This image in and of itself is very poetic, as this older Korean man (appearing to be in his late 40’s-50’s) is forced to pick up a weapon. A man who’s clearly too old to be in the army has no choice but to arm himself with a gun. He’s been forced to defend his family, livelihood, and essentially his Korean-American identity, the latter being shown through the bilingual signs behind him. The police didn’t come to help him, so he had to put matters into his own hands.
This image also illustrates how this tragedy forged a new Korean-American identity. Korean-Americans realized, through the lack of assistance from the police, that they were ultimately considered second-class citizens, and were viewed to be in the same category as the other minorities they were in conflict with. A perspective seen from the wealthy white eyes that overlooked the shoulder of the armed policeman defending them. This becomes illustrated with how the Korean signs are away in the background, as the man has been forced to move forward to protect what’s important to him.
Source:
Lah, Kyung. “The LA riots were a rude awakening for Korean-Americans.” CNN, 29 April 2017. https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/28/us/la-riots-korean-americans/index.html. Accessed 3 November 2021.