0:00

The Timberwolves select Kevin Garnette, Farragut academy.

0:04

Cool kid, no chance saw the future.

0:09

Basketball was about to become, he does basketball, a lot of noise all out.

0:18

I

0:18

want

0:18

to

0:18

be

0:18

challenged

0:21

yet. Kevin

0:22

Barnett, anything is possible.

0:26

Friday eight, seven central on Showtime.

0:31

A quick warning. This episode has some explicit language.

0:33

Latasha

0:33

Harlins

0:33

was

0:33

nine

0:33

years

0:37

old. When her mother was shot and killed in a Los Angeles nightclub, it was November, 1985 Thanksgiving day.

0:45

When her mother got killed, she took a Real

0:48

heart that's Latasha's cousin Shaniece Harlan's killed gore Cause

0:53

the and her father left. And that was the last time I believe that she seen her father Latasha

1:00

and her family hoped her mother's killer would be found guilty of murder and spent her life in prison.

1:05

Instead, the woman was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years.

1:11

The

1:11

justice

1:11

system

1:11

had

1:11

failed

1:15

them.

1:15

The

1:15

Harlem's

1:15

family

1:15

was

1:15

learning

1:15

that

1:15

life

1:15

in

1:21

LA. Wasn't so different from the one they had fled in east St.

1:24

Louis in her book, the last plantation, the author eats of our in Gerry described their plate.

1:30

This way. There was death in the family.

1:33

It plague there's like cancer, heart attack, diabetes or stroke, and other families.

1:39

It was not the consequences.

1:41

Some deadly pathogen or organic breakdown, but seemed a disease unto itself.

1:47

A natural violent death Latasha's

1:53

grandmother, Ruth Harland had suffered a lot of these losses.

1:56

The father of one of her daughters was killed.

1:59

One brother died in a car accident.

2:01

Two others were killed in bars.

2:04

One of the same Thanksgiving day that another of her daughters Latasha's mother was fatally shot in LA, but Ruth Harlins managed to build a decent life in California, working as a clerk for the department of social services, Something

2:20

about her, I just remember was very gentle and loving and tired.

2:26

She seemed to be carrying so much weight, generational weight.

2:35

Ruth Harlins helped raise Latasha and her siblings after their mother's death.

2:39

She tried to give her family the piece that never had.

2:42

There were three adults and four children living into Harlan's home.

2:46

It was crowded.

2:48

Ruth Harlins did her best to provide for them on $1,600 a month.

2:52

Shenice Harlond's Kilgore.

2:56

We used to always put that out there in the atmosphere.

2:59

Family, family, family, family is important.

3:02

Family is all we got at the end of the day.

3:06

Ruth Harlins hadn't lived in the south since she was a child, but she still considered herself, a Southern woman.

3:11

She made big family meals of ham, collard greens, cabbage, potato salad, and cornbread.

3:17

The food reminded her of home and helped to bring everyone together.

3:21

She worked in save so she could move into a three-bedroom apartment in south central LA, a huge upgrade for the family.

3:28

But even with the extra space, her grandchildren continued to share bedrooms.

3:34

It was like, wow, we got this big space, but we still couldn't go without sleeping with each other.

3:39

I guess, I guess we was used to it.

3:42

So growing up to me, we had a ball.

3:45

We just knew we can go outside and play all fucking day and come back home before the street lights come on, Ruth

3:53

Harlan's insisted on routines and chores.

3:55

Her work ethic and resilience would be her grandchildren's inheritance.

4:00

We know to make sure that the dishes was washed.

4:04

The floor was mopped. The kitchen was clean because the way she raised us was you wake up, you brush your teeth, you wash your face and you get dressed.

4:13

You don't lounge all day and not do nothing.

4:15

No, you get up. Cause nobody don't want to talk to somebody with a funky ass breath.

4:19

She was saying, Latasha

4:23

thrived in Ruth. Harlins a safe and supportive home in middle school.

4:27

She was an honor roll student, attract star and a cheerleader.

4:30

Every Sunday, she went to church with her grandmother.

4:33

As she entered her teen years, Latasha was a popular girl who knew all the latest dances, flirted easily with boys and stood up for the people.

4:43

She loved. Her family, encouraged her to pursue her ambitions.

4:46

The people who knew her best could see her potential.

4:51

She wanted to be an attorney so bad because I know her mom wanted to be a real estate agent and that's what she was studying for.

4:58

So I think she had that same charisma that saying, go get it attitude like her mom, But

5:05

her mother's death. And the way the justice system had failed, the family still cast a shadow and an essay for her ninth grade history class Latasha explained why she wanted to become an attorney.

5:16

The most important thing to me she wrote is that my family is always protected by a shield so that they won't be harmed by dangerous ruthless and caring people.

5:27

She was so devastated by the sentencing of her mother's killer, that she wanted to make sure that this didn't happen again.

5:38

That's Brenda Stevenson and author in African-American studies professor at UCLA.

5:43

I want to be able to protect her family from this kind of injustice.

5:46

She realized that the criminal justice system failed black families.

5:51

So incredibly As

5:54

a high school freshmen in 1991, Latasha Harlins had a vision of our future, but the present day was a struggle.

6:01

Her high school was far from her neighborhood.

6:03

That meant an hour long bus ride each way, sometimes more her grade slipped.

6:09

She cut class. And when she did go to school, she got in trouble.

6:12

The Dean of students called her a teacher's nightmare.

6:15

Latasha told her grandmother, she tried harder and improve her grades.

6:20

She vowed to graduate with a perfect GPA and to go to college.

6:24

But our family still worried about her.

6:26

How do you think the world saw Another,

6:31

another black girl, just another black girl.

6:34

Not, not knowing where she came from or who she is.

6:37

So of course it's a lot of stereotype going on.

6:40

So she was just a regular normal black girl, just like me.

6:44

You know, they're struggling.

6:48

Despite her struggles, those close to the Latasha say she was always the same person And

6:54

my friend girls named Wanda.

6:55

And I didn't know, she knew my cousin that she told me the story that she's like Tasha used to walk me home every day.

7:02

And she used to comb my hair. And I'm like at 40, she called me somebody else's scare besides mines.

7:07

And at 14, she had literally other 14 year old looking at her and she would walk them or comb their hair or protect them in any kind of way.

7:17

And even like, wow, Tasha was my defender.

7:23

Like she would come into fend me all the time.

7:26

Cause I was small and I always get bullied a lot.

7:30

And she hated me getting bullied.

7:32

She hate bully period.

7:44

The empire liquor market was a five minute walk from the Harlan's family's apartment.

7:47

Despite the name, it was more of a convenience store than a liquor store.

7:51

It was run by a family of Korean immigrants.

7:54

They hadn't been in the neighborhood for long, but already had a reputation for being hostile to their black customers.

8:00

Shenice would only go there.

8:03

If a grandmother asked her to, They

8:05

was some rude assholes and I got to admit it.

