Sparked off by the acquittal of four officers in the Rodney King police brutality case, the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest took place over several days and led to rioting and destruction of the city. The unrest represented a boiling point of underlying issues including systemic racism, police brutality, failure of the criminal justice system, economic disparities between communities of color, and racial tensions. The perceived racial tensions between Korean and Black Americans, further complicated by the shooting of Latasha Harlins by a Korean storeowner, led to some targeting of Korean American neighborhoods/businesses for violence and looting. Students will explore the history, conditions, and tensions that led to the 1992 civil unrest in L.A.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 5.1, 6.4, 7.5, 8.6, 8.8, 8.9, HS.2, HS.9, HS.11
Economics: 7.8
Geography: 5.13, HS.42, HS.51
Historical Knowledge: 5.22, 6.20, 6.21, 8.22, 8.25, HS.52, HS.53, HS.61, HS.64, HS.65
Historical Thinking: 5.25, 6.23, 7.25, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, HS.68
Social Science Analysis: 5.26, 5.27, 5.28, 6.24, 6.26, 6.27, 7.27, 7.29, 8.33, 8.34, 8.36, HS.72, HS.73, HS.74, HS.75, HS.76, HS.78

With the United States and the Soviet Union in a Cold War, fears of Southeast Asia falling to communism led to America’s increasing involvement with political and military matters in Vietnam, which was split between the communist North and anti-communist South in 1954. This lesson will address the U.S. government’s economic and tactical support of the conflict in Vietnam, and atrocities committed by American troops against Vietnamese civilians, which later became public. Domestically, an anti-war movement in the U.S. began to grow, with people questioning America’s involvement overseas—the money spent and the lives lost—which later impacted the war itself, including the withdrawal of troops and policies passed to prevent future U.S. military action without congressional approval.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 8.10, HS.10
Historical Thinking: 7.25
Social Science Analysis: 7.29, 8.33, 8.36, HS.72, HS.74, HS.77, HS.78

For Asian Americans living, working, and growing up in the margins in the United States during the 1960s and 70s, participating in social activism played an important role in advancing justice for them as citizens of the United States. Asian Americans worked in partnership with other ethnic and racial groups to overcome unfair treatment. Through the examples of the United Farm Workers Movement and the student strike at San Francisco State College, and at the Peace Rally after the L.A. Civil Unrest, students will learn how Asian Americans spoke out against injustice and stood up for the better treatment of all Americans.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 3.2
Geography: 5.13
Historical Knowledge: 1.12, 5.22
Historical Thinking: 2.21
Social Science Analysis: 1.12, 3.18, 3.19, 4.21, 4.24, 5.28

History has given us remarkable examples of cross-cultural solidarity within the context of social justice movements. These working relationships are the legacy on which today’s age of activism stands. By examining this historical/contemporary phenomenon through a diverse range of texts and media, students will hone analytical, writing, and social-emotional skills with an eye toward their collective role as a conscientious, global citizenry.