55 years after riots, Watts neighborhood still bears scars. Protesters filled the streets around the country in late May and June following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, demanding an end to police brutality. There was violence and looting in some places, including Los Angeles, but not in LA’s Watts neighborhood, forever linked to an uprising that broke out in the segregated community 55 years ago and became known as the Watts riots. Demonstrators made a point not to go into Watts or other poor neighborhoods this time. Watts has never fully recovered from fires that leveled hundreds of buildings or the violence that killed 34 people — two-thirds of whom were shot by police or National Guard troops. Those who lived through those frightening days and those who grew up in its aftermath are keenly aware of that past and the lessons it taught.
Three boys pass time in an empty playground at the Nickerson Gardens housing project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Watts has long been associated with deadly and destructive rioting in 1965. This summer when widespread mostly peaceful protests for racial justice across the U.S. have been accompanied at times by vandalism and other crimes, Watts has been peaceful. One lawmaker says the residents learned long ago that it didn't pay to burn their own neighborhood.
Three boys pass time in an empty playground at the Nickerson Gardens housing project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Watts has long been associated with deadly and destructive rioting in 1965. This summer when widespread mostly peaceful protests for racial justice across the U.S. have been accompanied at times by vandalism and other crimes, Watts has been peaceful. One lawmaker says the residents learned long ago that it didn't pay to burn their own neighborhood.