8:07

You know, the couple of times I did go on there, I just refuse to go in there again because you're not going to stereotype me and take my money.

8:16

But Latasha would still go to the empire liquor market on the morning of March 16th, 1991.

8:22

She went for the last time.

8:24

This

8:24

is

8:24

slow

8:28

burn. I'm your host.

8:30

Joel Anderson in March, 1991, two acts of violence rocked Los Angeles, both were caught on video tape.

8:39

Both revealed the fault lines of race of money and of power among the city's 9 million people in both would make clear to the city's black residents, just how little their lives matter to the justice system.

8:53

One was the beating of Rodney king.

8:55

The other was what happened to Latasha Harlins at the empire liquor market.

9:00

The case Won't

9:02

go away. Grew from an argument in an obscure market in south Los Angeles.

9:06

This was, It's such a stunning miscarriage of justice.

9:11

It's a racial, political, legal mess.

9:14

There are some beginning efforts and peacemaking, but there was an anger that once regrets might not wait much longer.

9:22

This is episode two, no justice On

9:35

radio lab. The story of a piece of plastic, we don't think about much today because that changed everything.

9:40

The cassette tape Cassette tapes for absolutely central, they run in revolution.

9:48

The impact that I'm trying, it was just really profound.

9:52

You can draw a clear line from the cassette to the internet.

9:56

No, Absolutely.

9:57

Find out how the cassette tape changed the world on radio labs, mixed tape, listen to mixtape, wherever you get podcasts.

10:07

The owner of the empire liquor market was named Billy do he and his wife soon shout to hit immigrated to the U S from South Korea before coming to the states, the dues had been living well by the standards of post-war Korea, but they wanted something more for their three children.

10:22

So like a lot of middle-class Koreans in the 1970s, they headed the Los Angeles part of a wave of immigration that would make LA home to the largest Korean population in America For the dues life in California was a struggle.

10:40

They could only afford a small apartment and Billy's limited English many.

10:45

He couldn't find the sort of management work he'd done back home.

10:47

Eventually he got a job as a repairman at a radio shack, but the money Billy earned wasn't enough for the family to live on.

10:56

So soon, Joe went to work too.

10:58

She assembled couches and crocheted clothes in a garment factory.

11:02

The goal was to go into business on their own.

11:05

Following the example of other Korean immigrants, they gravitated to corner grocery stores, a business that you could start with a little money and operate without speaking much English.

11:15

Here's the lane Kim, a founding member of the Asian-American studies program at the university of California.

11:23

Berkeley. A lot of people felt they had no way of advancing themselves in the white society, except by doing business for themselves.

11:35

That would be the only way that their own work would result in some benefit to themselves and not to somebody else.

11:44

In 1980s, Los Angeles, there were plenty of properties available for relatively cheap.

11:48

That was especially true in inner city neighborhoods, which had largely been abandoned, but Jewish shopkeepers after the racial unrest of the late 1960s in 1981, Billy bought a grocery store in San Fernando, a middle-class area that was rapidly losing its white population.

12:05

The dues were small business owners.

12:08

Now they gained some control of their economic destiny, but it wasn't an easy life.

12:18

Soon. Joe worked in the store due to flee, but begrudgingly almost every day, she developed chronic migraines.

12:23

Still Billy pressed forward in 1987, he sold the first store and bought another in the nearby suburb of Santa Clarita.

12:33

The son Joseph worked in the market.

12:35

Another son was a supervisor at Korean airlines and their daughter was studying to become a nurse.

12:40

Billy and soon job moved into a four bedroom home in the San Fernando valley.

12:46

Soon y'all filled the house with black lacquer and mother of Pearl furniture from Korea.

12:50

Things were looking up In March, 1989.

12:58

Billy do decided to expand his business.

13:00

He bought the empire liquor market and south central Los Angeles.

13:04

It costs $380,000.

13:06

That's

13:06

about

13:06

$840,000

13:10

today. It was the first time the dues had operated a store in a largely black neighborhood each day.

13:16

They commute to the inner city from the suburbs.

13:18

Here's the link, Kim.

13:20

Again, You do have a potential explosive situation where this foreigner seems to have come into the community and is able to buy the place whether anybody else wanted it or not.

13:33

And that's for lots of reasons, but people don't don't want to be taking advantage of Black

13:39

Americans still face discrimination.

13:41

When they tried to buy a property, borrow money to start a business.

13:44

The fact that recent Asian immigrants were able to invest in black neighborhoods.

13:49

So when they couldn't, that was incredibly frustrating.

13:54

If that we can do for our family.

13:55

The

14:01

violence of these neighborhoods only inflamed, the tensions and the 1980s, the gang related killings of Los Angeles reached record highs and became the subject of national panic over the course of a month.

14:14

In 19 86, 4 Korean merchants in south central LA were murdered during robberies.

14:19

The sister of one of the victims suggested racial resentment was a factor.

14:24

People don't care.

14:26

She told the LA times they think we got money from God or something.

14:30

Some

14:30

Korean

14:30

and

14:30

black

14:30

leaders

14:30

tried

14:30

to

14:30

downplay

14:30

the

14:30

racial

14:30

element

14:30

of

14:30

the

14:39

attacks. They said the murders reflected Koreans, growing presence in the city's worst area for crime.

14:44

They pointed out that when black people were killed in south central, it didn't draw nearly as much attention or media, but something still had to be done.

14:54

The goal was to develop a model for facilitating dialogue and improve relations between two communities.

15:05

That's Edward Chang, a professor at UC Riverside and member of Los Angeles, black Korean Alliance, commonly known as the BKA.

15:13

Well, in the beginning, the premise here is that, you know, the reason why we are having this conflict is because we don't understand each other.

15:22

However, the membership was small about 20 at the most 30 and a member, she was unstable and fluctuated and it was difficult to, for which common agenda, Other

15:39

local activists weren't interested in building bridges.

15:42

Did you think that the BKA like served any real purpose or did you think it was useful in any way?

15:48

I did not. That's Danny Bakewell.

15:50

He was one of Las, most prominent black activists and businessmen people urged him to join the black Korean Alliance, but he declined.

16:00

It was a, it was a, in my judgment, it was a hollow attempt to do something that really wasn't beneficial for black people, because it asked us to go into an Alliance with Koreans, but the Alliance was all based on helping them to do business better in the black community.

16:22

What about an Alliance that helps us to open up businesses in the Korean community, but never a conversation.

16:30

And that's always the problem that we have.

16:35

It seemed the tension in south central, wasn't going to get better.

16:38

Anytime soon, I

16:40

knew you was a ticking time bomb getting worse and worse.

16:48

By the time Billy do bought the new store in south central.

16:50

Soon as I do want it out, she begged her husband to buy a house close to the beach where she said they could spend quiet days.

16:57

Fishing. Billy brushed off his wife's concerns.

17:00

He believed the store was a good investment.

17:02

Their son Joseph felt the same.

17:05

This was Los Angeles.

17:07

Joseph do said how bad could it be?

