The fire this time: The Watts rebellion at 40 (13min)

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Watts uprising in Los Angeles. Today, many of the same economic inequalities persist for African American residents of South Central. Host Juan Gonzalez speaks with Gerald Horne, author of Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising And The 1960s.

Forty years ago yesterday, the South Central neighborhood of Watts, Los Angeles erupted into six days of rioting after white traffic police stopped a black man, accused him of drunk driving and crowds gathered as officers began beating him with their batons. The Watts uprising sheparded in a new more militant era of the civil rights movement as African-Americans took to the streets in a mass protest against white economic exploitation and police brutality.

But mainstream media coverage at the time portrayed the uprising only as lawless and destructive. There was little attempt to understand the reasons behind the rebellion and there were virtually no interviews with the rioters themselves. In fact, at the time of the riots, the L.A Times did not have one black reporter on its' staff.