Feature Article: The 1992 Uprising
TH E 1 9 9 2 UP RI SI NG H i s t o r i c Pre s e r v at i o n a n d t h e D u ra b i l i t y o f W h i t e n e s s
JACKSON LOOP, MPL/MHC Jackson Loop is an urban planner and historic preservationist working in the Los Angeles area. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Florida, and a dual master’s
degree in planning and heritage conservation from the University of Southern California. He is a scholar in residence at the Gamble House in Pasadena, California.
ABSTR ACT Problem, Approach, and Findings Like every city, Los Angeles has histories of both triumph and shame. But these pasts are not told equally. Lurking beneath empty lots, nondescript intersections, and even this city’s most stately landmarks are stories of strife and oppression, largely invisible. This paper inspects three sites associated with the 1992 Uprising to illustrate that conventional, government-based tools for preserving the past often avoid painful histories and produce stories that are reductive. Designed through a white lens to protect monumental landmarks, this policy framework falls short at these significant sites. Nearly three decades later, in the midst of an international uprising over racial justice, Angelenos still lack a place by which to remember the largest insurrection in the nation’s history.
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