17:20

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17:51

When the duke family opened a store in south central, they struggled to adjust to the new customers.

17:55

Here's Edward Chang.

17:58

And when customer African-American customers walks into the store, you know, you supposed to make eye contact and greet.

18:04

Hello,

18:04

how

18:04

are

18:07

you? What can I do for you? However, in Korea, they don't do that.

18:11

They do not make eye contact.

18:12

If you do make eye contact, it is showing a sign of respect or trying to make a trouble.

18:22

And of course, many African-American customers took it offensively.

18:29

Right? One thing most Korean immigrants did pick up on was the racial hierarchy at their new Homeland.

18:34

A study at the time found that most Korean shopkeepers in LA felt black people were inferior to them and were worthy of courtesy or respect.

18:43

Here's the lane, Kim We're

18:47

kind of aspiring towards upward mobility and many of them, they wanted to move as far away from black people as possible.

18:55

So success would mean, well, if I want to get ahead, obviously I have to live in a community close to white people or with white people With

19:06

two stores, one is Santa Clarita and the empire liquor market in south central, the do family was spread.

19:13

Then instead of living her dream of a peaceful life and a beach house soon, John was stuck working behind the counter, Making things worse, really deuce investment wasn't paying off the empire liquor market didn't make as much money as expected.

19:30

The family bounced checks and some distributors stop making deliveries to the store.

19:35

But most damaging was the family's beef with the main street Crips here's Brenda Stevenson, the UCLA professor and author, There

19:44

were gangs that were operative in the neighborhood.

19:47

It was doing the crack epidemic and it had serious impact on that community.

19:54

In early 19 91, 3 suspected gang members assaulted Joseph to and robbed the store.

19:59

The dues called the police and the men were arrested that only escalated the conflict.

20:05

The Crips returned to the store and threatened to kill the family.

20:08

The dues shut down the market for two weeks, hoping to calm things down.

20:13

Billy do even try to broker a truce with the Crips.

20:16

It didn't work.

20:19

Fortunately her son and her husband had been victimized to a certain extent by some people who might come into the shop.

20:25

And so that does fit into the mythology of black criminality that they arrived with.

20:33

Billy do's wife and son begged him to close the store, but he couldn't find someone to buy the market at the price he wanted.

20:39

So they stayed in south central in a neighborhood.

20:42

They feared with neighbors.

20:44

They didn't trust.

20:45

Let's

20:45

go

20:45

through

20:45

what

20:45

happened

20:45

on

20:45

March

20:45

16th,

20:54

1991. What happened that day?

20:56

Well, Latasha goes to, into the empire liquor market at about 9:31 AM.

21:04

We'll attach you to walked into the store.

21:05

As soon as I do was working the counter, her husband, Billy was sleeping outside in the family's fan, a surveillance camera inside the store recorded.

21:14

What happened next?

21:16

It comes into the shop. She walks to the back of the shop and she gets a bottle of orange juice, which is about a dollar and 79 cents.

21:24

I believe that was the price of it.

21:26

She places it in her backpack.

21:28

She has a backpack on it's sticking out the top, you know, and then she works her way back to the counter In

21:35

the video. Latasha is wearing a UCLA cap and sneakers.

21:39

As soon as I do, son had warned her that people who wore clothes like Latasha's were gang members.

21:44

Two witnesses later testified that soon John confronted Latasha.

21:49

When she gets up to the counter, she's immediately accused by Mrs.

21:54

Du, who is the wife of the shopkeeper as stealing.

21:57

And Latasha's tells her right away, I'm not stealing.

22:01

You know, she has the money, which is $2 in her hand.

22:06

As soon as I do, wasn't satisfied in the video, you can see our lean over the counter and grab the left sleeve of Latasha sweater.

22:13

Latasha slaps away.

22:15

Do sand, do holds onto the sleeve and tries to pull the Tasha closer.

22:20

If this point you see two younger children move toward the door.

22:24

The conflict is escalating.

22:26

Latasha

22:26

swings

22:26

our

22:26

backpack

22:26

at

22:26

do's

22:26

head

22:26

and

22:26

follows

22:26

up

22:26

with

22:26

two

22:26

hard

22:26

punches

22:26

to

22:26

her

22:26

face,

22:26

do

22:26

falls

22:26

behind

22:26

the

22:26

counter,

22:26

then

22:26

gets

22:26

back

22:38

up. She chucks a stool at Latasha.

22:41

The stool misses then do reaches behind the counter and pulls out a gun.

22:47

She points it at Latasha, clutching it with both hands.

22:52

Latasha sees the gun. And this is, what's very interesting about the video.

22:56

As you see her, see the gun and, and she continues what she's doing, which is to put the orange juice down.

23:04

And she turns around to walk out.

23:08

As Latasha begins to walk away soon, Ja du pulls the trigger, just like that.

23:14

Latasha collapses out of sight of the camera.

23:17

Latasha

23:17

Lavonne

23:17

Harlan's

23:17

died

23:17

right

23:17

there

23:17

on

23:17

the

23:17

floor

23:17

of

23:17

the

23:17

empire

23:17

liquor

23:28

market. She was 15 years old.

23:30

A

23:30

police

23:30

officer

23:30

showed

23:30

up

23:30

at

23:30

Ruth

23:30

Harlond's

23:30

his

23:37

apartment. Later that afternoon, let's ask this cousin Shenice was in the living room, Natasha and I, we were headed Out

23:45

that afternoon. I think we was going to the movies.

23:48

So they came and knocked, showed a picture.

23:52

And my grandmother verified.

23:55

It was Latasha and all hell broke loose.

24:00

I

24:00

remember

24:00

running

24:00

out

24:00

the

24:00

house

24:00

and

24:00

I

24:00

remember

24:00

falling

24:00

down

24:00

in

24:00

our

24:00

driveway,

24:00

just

24:11

crying. Like they killed their fuck.

24:13

They killed their like, fuck.

24:15

They killed her.

24:24

Let's take a break.

24:31

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25:56

The video of the Rodney king beating had been broadcast 12 days before the March 16th, killing of Latasha Harlins.

26:02

The footage was still dominating the national and local news on March 17th.

26:08

The LA times as Metro section featured a long profile of king, the lead photo and the Metro section showed protesters gathering outside of LAPD headquarters, demanding the resignation of police, chief Daryl gates, the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news, all ran series on police brutality and the LAPD, but there were no stories anywhere about Latasha.

26:31

Harlins The cops and prosecutors.

26:36

It seemed the video of Latasha's killing, but the public hadn't.

26:40

I likened the Rodney king, no one brought a copy to a TV station after a brief investigation at the store.

26:48

Police arrested soon shot two, three days later, prosecutors charged do with the murder On March 19th, 1991, and the LA times.

27:00

First story about Latasha's death.

27:02

An LAPD officer said the case was just a business dispute and it was not racially motivated.

