During the Watts uprising 55 years ago, Donny Joubert was 5 and thought his toy soldiers had come to life as National Guardsmen. He and others see persistent problems with police in the Los Angeles neighborhood still struggling since the 1965 turmoil.
LOS ANGELES — There were no fires this time in Watts. There was no looting, no shooting and no National Guard troops patrolling.
The uprising started Aug. 11, 1965, in a nearby neighborhood after the drunken driving arrest of a young Black man by a white California Highway Patrol officer. The violence reflected pent-up anger over an abusive police force, a problem that has ebbed but not entirely faded, according to those who live here.
When he saw National Guard troops walking outside, Joubert thought his plastic toy soldiers had come to life. “It’s been a crooked system when it came to us. They always had a system to keep us locked up, to keep a knee in our neck,” Joubert said. “Every dirty cop that took a Black life, that took a Latino life without cause, we want them in prison because that’s what they did to us.”Residents of Watts are still living with collateral damage from 1965, said the Rev.
Murchinson, 36, who didn’t grow up in Watts, said the community has survived uprisings in 1965 and 1992 following the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King. But surviving is not enough. Freeways built nearby make it easier to get around, there’s a light rail stop in the heart of Watts and shopping centers eventually replaced businesses that burned down in 1965.
Young has 15 grandchildren and lots of nephews and nieces who are in and out of the house. She doesn’t ask if they are in gangs. He saw the businesses that never returned: banks, doctor’s offices, a gas station, pharmacies, a dental office, barbershops, a grocery store and cleaners. Henderson moved out of Watts about two years after a son, Rayshawn Boyce, was gunned down in 2009. The suspected killer was caught but never charged because witnesses feared for their safety.
“Our park is surrounded by three different areas,” Benjamin Jackson Jr. said. “Certain kids from our community of Watts can’t get together. We don’t even have a neutral meeting place.” They no longer do that, but he said he’s still harassed despite being a carpenter who hasn’t been on parole or probation in 10 years.
In addition to assembling party supplies for a living and serving snacks — hamburgers, cookies, candy — she spends a lot of her time and energy helping others. She’s trying to provide a safe place where people can hang out while she works. Music plays in the background and kids play games outside.Gipson attributes his success partly to hardworking parents — a father who was a truck driver and a mother who was a domestic worker — who did not spare him from discipline. They taught him to respect others, and neighbors also looked out for him and told his parents when he was out of line.
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