses on the connection between Harlin’s murder and the LA riots of April and May 1992. Stevenson is not only a powerful writer, but a strong researcher, and packs her novel densely with information on each of the characters that goes back decades.

Gaudiker

I just purchased and finished reading Professor Brenda Stevenson's book "The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of The LA Riots". I had almost forgotten about the murder of Latasha Harlins until the murder of Trayvon Martin and the Trial of George Zimmerman. I was glued to the television listening and saying to myself, "where have I heard a trial presented like this before" "These words and Zimmerman's lawyer's approach to the case sounded so familiar", but at the moment I could not put my finger on where I had I had hear this type of trial before. Several days after the verdict was announced I received an email alert about Professor Stevenson's book, as soon as I received it in the mail and started reading it, I almost fainted from the realization of how these two case where similar including the verdicts. Professor Stevenson did an excellent job of giving details about what happened on March 16, 1991, Latasha family background, even her own mother had been killed and the individual was given a lessor sentence, but what I found most profound about her book was her ability to present all three women, the Judge who gave Soon Ja Du no jail time, Soon Ja Du family history and background, and Latasha Harlins who the Judge explained that if "Latasha had lived she would tried her for assault"! This book dealt with how females operate in the Justice System, something we don't always get a view of, how privileges, power and "who you know" plays a big part in who get to decide who lives or dies, who stays or goes, or who goes to jail and who does not, and how from a gender perspective this has a impact on how justice is administered. It also made me evaluate how the Zimmerman trial came about and the role women played in the verdict that was rendered. I am sure that People of California vs. Du was the first case on point that Zimmerman's lawyers used and almost word for word! Thank you Professor Stevenson for a well thought out and research book about an almost forgotten young Black female. I recommend this book to anyone who do not know Latasha Harlins story because it is a mirror image of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman murder and verdict.

Manesenci

Professor Stevenson’s writes and documents a compelling story about our history, America’s history, which helps us understand the delicate issues of race, our justice systems, violence and the relationships among them all. She provides a detailed and fresh look at their interactions. I am deeply moved by the impact to all the families and applaud Professor Stevenson’s courage to document and publish this unique prospective on a painful but true history.

Nothing personal

Brenda Stevenson is to be commended for her treatment of telling this story from the primary perspective of the women involved. This is an approach you don't normally see. Her research was excellent. I would recommend this book to everyone who cares about urban issues.

Flarik

This books gives an account of the murder and trial of a Korean shop keeper who shot a teenage girl in the back of the head after an altercation at a convenience store. It is one of the major events that led to the L.A Riots in 1992. The goes into the background of the three main people involved in the story and makes the point of showing that the encounters between these women both in the store on the day of the murder and in the courtroom. No one lives in a vacuum and this books attempts to put their interactions in the larger context of their experiences as women of different social status and racial groups as well as their positions in society. This was both the strongest and the weakest part of the book. I thought that it did help put the judges ruling in the sentencing in context as well as the reactions of the shop keeper. But it did seem to go into some unnecessary detail that was not relevant to the narrative. Overall I think that this is a very good book that is well written and it adds valuable background knowledge and context to the events of the LA Riot.