27:07

Nonetheless

27:07

responses

27:07

to

27:07

the

27:07

killing

27:07

broke

27:07

down

27:07

along

27:07

racial

27:07

and

27:07

ethnic

27:15

lines. Some Korean saw soon John do as a frightened shopkeeper and a crime written neighborhood defending herself against the violent threat.

27:23

Here's the lane. Kim, Honestly

27:26

speaking, my initial impression was similar to the other Korean people who thought poor sungi do this girl is dead, but poor Sinja do was probably terrified.

27:40

What were the circumstances of poor student job do inadvertently shooting someone because she was slugged and she was terrified.

27:51

Black people in communities like south central saw something different.

27:54

A teenager shot in the head by an adult with a racist grievance and those neighborhoods Latasha's death tapped into years of anger and resentment.

28:03

More than 200 of Latasha's classmates signed a letter to the LA times was Latasha shot and killed because of racial intolerance.

28:11

They asked when will this stop?

28:14

We needed to make our voices heard we needed.

28:17

We needed those voices to be loud and we needed to, you know, get the community route up about it.

28:24

And we did. Danny Bakewell is the activist who was skeptical of the black Korean Alliance in the days after Latasha Harlins as killing.

28:32

He organized the demonstration in front of the empire liquor market.

28:35

About 150 people showed up.

28:38

They posted a sign across the front of the store, reading close for murder and disrespect of black people.

28:43

Bakewell

28:43

helped

28:43

organize

28:43

boycotts

28:43

of

28:43

other

28:43

Korean

28:43

merchants

28:43

that

28:43

were

28:43

accused

28:43

of

28:43

discriminating

28:43

against

28:43

black

28:53

customers. This was the kind of moment the black Korean Alliance had been set up to address the group promoted dialogue, not boycotts, but now the divisions were much harder to contain Edward Chang.

29:05

We still try to forge coronation and sustain it, but without any support, Shearman and financial support and the media just overwhelmed us.

29:21

You know, the media wasn't interested in mitigation media was interested in covering conflict, tension, boycotts violence In

29:33

June, another Korean store owner shot and killed a black customer.

29:36

He suspected of trying to Rob his store.

29:38

No charges were filed in August three.

29:42

Korean owned stores and south central were firebombed LA mayor.

29:46

Tom Bradley held a press conference in front of a burnt-out storefront.

29:49

He surrounded himself with Korean American business owners, black clergy and members of the black Korean Alliance.

29:56

He urged everyone to talk out their differences, but Bakewell was done with talking.

30:01

He kept at the boycotts for another month.

30:04

This is not a game. This is our lives.

30:06

This is our community. It's our children.

30:07

And you have to be more responsive and respectful or you, we are going to have a problem with each other.

30:19

Sundara do's murder trial was originally scheduled to take place in Compton near the empire liquor market.

30:24

But in August, 1991, a judge ordered a change of venue.

30:28

The proceeding was moved to downtown Los Angeles.

30:31

The judge's reasoning did some witnesses in court staff, including a Korean interpreter might feel intimidated driving in and out of Compton.

30:40

Every day.

30:41

The

30:41

trial

30:41

of

30:41

John

30:41

do

30:41

began

30:41

in

30:41

September

30:41

at

30:41

the

30:41

center

30:41

of

30:41

the

30:41

prosecution's

30:41

case

30:41

was

30:41

the

30:41

surveillance

30:41

video

30:41

tape

30:41

from

30:41

the

30:41

liquor

30:53

store. The first time that footage had been aired in public in her opening statement, prosecutor, Roxanne, Carver hall, let the jury know what they were about to see.

31:05

I do have to warn you that you should brace yourself because you will see Natasha being killed and she will die in front of your eyes.

31:14

Carl Hall, hope to show the jury that du had been the aggressor do hit grab Latasha sleeve, do hit thrown the stool, do hit, pulled out the gun.

31:23

And when Latasha tried to leave the store do shutter earlier, you heard a lane Kim say that like some Koreans, she had sympathize with soon Ja du, when she first heard about the killing, that changed what she saw, the video, It

31:38

looked like she was executing her.

31:40

That's what it looked like to me, just to see some woman pick up a gun and shoot the girl in the back of the head as she was leaving is so shocking.

31:50

And so yes, it, it, it made a huge difference to see, to actually see that happen.

31:56

I can't believe that that, that people would still think that Latasha Harlins was at fault in any way.

32:06

Do's lawyers argued that she'd acted in self-defense on the witness.

32:10

Stand, do testify that she thought Latasha might kill her either with her punches or with a gun that she might be carrying in her backpack.

32:18

Latasha didn't have a gun, but remember, do claim that she believed Latasha was a gang member under cross examination do said she'd been beaten senseless almost to oblivion.

32:30

And that even with a gun in her hand, she thought she was going to die.

32:34

But do's version of events.

32:36

Didn't line up with the tape.

32:38

She beaten senseless.

32:39

And she had no reason to fear a teenage girl who had turned around and was walking away from her.

32:45

Here's Brenda Stevenson Goes

32:48

to this notion of how black people are perceived within our society.

32:52

We are perceived as being criminal as being aggressive.

32:56

You know, people who are violent and just to be clear, Asian-American women are not perceived in that way, but at the moment, in which we were, this case took place, Mrs.

33:09

Du was thought of as more feminine.

33:11

She was thought of as more respectable because of her racial status and her generation Latasha was thought of as being, you know, a rash teenager as being someone who was brought up in a violent atmosphere as the defensive presently say, she hit like a boy.

33:30

So that's what the jury had to consider this security video tape versus the defense's caricature of a teenage black girl.

33:36

They could find soon shot, dude, not guilty on a self-defense grounds.

33:41

They could find him guilty of second degree murder, or they could convict her of a lesser charge.

33:46

Voluntary manslaughter defined is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.

33:52

Upon a sudden quarrel, they deliberated for three days.

33:58

What'd you play? Skip the Baylor, the verdict, the court case read the Hertz.

34:03

volunteering.

34:10

Manslaughter Voluntary

34:12

manslaughter was the same verdict that came down in the killing of Latasha's mother.

34:16

The verdict that made the family feel they hadn't gotten justice.

34:20

The verdict that made Latasha want to be a lawyer to protect our family.

34:24

That was the verdict for soon tattoo, but do didn't feel that she'd gotten off easy.

34:29

She was facing up to 16 years in state prison.

34:32

When the verdict was read in court, she lowered her head and wept Soon jaw do's fate was now in the hands of judge Joyce Carlin Carlin.

34:44

Who'd been appointed to the bench by Republican governor, Pete Wilson, just two months earlier.

34:48

This was the first case she'd presided over that had gone to trial.

34:52

The punishment she handed down would have huge consequences for the Harlins and do families.

34:58

And for the city of Los Angeles, we'll be right back.

35:03

If

35:03

you're

35:03

listening

35:03

to

35:03

this

35:03

show,

35:03

then

35:03

you're

35:03

probably

35:03

a

35:03

fan

35:03

of

35:03

unique

35:03

and

35:03

interesting

35:17

stories. I want to tell you about pocket.

