[31] The distrust ran possibly even further, because in the same editorial the writer exclaims, "The real question is, why was my brother's brains blown out fighting for those Koreans?" I started working at a sewing factory downtown. The family moved from Illinois to south-central Los Angeles in 1981. Soon Ja Du started working as a sofa fitter and then a knitter at a garment factory in St. John Knits. [37] Recent years have seen improved relations between the two communities, as a younger generation of Korean American LA residents showed up in great numbersin some cases even organizing proteststo support the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020. She will have to live with this every day for the rest of her life.. She graduated from a university in Seoul, South Korea, where she studied literature. Soon Ja Du, her face beginning to swell and discolor from the four punches Harlins landed during a brief struggle between the two, ostensibly over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice, crouched on top of the counter trying to see where Harlins had fallen. Soon Ja Du is a Korean woman who co-owned the Empire Liquor Store in Vermont Vista, Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department ballistics report also stated that the handgun used by Du was altered in such a way that it required much less pressure on the trigger to fire than an ordinary handgun. The incident escalated tensions between Korean-American and black residents of Los Angeles. Soon Ja Du (born 1940), South Korean-born American convenience store owner Jeong Sun-ja (born 1947), South Korean diver Kim Sun-ja (athlete) (born 1966), South Korean sprinter Lee Soon-ja (born 1939), South Korean former first lady, wife of Chun Doo-hwan Lee Sun-ja (born 1978), South Korean sprint canoer How could humans do that to another human being? As a dependency court judge, Karlin presided over cases involving abused and neglected children. But she didnt belong [on the bench] anyway. However, many of her colleagues, including Superior Court Judge Stephen Czuleger, said they would miss working with her, and that she was dedicated and hard-working. e-Book FAQ. It should be a time for healing.. Coming Soon; Best. Even before I saw the papers, the radio had announced that there had been a Korean victim. [28], After the widely publicized shooting of Latasha Harlins, relations between the black and Korean communities continued to deteriorate rapidly. After a brief scuffle, Harlins left the orange juice on the counter Joyce Ann Karlin was born on January 5, 1951, in Caracas,Venezuela. Absolutely. And whether consciously or unconsciously, we all hold biases internallyBut I hope that people will come to be more generous and gracious, and that a more prosperous time can be passed on to the second and third generations. Getting by was the priority, to establish a living. Koreans made money in black neighborhoods, lived in white neighborhoods, drove nice cars; even I would have been jealous of this And with the money they earned there, they should have served the community back, but they didnt. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Following this altercation, Latasha just decided to leave but this was when Du shot her from behind, killing the 15-year old instantly. So in the earlier days of our immigration, we worked three jobs. 1 reference. It was like they were celebrating her for killing Latasha. All Rights Reserved. "[41][43] After Denise Harlins was removed from the ballroom, Karlin gave a speech, stating "There are those in the community who demand that we define justice by what is politically correct. Those tensions escalated further when she was convicted of manslaughter but sentenced only to probation and community service. Soon Jadu testified on her own behalf, claiming she shot Harlins in self-defense because she believed her life was in danger. shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins on March 16, 1991 by However, Joyce Karlin, the trial judge, did not approve the jurys recommendation and instead sentenced Du to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. Even now, you know the big trash bins, with several of those placed next to the building; its a terrifying memory even now. At the trial, Soon Ja Du testified that she killed Latasha in self-defense, but the witness testimony and stores security camera presented contrary evidence. The shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, accused Harlins of trying to steal the juice before a scuffle broke out between the two. I think this led the blacks to harbor ill feelings. [9][7] Their unstable marriage eventually ended in 1983. It was unusual for Soon Ja Du, who was originally from Korea, to be behind the counter at the Empire Liquor store. Ty recalled her friend saying. Just days after King's beating, a 15-year-old Black girl named Latasha Harlins was killed by a Korean-American convenience store owner over a $2 bottle of orange juice. The property later became a market under different ownership. Soon Ja Du, a 51-year-old Korean store owner ultimately charged with 1st degree murder, claimed she was trying to steal the juice. It is remembered by many Korean-Americans as an awakening to their minority status, a time they felt abandoned by the government and unfairly portrayed by the media as aggressors despite inadequate law enforcement protection. Soon Ja Du was tried and found guilty of the intentional killing of Latasha Harlins. Because though he was born here, he experienced the difficult times when he was young, when we had brought him to our workplaces in our struggling days. [29] In the eyes of many in the black community, it was tragic that Soon Ja Du did not receive any jail time for her crime. [19] Karlin resigned from the bench in 1997. Thereafter, Shakur made frequent mention of Harlins in his songs, including in tracks like "Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)" ("Latasha Harlins, remember that name 'Cause a bottle of juice is not something to die for"), "Thugz Mansion" ("Little Latasha, sho' grown/Tell the lady in the liquor store that she's forgiven/So come home"), "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" ("Tell me what's a black life worth/A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts/And even when you take the shit/Move counties get a lawyer, you can shake the shit/Ask Rodney, Latasha, and many more"), "White Mans World" ("Rest in Peace to Latasha, Little Yummy, and Kato"), "Hellrazor" ("Dear Lord if ya hear me, tell me why/Little girl like Latasha, had to die")[47][48] and "N.I.G.G.A" ("Korean motherfuckers was crooked/So niggas had to burn and loot 'em [] Lickin' off shots for Latasha, that's proper"). A few months after George. That day, around 10 oclock, around then, a woman called Radio Korea. It was at this location that Soon Ja Du would shoot Latasha Harlins on March 16, 1991. West Gate Prison looked like that. On the morning of Saturday, March 16, 1991, Soon Ja Du shot and killed Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old African-American girl, at the Empire Liquor Store in Vermont Vista, Los Angeles. Any further update on her whereabouts is not known. