consciously to pull the trigger and to exert considerable strength to do so., But that was not true of the gun used to shoot Du was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Harlins' death, who was killed two weeks after Rodney King's beating. The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the LA Riots (English) author name string. Reiner took a But our voice was so faint because the Korean community was very small. order to show cause why a writ should not be granted. years earlier involving shopkeeper Soon Ja Du and the slain girl, Latasha There weren't too many Koreans back then-- the immigrants Since there were few Koreans, if we saw any Asians passing by on the street, we would ask, 'Are you, by any chance, Korean? 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. uncomfortable suspicion of a politician trying to use a communitys collective "These cases really play out in the public in tandem with one another," says Brenda Stevenson, a UCLA professor who wrote a book about the Latasha Harlins' case, "almost as if they were parallel." "She was just a regular teenage girl," Harlins says. Thirty years ago, the 15-year-old Black girl from South Central walked into Empire Liquor Market and Deli, grabbed a $1.79 bottle of orange juice and put it in her backpack. provocation, coercion, and duress.. On the privilege that Asian Americans benefit from in the criminal justice system, compared with African Americans. community by exposing the jurist as a racistwhich he wasnt. "I would argue that the backlash that we identify with the post-92 rebellion is actually a manifestation of a backlash to 1965," he says. She has the option of not doing so, and underscored tensions between the Korean and black communities. Her father an executive who also became the president of Warner Bros. International. A year before the verdict, storekeeper Soon Ja Du shot and killed Black ninth grader Latasha Harlins. In 1974, Joyce graduated fromLoyola University Chicago School of Law. On her description of Los Angeles on the brink of a violent eruption. Acting Presiding Justice Herbert Ashby and his Her sentence seemed to have the opposite effect, however; she became the target of protests and an unsuccessful recall campaign. The fatal killing of a 15-year-old black girl is the subject of the short documentary A Love Song For Latasha. In it, the victims best friend and cousin reflect on what transpired on a fatal day that Latasha Harlins was shot over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. 1992 . Later, police concluded that there was "no attempt at shoplifting." Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced with only a $500 fine . Well, the jury had already determined that They were bound together not just by timing, she says, but by the understanding in the community that these things happened to both King and Harlins because they were Black. Soon Ja Du, a 51-year-old Korean store owner ultimately charged with 1st degree murder, claimed she was trying to steal the juice. Later, it was discovered he was shot by another Korean-American by mistake. On March 16, 1991, Du was at the liquor store in place of her son, who had recently been threatened at the store by local gang members. Words were exchanged. Following this altercation, Latasha just decided to leave but this was when Du shot her from behind, killing the 15-year old instantly. at Westchester High School, came within two weeks after the Rodney King beating Seeing this renewed attention in the media as I was starting to write this novel, I kept thinking: This is not about the past at all this is about right now. He points out that 1992 also provided a lost opportunity, a missed chance for a different kind of reform. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. I need a reflection paper on LATASHA HARLINS, SOON JA DU, AND JOYCE. Many pointed out that the sentence handed out to Du was less severe than the 30 days in jail a Glendale man received a week later for kicking and stomping a dog. Even so, a reading of the entire discourse at Im saddened for the system that were going to be losing her.. Soon Ja Du, age 60s, lives in Los Angeles, CA. "Every single period of mass rebellion has always produced a moral panic," Kelley says. When she saw him afterwards, she didn't recognize his face. I felt that black people were reaction to a conflict with white people by attacking Koreans. 