**RaM0Na**

FiNaL eSSaY ::What do ya think of South Central?::

What do ya think of South Central? South Central is stereotyped and just seen as the media portrayes it. Anyone who lives in South Central can tell you the positives and negatives of their neighborhood. There are three events that had the greatest impact on South Central which are; the LA Riots, Gang History, and the Crack Epedemic.

The first event that had a great impact on making South Central what it is today is the LA Rioting. During the LA Riots, a black 15-year-old girl, Latasha Harlins, was gunned down by a Korean store owner who thought Latasha was stealing orange juice. The store owner was prosecuted with a $500 fine and probation. People were furious at that, but that wasn’t enough for them to start a riot. When the verdict of the white Police Officers for the Rodney King beating came back “not guilty”, it hit the top and exploded. With all of the Unemployment rates, Poverty, and the killin gof Latasha Harlins, people grew mad wild and initiated to burn down buildings, starting with the Liquor store that Latasha was gunned down in. The impact this gave people was that most of the city was destroyed and a lot of people died during the LA Riots. How did it chnge South Central? It shows that they will do anything for justice and to get power to the people.

The second event that had great impact on on making South Central what it is today is the Gang History. Gangs have formed to protect against the major white gangs that were devised to harrass the minority races. Gangs weren’t like they are today. They were there for a reason. A good reason. They were there not only to protect Blacks and Browns from white gangs, but to get the governments attention on all of the Unemployment and Police brutality. The impact it gave us back then was that we were fighting for peace, fighting for our right, and fighting for justice. It changed South Central with a negative effect, because it transformed from helping the community to killing innocent people in the community just because they put a certain gang member down. Most of the thiongs Gang members do are just becasue they seem to have “power” and “control” .

The third event that had great impact on making South Central what it is today is the Crack Epedemic. During the Nicaraguan war, the U.S. wanted to help them by arranging them weapons to fight off the enemy. Of course weapons were expensive so the U.S. selled crack cocaine (imported from Nicaragua) to it’s own people. Crack Cocaine wasn’t here until the government imported it in. They sold it to drug dealers in Los Angeles and the dealers sold itn to regulars. The dealers would make so much money off of it that they got into groups and traveled across the nation to sell it to different people. By that time South Central was affected the most. More homeless people and more crazy people ended up walking the street. A lot of families lost most of their parents, because of the addiction to the drug. The impact it gave South Los Angeles was really bad. It made people crazy, drug addicted, and still didn’t give them the equality they needed.

Three of the greatest impacts on South Central were the LA Riots, Gang History, and the Crack Epedemic. They all prove that LA is what it is today, because of the choices our ancestors made and the choices our government made. I believe that the choices the government made were ridiculous and slander to it’s own country. If they would’ve been equal, treated everyone fairly, and never sold drugs to their own country, there would’ve been a chance that South Los Angeles would become a great leadership city that we’re trying to make. So What do ya think of South LA now?.