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Related News. Du accused Harlins of trying to steal a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. Netflix's 'Cuties' Outrage Is Mounting and People Are Calling for a Boycott, Podcasts About Antiracism to Educate Yourself With Right Now. My son got sucked into the war. But was that reaction understandable? Absolutely. The L.A. [39] While King's case was the immediate catalyst to the violence, cases like that of Harlins fueled anger and demonstrated injustices against black people, which ultimately led to the riots. You need to protect us. And we had an arguments saying, You cant go out.. Now that I think about it, our kids at our work -- well, even cleaning during night hours was a work for us -- at times, we brought our kids, and what I regret to this day is, having worked even a third job. The storekeeper Soon Ja Du was ultimately convicted but was given probation, and so that was sort of a confirmation and a thought that perhaps Asian Americans were also, you know, exempt from the . The court also stated that Du shot Harlins under extreme provocation and duress and deemed it unlikely that Du would ever commit a serious crime again. Soon Ja Du was born on Saturday, December 27, 1941 ( age 79 years; as of 2020 ), in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Once there, the teenager put the required item in her bag and then headed to the counter with money in her hand. After all, a video of an immigrant Korean store owner shooting the teenager in the back of her head followed at the heels of the Rodney King incident. Soon, Ja Du and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1976, when she was 35 years old. Most Read; . But the second and third generations are the ones to lead that united Korean community, and I hope for that. It was an emergency situation to learn of the rioters being up there. His novel The Barbarian Nurseries was named a New York Times Notable Book in 2011 and also won the California Book Award Gold Medal for Fiction; his latest work is The Last Great Road Bum. Hes married, the father of three children and the son of Guatemalan immigrants. The video exclusively showed that Du shot Harlins when she attempted to leave the store empty-handed. On the anniversary of California's notorious urban uprising, TIME checks in with 15 of the event's key figures to see what they're doing now. That along with the not-guilty verdicts in the King case became a rallying cry during the 1992 . On the morning of March 16, 1991, Soon Ja Du was on duty at the store, while her husband was outside. It wasn't surprising. [21] Furthermore, Karlin deemed that Du's capacity to act rationally in the situation was undermined by her experience with past robberies. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. According to the videotape from the surveillance camera in the store, Du proceeded to snatch the teenagers backpack, after which Latasha punched Du twice, knocking her to the ground. A store video camera captured the incident, which came just two weeks after LAPD officers were videotaped beating Rodney G. King. Soon Ja Du's store, Empire Liquor, was located at the intersection of West 91st Street and South Figueroa Street, Vermont Vista, Los Angeles,[10] and was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. Thats what I thought. I am also the type to get enraged by that kind of thing. . The French coming-of-age movie " Cuties, " about a Senegalese Muslim girl who joins a hip-hop troupe, was being celebrated and censored even before its world premiere. More than anything grand, I imagined that I would work in a big office building, where I would go to work early in the morning, and leave by 5pm and have a plenty of leisure time for hobbies, like eating out at a fancy restaurant. On April 30, 1992 Edward was fatally shot by crossfire. Judge Karlin suggested that there were mitigating circumstances in the killing of Harlins. I think we didn't think far enough. But from their perspective, Koreans did not seem to have suffered much, yet came to their neighborhood and made easy money and became well off. I have been honored to spend the last 20 years serving the public but now I want to devote time to my family, Karlin wrote. Du eventually fell down, and she then threw a nearby stool at Latasha. "I have been honored to spend the last 20 years serving the public but now I want to devote time to my family," Karlin wrote. Looking back, it was a hard life. Soon Ja Du now lives in the San Fernando Valley. I came to hope that something like this would never happen again. SOON JA DU The Korean grocer's killing of a 15-year-old black girl, Latasha Harlins, in a dispute over a bottle of orange juice, raised tensions in the black community just two weeks after King's beating. Joyce Karlin, while disagreeing with the jurys recommendation of 16 years in prison, said. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. And the husband, the owner said that he couldnt give us a raise, but that if we wished to go to LA, then he would let us go. In March of 1991, The New York Times ran an item about. Harlins then turned around and tried to leave, but Du retrieved a revolver from under the cash-counter and shot Harlins at the back of her head. Harlins then picked up the orange juice bottle that had fallen in the chaos, but Du took the bottle from her. Latasha was killed by convenience store owner Soon Ja Du in March 1991. I heard this story myself. Before, people used to be more self-absorbed in trying to make it out here, but the thought that it should no longer be so, that Koreans must rather unite, that Koreans should not just be in hiding, was birthed in the mind of all. Riots, Time reported that Soon Ja Du was living in the San Fernando Valley in California. 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