13 days later, Soon Ja Du, a Korean-born convenience store owner accused 15-year old Latasha Harlins of stealing and shot her in the back of the head. Lora King has a role in it, as Harlins' guidance counselor, because the families are connected. Gabriella Angotti-Jones/for NPR document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Soon Ja Du Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More, Chris Watts Wiki, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More, Emma Coronel Aispuro Wiki, Height, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Family, Biography & More, Tou Thao Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More, Donald Grant Wiki, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More, Chantal Compagnon Wiki, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More, Charles Sobhraj Wiki, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More, Jeffrey Dahmer Wiki, Age, Death, Family, Biography & More, Frank R. James Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More, Ted Bundy Wiki, Age, Death, Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More, Najibullah Zazi Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More, Kellie Chauvin Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography, Derek Chauvin Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography, Charles Sobhraj Wiki, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Children,, Donald Grant Wiki, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family,, Chantal Desnoyers Wiki, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Children,, Tou Thao Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography, Chantal Compagnon Wiki, Age, Husband, Children, Family,, George Stinney Jr. Wiki, Age, Death, Family,. Korean-owned businesses sustain much of the damagefueled by anger over a lenient sentence handed down a week earlier to convenience store owner Soon Ja Du for the killing of Black teen Latasha Harlins, and tensions between Black and Latinx South Central residents and Asian shopkeepers perceived as "middleman minorities." The LAPD largely . that a prosecution appeal of a case is rare and usually unsuccessful because of Indeed, Karlin did not simply put out of mind He can appeal, but he wont be voluntary manslaughter. The Latasha Harlins murder and the light sentence that Soon Ja Du got off with she was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but the judge, in an extraordinary decision that basically. The property later became a market under different ownership. Also, she had used an illegally modified handgun that required less pressure to fire than the usual ones. Soon Ja Du and her husband joined the Valley Korean Central Presbyterian Church in North Hills, Los Angeles, and even became the deacon and deaconess there. Soon Ja Du is a Korean woman who co-owned the Empire Liquor Store in Vermont Vista, Los Angeles. Get more out of your subscription* Access to over 100 million course-specific study resources; 24/7 help from Expert Tutors on 140+ subjects; Full access to over 1 million Textbook Solutions; Subscribe Karlin sentenced her The case of Soon Ja Du, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Latasha Harlins, was the first Karlin took on after becoming a Superior Court judge in 1991. Soon Ja Du was hysterical, screaming that she was being robbed, that the robber had tried to take money out of the cash register. Soon Ja Du testified on her own behalf, and she claimed that she shot Harlins in self-defence as she believed that her life was in danger. This one came from inside Empire Liquors, capturing a Korean American grocer, Soon Ja Du, shooting 15-year-old Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. Even Karlin expressed a hope that leniency might promote a healing process. Denise Harlins, Latashas aunt, was unhappy with the judge for obvious reasons, and said, Im glad to hear that shes removed herself from the bench and that shes retired. Harlins reciprocated to this by punching Du twice and knocking her down to the ground. Park doesn't discount tensions between Korean Americans and Black people at the time or even now but she thinks that is in part a failure of education, "because Korean immigrant merchants, they are not exposed to African American history and their struggles," she says, and vice versa. After I gave birth to my son, I was very happyWhen [Eddie] was first born, I saw other Korean women having baby-sitters, and I didn't think it was appropriate to have others take care of my baby. Karlin (since retired from the bench) came under attack in the African-American The court stated that the crime was committed under extreme provocation and that Dus capacity to act rationally in the situation was undermined by her past experiences with the robberies. In 1991, she became a Superior Court judge, which is when the case of Latasha Harlins occurred. All these feelings of unsafe crimes were building up to the Latasha incident; and Korean owners hated it. "It's been my life since I was 7 years old," she says. Set in present-day Los Angeles, the novel is centered on Korean American Grace Park, a nave and dutiful daughter who lives and works in the Valley with her secret-keeping parents, and Shawn Matthews, an African American ex-con whose sister was murdered by a Korean grocery store owner. Even though Soon Ja Du, the accused, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, the judge gave her a very lenient sentence: a $500 fine, 400 hours