Watts: 60 Years After Riots, Challenges Persist, but This South LA Community Marches On

Watts: 60 years after riots, challenges persist, but this South LA community marches on

Sixty years ago, a young Black man from South Los Angeles was pulled over by a white California Highway Patrol officer after another motorist reported the man driving recklessly. What started as a routine traffic stop quickly escalated into violence and six days of civil unrest known as the Watts Riots – or, as many in the Black community prefer to call it, the Watts Rebellion or Watts Revolt. FILE – In this Aug. 14, 1965 file photo, firefighter…

Researchers, nonprofits working in Watts, South Central reflect on the region 60 years after riots

It is not an easy question to answer. “Are people in Watts better off today than they were 60 years ago after the Watts Riots? Yes, in terms of many metrics. But relatively speaking, about the same,” answered Fernando Guerra, a professor of political science and Chicana/o Latina/o studies at Loyola Marymount University, and the founding director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles. Guerra, who has spent more than…