35:19

Pocket is a website and app that finds the most interesting thought provoking and entertaining articles from trusted sources around the internet and puts them all in one place low on time pocket lets you save articles as well as anything else you find online like videos, recipes, and shopping to your personal pocket for digging into later pocket will even read the stories you saved aloud to you.

35:43

Like a podcast of back-to-back articles want to go deep on a topic.

35:47

They have some incredible curated collections that are hand-selected by pocket editors or an expert pocket partner like me.

35:54

Want to learn more about what we discussed on season six, a slow burn, go to pocket.com/slate and check out slow burn to see my collection.

36:03

As

36:03

soon

36:03

as

36:03

I

36:03

do

36:03

was

36:03

interviewed

36:03

by

36:03

a

36:03

probation

36:03

officer

36:03

before

36:03

her

36:03

sentencing,

36:03

she

36:03

admitted

36:03

that

36:03

she

36:03

was

36:03

frightened

36:03

by

36:03

black

36:03

people

36:03

and

36:03

didn't

36:03

understand

36:16

them. She also said that if she was in the same situation again, she wouldn't do anything differently.

36:21

The probation officer recommended the maximum 16 years sentence.

36:26

Judge Karlin rejected that recommendation.

36:28

What is it? The murder versus a jury convicted do a voluntary manslaughters.

36:33

But judge Joyce Karlin on the bench.

36:36

Justin's July imposed probation, a $500 fine, no jail time.

36:46

After announcing the do with serve no jail time.

36:48

Judge Karlin read a statement.

36:50

She said, let's hush.

36:53

This death should be remembered as a catalyst to force blacks and Koreans took her front an intolerable situation and create solutions.

37:00

This is not a time for rhetoric.

37:02

It is not a time for revenge.

37:04

It should be a time of healing.

37:07

Carlin

37:07

said

37:07

do

37:07

had

37:07

acted

37:07

out

37:07

of

37:07

fear

37:07

and

37:07

that

37:07

she

37:07

wasn't

37:07

a

37:07

threat

37:07

to

37:07

the

37:14

community. Carlin also said that do likely hadn't shown remorse because of cultural and language barriers after Carlin radar statement soon, Ja du cried out.

37:25

Thank you God and Korean.

37:27

But

37:27

then

37:27

the

37:27

Harland

37:27

family

37:27

had

37:27

already

37:27

left

37:27

the

37:37

courtroom. Once again, the justice system had failed them.

37:41

Here's Ruth Harlins Latasha his grandmother.

37:45

I think it was an, it was an injustice.

37:46

Justice has not been served.

37:48

This lady has killed my 15 year old granddaughter and she'd get away with five years probation.

37:54

This is an injustice.

37:55

Justice

37:55

has

37:55

not

37:55

been

37:58

served. Shinies

38:00

Harlan's Kilgore. There was the other way around of Latasha.

38:03

Would Akil song jive do she probably be in prison to this day today?

38:07

You know, because she a typical black girl in a ghetto with a bear reputation, reputational her name.

38:15

So we live in a fucked up world.

38:20

I guess the justice system is not for us Soon.

38:25

John do's light sentence turn what had mostly been a local story and to a national scandal supporters of the Harlan's family focused their outrage on judge Karlin, Black

38:44

anger boiled over I'm

38:46

declaring today.

38:47

The black community is at Wildwood judge.

38:50

Karen, am I right?

38:53

Are you with me?

38:56

Even the district attorney's stoked. The flame by condemning and blacklisting, the judge.

39:02

This was such a stunning miscarriage of justice that judge Karlin cannot continue to hear criminal cases with any public credibility whatsoever.

39:14

Black leaders led pickets at Carlin's courtroom and home.

39:16

Some Koreans and Korean Americans also criticized the sentence.

39:20

They worried that the judge's ruling might come back to hurt them and their community.

39:24

Edward Chang.

39:25

She, I handed out the very late sentencing didn't help at all.

39:32

I mean just probation for, you know, taking away persons in life is just an unacceptable.

39:46

The English language newspaper, the Korea times pointed out that soon, John do's sentence was less severe than the 30 days in jail.

39:53

A Korean man received for kicking and stumping, a dog, some justice.

39:57

The paper wrote the LA times, looked at sentences, given to people convicted of violent crimes in Los Angeles and the previous year of 247 defendants only two got straight probation with no jail time.

40:13

Both of those were assault cases, not killings in an interview almost three years later, Joyce Karlin lashed out at the media.

40:23

The media is supporting the notion that racism is behind every decision that is made, that racism is behind.

40:31

It is the skeleton and everybody's closet.

40:34

I

40:34

have

40:34

never

40:34

been

40:34

so

40:34

aware,

40:34

forced

40:34

to

40:34

be

40:34

so

40:34

aware

40:34

of

40:34

racial

40:41

issues. Nobody thinks in terms of just human beings anymore.

40:43

No, no statement is made without injecting some politically correct thought.

40:48

I think that the, I think we have to stop focusing on racism so much.

40:53

I really do. You have to stop seeing it behind every door.

40:56

Karlyn said that she remained comfortable with how she handled the case.

41:01

You don't make a decision because it's going to make it look good or bad.

41:03

You don't make a decision because you're afraid of being called a wimp or too aggressive, make decisions for the right reasons and not personal consequences.

41:10

That's

41:10

my

41:13

belief. That's certainly my belief as a judge.

41:15

And if there comes a time when I can't make decisions without thinking about personal consequences, then it's time for me to leave the bench.

41:27

Soon. John dues sentence confirm something to Harlan's family and many black Americans already near the justice system seemed to go into overdrive when meeting out punishment to black people.

41:37

But when a black person or family came to court as a victim, nothing worked as it should.

41:42

Brenda Stevenson.

41:44

Again, This

41:46

was really, really a devastating judgment.

41:50

As far as black people were concerned.

41:52

If it's not the police then it's and it's not the jury.

41:56

Then it's the judge.

41:59

Black Angelenos would not forget the pain of Latasha.

42:01

Harlins this killing.

42:02

When the riots began six months after judge Karlin issued our verdict, demonstrators would write Latasha's name on protest signs.

42:09

In twenty-three hundred Korean owned stores would be loaded in burned, but the empire liquor market, it stayed standing.

42:16

The

42:16

building

42:16

would

42:16

be

42:16

set

42:16

on

42:16

fire

42:16

four

42:16

separate

42:16

times,

42:16

but

42:16

neighbors

42:16

always

42:16

put

42:16

out

42:16

the

42:23

flames. They wanted to preserve the store as a Memorial to the Latasha and they didn't want to do family to get any insurance money.

42:30

In

42:30

the

42:30

years,

42:30

following

42:30

the

42:30

trial

42:30

Latasha,

42:30

Denise

42:30

Harlins

42:30

started

42:30

an

42:30

effort

42:30

to

42:30

recall

42:30

judge

42:38

Karlin. She hoped to conjure the justice.