of community service, and 5 years of probation with no jail time. She said, 'This ain't right.'". The jury found the defendant guilty of Yun Jai-Hyoung/Associated Press. After the smoke cleared and the bodies were buried, there was talk about police reform and community policing and changes at LAPD in 1992. He left in September 2014. Because the city was human, and humans could only take so much. I have a bond with Sandra Bland's sister. volitional act, not merely a mishap. Interview / Viewpoint. It wasn't a Korean jury that declared the four police officers not guilty in the beating of Rodney King. 2017 LA 92 (Documentary) Self. remark out of context, a fact that was generally grasped. This up for election as district attorney is seeking a writ overturning the Its Taking those young kids to work, looking back now, it's like we dragged them to work. Because Rodney King was just one person, but if you saw it on television, several officers beat him with a club and kicked him I did not imagine that he would survive after such beatings. funeral expenses, and perform 400 hours of community service. Reiners office on Jan. 10, 1992, filed a Although Karlin was reelected to the Superior Court bench, winning 51% of the vote, she eventually moved to Juvenile Dependency Court, a transfer she had requested before the Du case, friends said. regard to the qualifications of that yet-to-emerge soul. reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter. "You have LBJ saying cops are frontline soldiers against the rebellions.". By portraying their deaths, these films depict Asian American mothers as worthy of the same care, sympathy, and compassion that they bestow on their . manslaughter. On television, they would visually focus on fires and looting And the broadcasters, though it was not a conflict between Koreans and blacks, they began to add those elements little by little. 5 Films Look At The Los Angeles Riots From (Almost) Every Angle, When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots, 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks. City News Service report ably summarizes the case which had roused emotions six His way of thinking was more mature than of his peers. ensued, which led to punches being thrown. MetNews endorsed Karlin on Dec. 23, before any Poetry becomes both memorial and voice in Courtney Faye Taylor's first book, Concentrate, winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize.The University of Michigan alum's poems honor, research, bristle, and circle back to the life and killing of Latasha Harlins, a Black girl gunned down by a Korean store owner, Soon Ja Du, in Los Angeles. judge from a casewithout an explanation. It certainly shows up in the criminal justice system Asians get hit with this image of quietness and meekness and politeness, whereas black people get hit with "you're angry," "you're violent." 18 September 1958. So with the help of the owner we got a basement room, where, when you look outside, you could only see peoples feet walking by. It is true that the appeals court has not That's very. "Because for instance, Korean Americans, they're not the richest people. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. In 2018, she was invited by the French authorities to create four windows for Chartres Cathedral. shooting was captured on the stores surveillance tape and widely shown by the People talked of a possible riot, rising up, led by blacks.The word spread through calls, so we closed the stores and came home. Then, her family moved to Chicago. Latasha Harlins was shot in the back of the head after a violent confrontation with Korean store owner Soon Ja Du, who mistakenly believed Harlins was shoplifting. So he thought all that we had amassed, although not a lot, was about to disappear. But she didnt belong [on the bench] anyway.. The mother said this about her candidacy My recent experience on City Council gives me a unique opportunity to bridge any gap, if there is one, between the city and the School District. Im very saddened and disappointed that shes retiring, but happy for her, said Superior Court Judge Stephen Czuleger, a longtime friend. Getting by was the priority, so we were not choosy over which job to work at. She didnt do nothing!. Shinese Harlins-Kilgore wears a shirt with her cousin Latasha Harlins' photo. So when I connected the dots, I came to learn of the place, and that the young man on the paper was my son. I mostly worked downtown or in Koreatown, so I did not have much trouble with Hispanic or black people. Anti-Asian Racism's Deep Roots in the United States. In a written statement, Karlin, 46, now a judge in Juvenile Dependency Court, said she was ending her seven-year judicial career to spend more time with her family. hide caption. Before, Joyce worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles and even presided over the Darnell Garcia case. Du, then 51, confronted her about it and an argument So they had live broadcast soliciting help for that. So the Korean radio back then used to call out on young people to come out to the streetsSo he said he needed to go out. Hes As a dependency court judge, Karlin presided over cases involving abused and neglected children. healing wont be helped along by Reiners outburst. Her daughter, at that time, was an 8th grader who was enrolled at Manhattan Beach Middle School, and Joyce was the parliamentarian for the PTA executive board at the school. I heard this story myself. Also, Karlin found that the victim, Latasha The interaction was caught on CCTV and broadcast widely, just 13 days after the Rodney King beating. 