THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL DISRUPTION: A STUDY OF HOW THE 1992 L.A. RIOTS SHAPED KOREAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES’ DAILY LIVES AND MEMORIES

Abstract

This thesis explores the individual and community-level impact of socio-political crises. Focusing on the case of the 1992 Angeles Riots (or ‘Sa-i-gu’), I ask how do such traumatic episodes shape people’s lives and their memories of the events, and how are those transmitted to younger generations? Through interviews with Korean-Americans who lived through the unrest and their children, I identify salient features of the intergenerational transmission of trauma, such as silence or selective disclosure, as well as the galvanizing impact on the ethnic community’s collective identity and the impact media has on this process.