VOA常速英语:洛杉矶回顾1992年大暴乱

The beating had been caught on videotape, and there was shock and disbelief when the four officers were acquitted.More than 60 people died and more than 1000 were injured in the ensuing riots.The toll in property damage passed 1 billion dollars.

It had happened before in 1965.

“The reason I felt betrayed is because in ’65, it was the same thing, police abuse.And 27 years later, the same thing.”

As the images were replayed, many took to the streets in anger.

“We went out and started trying to stop some of the violence.And what I found was that the department was completely uNPRepared.”

Federal officers were helping.

“For me, it was just unbelievable, surreal, what I was watching, it was sad.”

But not unforeseeable.

“It really comes down to inequity and a lack of hope, and when somebody feels inequity, they feel powerless.When somebody feels a lack of hope, they just don’t care.”

The physical damage was repaired, but relations between police and African Americans remain tense in many places, from Los Angeles to Baltimore,“where people are still dropping out of school, where the incarceration rates are still high,and people of color are still disproportionately represented in those institutions.”

Unemployment and crime rates are high in many neighborhoods.

“Our communities have seen generations of trauma.”

In Los Angeles, police, local officials and the community are discussing shared concerns.

“I don’t envision something of that magnitude happening again.”

But inner cities remain a potential flash point as police and communities try to build relationships.

Mike O’Sullivan, VOA news, Los Angeles.