42:40

Her family never found in court.

42:42

Denise Harland spent years lobbying public officials, staging protests, and crashing events where Carlin was appearing.

42:49

Denise who died in 2018 is Shaniece Harlem's Kilgore's mother.

42:55

Well, mama didn't work at all.

42:57

This was her job, a non-paid job.

43:01

So this was her life and made sure judge Karlin wouldn't sleep comfortable knowing she let a murderer off.

43:11

Joyce Karlin didn't get recalled. She retired as a judge in 1997, she said she wanted to spend more time with our family Latasha Harlins his family struggled to cope with her death.

43:22

When Latasha was killed, her cousin, Shaniece was still a teenager, herself Hail.

43:28

I just lost my fucking best friend and the person I talked shit to the most.

43:32

You know what I'm saying? To one, they call my hair.

43:33

I just lost a and you just be like, what?

43:36

Life just stopped right then and there. I don't care how old you are.

43:38

It was very painful to go home and to sit and just still have her clothes there still have her smell there, Billy

43:53

and do didn't respond to our interview.

43:55

Request the author eater, Barry and Jerry spoke with Ruth Harlins in the year following do's sentencing.

44:03

I remember this painful kind of squeaking voice from Ruth Harlan saying, talking about Mrs.

44:09

Du, she has her grandchildren.

44:11

Why don't I have my grandchild?

44:14

Where is my grandchild?

44:19

Los Angeles never delivered on his promise of a peaceful life for the Harlins family.

44:22

But what Ruth Harlins couldn't give them and safety.

44:26

She gave him love.

44:27

She still lives in LA, not too far.

44:30

The home where she wants, lived with her children and grandchildren.

44:33

She is now 79 years old having outlived two of her daughters and a granddaughter today.

44:40

The pain of Ruth Harlins. This many losses still lingers My

44:44

grandmother. The way she takes death is super crazy because when her daughter passed away, my auntie passed away.

44:50

My grandmother didn't keep no pictures of none cheap.

44:56

She took every picture down of my auntie that she possibly can have in and she hit it.

45:01

She put them away. So when Latasha passed on, she did the same thing.

45:14

How long did it take her to take those pitches down?

45:17

I don't honestly know, but if he wasn't walking her house in the nineties, you wouldn't see a picture of Latasha or her mother, But now 30 years later, she's able to put a picture up a little bit Tasha and her mother, she accepts it.

45:38

The death she's dealing with the pain somehow some way Next

46:03

week on slow burn and outrage city meets an immovable force.

46:07

LAPD was the most powerful political force in The

46:11

city. I'm basically a fairly mild-mannered person, but I, I reached my limit.

46:16

The chief had stepped over the threshold that I could tolerate.

46:21

Slow burn is a production of slight plus slights membership program.

46:24

You can sign up for slate plus to hear a bonus episode of the show this week and every week for the next two months.

46:30

And in this week's bonus episode, you'll be hearing more from EDA, barring, a cherry who wrote a book about the Harlins family called the last plantation and from Edward Chang, who was a member of the black Korean Alliance, head over to slate.com/slow burn to sign up and listen.

46:47

Now it's only a dollar for your first month.

46:49

We couldn't make slow burn without the support of slate plus, so please sign up.

46:54

If you can head over to slate.com/slow burn, slow burn is produced by Jason daily own Ethan Brooks, Sophie summer grad, Jasmine Ellis and me Joel Anderson, editorial direction by Josh Levine and Gabriel Roth artwork by Jim cook theme music.

47:13

But Don will mixing by marriage.

47:16

Jacob Brenda's Stevenson's book was a great resource for us.

47:20

It's called the contested murder of Latasha Harlins special.

47:23

Thanks to the department of special research collections at the UC Santa Barbara library.

47:28

Lou cannon Jackson vendor Beckon, Devin Schwartz stem is Rocky Lowell.

47:34

Berlanti Jared Holt.

47:36

Low-end loo Derek, John Derek Johnson, Evan Chung Davis land Janae Desmond Harris, Amber Smith, bill Carey, Rachel Strong, Seth brown, Meredith Moran, chow to Asha Solutia and Katie Rayford.

47:53

Thanks for listening.

47:55

If

47:55

you're

47:55

listening

47:55

to

47:55

this

47:55

show,

47:55

then

47:55

you're

47:55

probably

47:55

a

47:55

fan

47:55

of

47:55

unique

47:55

and

47:55

interesting

48:07

stories. I want to tell you about pocket pocket is a website and app that finds the most interesting thought provoking and entertaining articles from trusted sources around the internet and puts them all in one place low one time pocket, lets you save articles as well as anything else you find online like videos, recipes, and shopping pages to your personal pocket for digging into later pocket will even read stories.

48:30

You've saved aloud to you like a podcast of back-to-back articles want to go deep on a topic.

48:36

They also have some incredible curated collections that are hand selected by pocket editors or an expert pocket partner like me.

48:43

Want to learn more about what we discussed in today's episode, go to pocket.com/slate and check out slow burn to see my collection of articles that dig deep into everything we talked about.