100-page writ petition in the Court of Appeal for this district. Seeing his bruised wife to his right and Latasha's body with the money to his left, Billy made a call to the police department. community, not banks, to gain a foothold in the business world. That day, around 10 oclock, around then, a woman called Radio Korea. "When the detectives knocked on the door and told my grandmother it was just like your heart trying to grab a beat back," her cousin Shinese Harlins says. convicted of voluntary manslaughter of a 15-year black girl suspected of And even on the streets, I could tell that people were not kind. In 1992, she was named the assistant district attorney and a deputy general counsel in the Office of the Special Advisor, where she served as counsel to the Los Angeles Police Department Board of Commissioners. re-election battle and has become increasingly vocal on a number of major Those of us of the first generation, including myself and others, have no particular strength. As he had in the past, often, he sought to advance his require rehabilitation or incapacitation. Exactly one week later the verdict came back for the four officers in Rodney King's case: Not Guilty. "On the eve of the rebellion you have on the one hand, concentrated poverty, the lack of opportunities, plus the expansion of policing," he says. And suddenly, we as a nation, we were litigating what kind of person he was, what kind of victim he was, whether he deserved what he got when everybody should have known from the beginning that of course he didn't deserve what he got. Soon Ja Du, the store owner, falsely accused. Soon Ja Du (Q43762448) murderer Soonja Du edit Statements instance of human 0 references sex or gender female 0 references country of citizenship Korea 0 references given name Sun-ja 0 references family name Du 0 references date of birth 27 December 1941 1 reference place of birth North Chungcheong Province 1 reference spouse Billy Heung Ki Du In November 1991, Soon Ja Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, but the judge in the case gave her no jail time. challenged the sentence via a writ proceeding. Karlin did not alter the sentence. The death of Latasha came only 13 . During that time, our son was with us, our daughter was with us, the entire family was together. (2017) . Background Checks Business Solutions people phone reverse address City, State or ZIP (Required) Log InSign Up On April 30, 1992 Edward was fatally shot by crossfire. Now that I think about it, our kids at our work -- well, even cleaning during night hours was a work for us -- at times, we brought our kids, and what I regret to this day is, having worked even a third job. Money comes and goes. And the title is a reference to the killing of Latasha Harlins by Soon Ja Du. He came as a motorcycle mechanic. successful.Hes just playing politics, and the people are being misled. . Supreme Court, which was denied July 16, 1992. contradicted the jury, and in so doing, based her sentence on an impermissible saying: While the presiding judge of the Superior She then seemed to fall unconscious. I had that responsibility in mind as I wrote this book, that I wanted to make sure that even though these characters are fictional, that I treated them like they were real people. On November 15, 1991, Soon Ja Du was convicted for voluntary manslaughter and was potentially facing up to 16 years behind bars for the incident. Harlins supposedly threatened to The police established that Latasha had no intention of shoplifting after talking to 2 witnesses and reviewing the security tapes. decision in perspective. But when you put Koreans into the scene, this must have made them think, Yes, that owner of the liquor store only took money from me, but never gave back.. And I think there's an impulse to consider it the same struggle, or part of the same thing, but the reality is that Asian Americans are treated differently from black Americans. In March 1991, 15-year-old Harlins, a straight-A student at Westchester High School, entered a corner store to buy orange juice for her family. "The Watts rebellion being the first, most significant uprising against police violence," he says. Shortly after instituting the blanket affidavit The two exchanged blows, and when Harlins turned to leave, Du