48:54

The Timberwolves select Kevin Garnette, Farragut PIMBA WALLS S6 Kevin Garnett from Farragut Academy. High S6 Kit? No chance. No. The bad go, David. He saw the future of what basketball was about to become. De does without a S6. The way the basketball game. A lot of noise all out. And boom, I'm gonna be challenged to the end. Kevin Barnett, anything is Kevin Garnett. Anything is S6. Friday, eight seven Central on Showtime. A quick warning. This episode has some explicit language. Latasha Harland was nine years old when her mother was shot and killed in a Los Angeles nightclub. It was November nineteen eighty five. Thanksgiving Day. When her mother got killed, she took a real heart. S6 Latasha cousin, Shanice Harlins killed Gore. She was hurt Cause the and her father then her father left, and that was the last time I believe that she's seen her father. Latasha and her family hoped her mother's killer would be found guilty of murder and spent her life in prison. Instead, the woman was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years. The justice system had failed them The Harlins family was learning that life in LA wasn't so different from the one day it fled in St. Louis in her book, the last plantation, the author eats of our in Gerry described their S6. Louis. In her S6, The Last Plantation, the author Itabari and Jerry described their plight this way There was death in the family. It plagued theirs like cancer, heart attack, diabetes, or S6, and other families. It was not the consequence of some deadly pathogen or organic breakdown, but seemed a disease unto itself. A natural violent death. Latasha's grandmother, Ruth Harland, had suffered a lot of these losses. The father of one of her daughters was killed. One brother died in a car accident. Two others were children bars. One of the same Thanksgiving Day that another of her daughters, Latasha mother, was fatally shot in LA. But Ruth managed to build a decent life in California, working as a clerk for the Department of Social Services. There's something about her I just remember was very gentle and loving and tired. She seemed to be carrying so much weight, generational weight. Ruth Harlins helped Latasha and her siblings after their mother's death. She tried to give her family the peace it never had. There were three adults and four children living in the Harlan's home. It was crowded. Ruth did her best to provide for them on sixteen hundred dollars a month. Shanice Harlands killed Gore. She was to always put that out there in the in the atmosphere. Family, family. Family is important. Family is all we got at the end of the day. Ruth Harlan's hadn't lived in the S6 since she was a child, but she still considered herself a southern woman. She made big family meals of ham, colored greens, cabbage, potato salad, and cornbread. The food reminded her of home and helped to bring everyone together. She worked and saved so she could move into three bedroom apartment in South Central LA, a huge upgrade for the family. But even with the extra space, her grandchildren continued to share bedrooms. It was like, wow. We got this big space, but we still couldn't go without sleeping with each other, I S6. I guess De was used to it. So growing up to me, we had a ball. We just knew De can go outside and play all fucking day and come back home before the street lights. Come on. Ruth Harling's insisted on routines and chores. Her work ethic and resilience would be her grandchildren's inheritance. So we know to make sure that The dishes was washed. The floor was mocked. The kitchen was clean because the way she raised S6 was you wake up. You brush your teeth, you wash your face, and you get your ass. You don't lounge all Jayson not do nothing. No. You get up because nobody don't wanna talk to somebody with a funky S6. breath. She was saying, breath of sheep will say. Latasha thrived in Ruth S6 a safe and supportive home. In middle school, She was an honor role student, a track star, and a cheerleader. Every Sunday, she went to church with her grandmother. As she ended her teen years, Latasha was a popular girl who knew all the latest S6, flooded easily with Jayson, and stood up for the people she loved. Her family encouraged her to pursue her ambitions. The people who knew her best could see her potential. She wanted to be an attorney so bad because I know her mom wanted to be a real estate agent, and that's what she was studying for. S6 I think she had that same charisma, that same go get it attitude like her mom. But her mother's death, and the way the justice system had failed the family, still cast a shadow. In an essay for her ninth grade history class, Latasha explained why she wanted to become an attorney. The most important thing to me, she wrote, is that my family is always protected by a shield. S6 that they won't be harmed by dangerous, ruthless, and caring people. She was so, you know, devastated by the sentencing of her mother's killer that she wanted to make sure that this didn't happen again. THAT'S BRIDTA STEVENSON, AN AUTHORITY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN De PROFESSOR AT UCLA. Reporter: SHE WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT HER FAMILY FROM THIS KIND OF INJUSTICE She realized that the criminal justice system failed black families so incredibly. As a high school freshman, in nineteen ninety one, Latasha Harlins had a vision of her future, but the present day was struggle. Her high school was far from her neighborhood, That meant an hour long bus ride each way, sometimes more. Her grades S6. She cut S6. And when she did go to school, she got in trouble. The De of students called her a teacher's Latasha told her grandmother she'd try harder and improve her grades. She vowed to graduate with a perfect GPA and to go to college, but her family's still worried about her. How do you think the world saw Tasha. Another another black girl. Yeah. Just another black girl, not not knowing where she came from or who she is. So of course, it's a lot of stereotype going on. So she was just a regular normal black girl, just like So she was just a regular, normal, black girl S6 like You know, they're struggling. Despite her struggles, those close to Latasha say she was always the same person. One of my friend, girls named Wanda, And didn't know she knew my Jayson, S6 she told me the story that she was like, gosh, she used to walk me home every day, and she used to comb my And I got four teeth. She called me De else to scare besides mines. And at fourteen, she had literally of a fourteen year old looking at her, and she will walk them or comb a hair or take them in any kind of way and even, like, wow. Tasha was my defender, like, she would come and defend me all the time because I was small and I was get bullied a lot and she hated me getting bullied. She hate bullied period. The Empire liquor market was a five minute walk from the Harlan's family's apartment. Despite the name, it was more of a convenience store than liquor store. It was run by family of Korean immigrants. They hadn't been in the neighborhood for long, but already had a reputation for being hostile to their black customers. S6 would only go there if her grandmother asked her to. There were some rude assholes, and I gotta admit it, you know. The couple times I did go in there, I just refused to go in air again because you're not feeling a stereotype you're taking money. But Latasha would still go to the Empire liquor market. On the morning of March sixteenth, nineteen ninety one, she went for the last time. S6 is slow burn. I'm your host, Joel Anderson. In March nineteen ninety 2 of S6 rocked Los Angeles. Both were caught on De tape. Both revealed default lines of race, of money and of power among the city's nine million people. And both would make clear to the city's black S6. Just how little their lives 2 the justice system. One was the beating of Rotten King. The other was what happened to Latasha Harlins at the Empire liquor market. The case that won't go away grew from an argument in an obscure market in South Los Angeles. This was such a stunning S6 of justice. It's a racial, political, legal mess. There are some beginning efforts of easement. But there is an anger that wants to address and might not wait much longer. This is episode two, no justice S6 is episode 2. No justice. On radio De lab. The story of a piece of plastic, we don't think about much today because that changed the story of a piece of plastic De don't think about much today. Because that changed everything. The cassette tape Cassette tapes for absolutely central, they run in The cassette tape. Cassette tapes were absolutely central. Yeah. They run-in revolution. The impact that I'm trying, it was just really impact on China was just utterly profound. You can draw a clear line from the cassette to the I you can draw a clear line from the cassette to the internet. No, No. Absolutely. Find out how the cassette tape changed the world on radio labs, mixed tape, listen to mixtape, wherever you get Find out how the cassette tape changed the world on De labs, S6 tape. Listen to mixed tape wherever you get podcasts. The owner of the Empire liquor market was named Billy De. He and his wife, S6 Du, had immigrated to the US from South Korea. Before coming to the states, the Jews had been living well by the standards of post war career, but they wanted something more for their three children. S6, like a lot of middle class Koreans in the nineteen seventies, they headed to Los Angeles, part of wave of immigration that would make LA home to the largest Korean population in America. For the dues, life in California was struggle. They could only afford a small apartment and Billy's limited English S6. Theyd could only afford a small apartment, and Billy's limited English, many. He couldn't find the sort of management work he'd done back couldn't find