shot Harlins in the back of the head. It is remembered by many Korean-Americans as an awakening to their minority status, a time they felt abandoned by the government and unfairly portrayed by the media as aggressors despite inadequate law enforcement protection. - Can We All Get Along? Last year, on the 30th anniversary of Lastaha Harlins' death, the family unveiled a memorial mural at that park, part of its mission to keep her memory alive. Latasha was killed by convenience store owner Soon Ja Du in March 1991. And whether consciously or unconsciously, we all hold biases internallyBut I hope that people will come to be more generous and gracious, and that a more prosperous time can be passed on to the second and third generations. A Dec. 4 news article in the Sentinel, a Looking back, it was a hard life. The Rodney King images on television shocked me. The woman [who shot Harlins] was named Du Soonja. accidentally, Karlin said, and a woman of Mrs. Dus size would have to decide The In response to Watts in 1965, the Los Angeles Police Department invented SWAT teams, which were first used on The Black Panther Party's Los Angeles headquarters. "The only difference between back then and now is hashtags," she says. Thing spotlighted a similar fictional situation in New York Citys Bedford decision? But Kelley says backlash to protests against police violence continued. This is something that I wanted to address too. Many uninsured businesses never re-opened, uprooting the lives of Korean-American families who had labored for years to build their livelihoods from scratch. On March 16, 1991, a 15-year-old girl named Latasha Harlins was shot and killed at Empire Liquor in South Central, Los Angeles. "There was another plan for reconstruction after 92." Soon Ja Du (born 1940), South Korean-born American convenience store owner Jeong Sun-ja (born 1947), South Korean diver Kim Sun-ja (athlete) (born 1966), South Korean sprinter Lee Soon-ja (born 1939), South Korean former first lady, wife of Chun Doo-hwan Lee Sun-ja (born 1978), South Korean sprint canoer Soon Ja Du killed Latasha Harlin over a bottle of orange juice worth $1.79. Thirteen days after the Rodney King beating a 15-year-old black girl named Latasha Harlins was shot in the back of the head by a Korean shopkeeper who accused her of shoplifting. acting under the misimpression that this was simply an accidental shooting. Shinese Harlins-Kilgore, cousin of Latasha Harlins and CEO of the Latasha Harlins Foundation, receives a hug from Lora King, daughter of Rodney King and CEO of the Rodney King Foundation, during the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King Civil Unrest HOPE Community Bus Tour Press conference in Los Angeles. During the 1992 L.A. uprising, Lee's 18-year old son, Edward Jae Song Lee entered the fray to help protect his Koreatown neighborhood, which was virtually abandoned by police. But when I went to a market, I would be met by stares of people looking at me as a stranger. Koreans made money in black neighborhoods, lived in white neighborhoods, drove nice cars; even I would have been jealous of this And with the money they earned there, they should have served the community back, but they didnt. Other Hmong Americans are now blamed for Thao's inaction. Justine Kenin and Jolie Myers produced and edited this interview for broadcast. There, we were faced with a discrimination of language. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. An exclusive interview with Sophia Nahli Allison on her heartbreaking doc 'A Love Song for Latasha' due out on Netflix. years earlier involving shopkeeper Soon Ja Du and the slain girl, Latasha But he had left, and so had most of the people he knew. Following this, the Los Angeles County District Attorney issued a policy that did not let Joyce judge violent felony cases. A video captured Los Angeles police brutally beating a black man, Rodney King in 1992. "That narrative kind of deflected the public attention from police violence," says Kyeyoung Park, a professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Ja Du says he's also transgender and wants to undergo gender transitioning. Atty. Harlins then turned around and tried to leave, but Du retrieved a revolver from under the cash-counter and shot Harlins at the back of her head. Soon Ja Du claimed that she was in fear for her life when she shot Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. 1 reference. There was Disneyland; there was Long Beach. At least from what ive understood so far 24 comments 100% Upvoted This thread is archived When The Times had endorsed one of her opponents, she wrote them a strongly worded letter stating, If judges have to look over their shoulders as they decide a case; if they have to test the political winds in order to arrive at a politically correct verdictthen the judicial system and the freedoms it guarantees will be destroyed..
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