the sort of management work he'd done back home. Eventually, De got a job as a repairman and a radio shack. But the MoneyBilly earned wasn't enough for the family to live on. So soon job went to work too. She assembled couches and crocheted clothes in a garment factory. The goal was to go into business on their own. Following the example of other Korean immigrants, they gravitated to corner grocery stores, a business that you could start with a little money, and operate without speaking much English. Here's Elaine Kim, a founding member of the Asian American De program at the University of California, Berkeley. A lot of people felt they had no way of advancing themselves in the white society except by doing business for themselves. That would be the only way that their own work would result in some benefit to themselves and not to somebody else. In nineteen eighties S6 Angeles, there were plenty of properties available for relatively cheap. That was especially true in S6 city neighborhoods, which had largely been abandoned by Jewish shopkeepers after the racial unrest of the late nineteen sixties. In nineteen eighty one, Billy bought a grocery store in San Fernando, a middle class area that was rapidly losing its white population. The dues were small business owners now. They gained some control of their economic S6, but it wasn't an easy life. Soon job worked in the store De to flea, but begrudgingly, almost every day. She developed chronic migraines. Still, Billy pressed forward. In nineteen eighty seven, he sold the first store and bought another in the nearby suburb of Santa Clarita. The S6 Joseph worked in the market. Another son was a supervisor at Korean Harlins, and their daughter was studying to become a nurse. Billy and S6 moved into a four bedroom home in the San Fernando Valley. S6 filled the house with Black Lacher and Mother Pearl Furniture from Korea. Things were looking up. In March nineteen eighty nine, Billy De decided to expand his business. He bought the Empower liquor market in South Central Los Angeles. It costs three hundred and eighty thousand Hollidays. That's about eight hundred and forty thousand dollars today. It was the first time the dues had operated the store in a largely black De. day, they commute to the inner city from the suburbs. Here's the Lane Kim again. You do have a potential explosive situation where this foreigner seems to have come into the community and is able to buy the place whether anybody else wanted it or You do have a potential explosive situation where this foreigner seems to have come into the community and is able to buy the place whether anybody else wanted it or not. And that's for lots of Jayson, but people don't don't wanna be taking advantage of black Americans still face discrimination when they tried to buy property, borrow money to start business. The fact that recent Asian immigrants were able to invest in black neighborhoods theyd That was incredibly frustrating. So why don't you open a rocket that we can do for our family? I go back Korea. We're not making the other entire black. We're not a giant. The violence of these neighborhoods only inflamed the tensions. In the nineteen eighties, The gang related killings of Los Angeles reached record highs and became the subject of national panic. Over the course of a month in nineteen eighty six, Four Korean merchants in South Central LA were murdered during robberies. The sister of one of the victims suggested racial resentment was a actor. People don't care. She told the LA Times. They think we got money from God or something. Some Korean and black leaders tried to downplay the racial element of the attacks. They said the murders reflected Korean's growing presence in the city's worst area year crime. They pointed out that when black people were killed in South Central, it didn't draw nearly as much attention or media coverage. S6 something still had to be done. The goal was to develop a model for facilitating dialogue and improve relations between two goal was to develop a model for facilitating dialogue and improve relations between two communities. That's Edward Chang, a professor at UC Riverside and member of Los Angeles' Black Korean S6, commonly known as the BKA. Well, in the beginning, the premise here is that you know, the reason why we are having this conflict is because we don't understand each other. However, the membership was small about twenty at the most thirty. And remember she was unstable and fluctuated. And it was difficult to forge common agenda. Other local activists weren't interested in building bridges. Did you think that the BKA, like, served any real purpose? Or did you think it was useful in any way? I did not. That's the any bake well. De was one of LA's most prominent black activists and businessmen. People urged him to join the Black Korean alliance, but he declined. It was it was a in my judgment, it was a hollow attempt to do something that really wasn't beneficial for black people because it asked us to go into an alliance with Koreans, but the alliance was all based on helping them to do business better in the black community. What about an alliance that helps us to open up businesses in the Korean community, but never a S6. And that's always the problem that we have. It seemed the tension in South S6. Wasn't going to get better anytime S6? I knew you was a ticking time bomb getting worse and I I knew it was a ticking time bomb. I was just getting worse and worse. By the time Billy De bought the new store in South Central, S6 Du wanted out. She begged her husband to buy a house close to the beach, where she said they could spend quiet days fishing. Billy brushed off his wife's concerns. He believed the store was a good investment. Their son Joseph felt the same. This was Los Angeles, Joseph 2 said, How bad could it be? Slow? Burn is brought to you by S6 burn is brought to you by MailChimp. MailChimp is in the business of growing Mailchimp is in the business of growing businesses. So no matter what stage you're in MailChimp smart marketing platform can help you grow and get your brand out So no matter what stage you're in, Mailchimp's smart marketing platform can help you grow and get your brand out there. You're more than a small business and MailChimp's got intelligent marketing tools to help you grow more than a small business, and Mailchimp's got intelligent marketing tools to help you grow it. With marketing automation, design tools, and With marketing automation, design 2, and recommendations. They all work together to help you sell more that all work together to help you sell more stuff. MailChimp built for growing Mailchimp. Mail for growing businesses. When the duke family opened a store in south central, they struggled to adjust to the new the Duke family opened a store in South Central, they struggled to adjust to their new customers. Here's Edward Chang. You know, when customer African American customers walks 2 the soul, you're supposed to make eye contact and greet Hello. How are you? What can I do for What can I do for you? However, in Korea, they don't do that. They do not make eye contact. If you do make eye contact, it it is shown a sign of disrespect or trying to make a trouble. And of course, many African American customers took it offensively. Right? 1991 thing most Korean immigrants did pick up on was the racial hierarchy of their new homeland. A study at the time found that most Korean shopkeepers in LA felt black people were inferior to them. And weren't worthy of courtesy or respect? Here's the Lincoln. So they were kind of aspiring towards upward mobility. And many of them, they wanted to move as far away from black people as possible. So success would mean, well, if I wanna get ahead, obviously, I have to live in a community close to white people or with white people. With two stores, one is Santa Clarita and the Empire liquor market in South Central. Theyd family was spread then. Instead of living her dream of a peaceful life and a beach house, soon job was stuck working behind a counter. Making things worse, Bilibili's investment wasn't paying off. The Empire liquor market did make as much money as expected. The family bounced checks, and some distributors stop making deliveries to store. But most damaging was the family's beef with the main street Crips here's Brenda Stevenson, the UCLA professor and author, S6. But most damage was the family's beef with the main street crypt. Here's Brenda Stephenson, the UCLA professor and author. There were gangs that were operative in the neighborhood that was doing the crack epidemic and it had serious impact on that community. In early 19 91, 3 suspected gang members assaulted Joseph to and robbed the early nineteen ninety one, three suspected gang members assaulted Joseph two and robbed the store. The dudes called the police and the men were arrested. That only escalated the conflict. The crypts returned to the store and threatened to kill the family. The dude shut down the market for two weeks hoping to calm things down. Billy Dewey even tried to broker a truce with the crypts. It didn't work. Unfortunately, her son and her husband had been victimized to a certain extent by some people who had come into shop and S6 that just fed into the mythology of black criminality that they arrived with. Billy Du's wife and son begged him to close store. But he couldn't find someone to buy the market at the price he wanted. So they stayed in South S6, in a neighborhood. They feared with they feared, with neighbors theyd didn't trust. Let's go through what happened on March 6, nineteen ninety one. What happened that day? Well, Latasha goes to, into the empire liquor market at about 9:31 Latasha goes to into the Empire Licker Market at about nine thirty one AM. When Latasha walked into the store, Tsumjadu was working the counter. Her husband Billy was sleeping outside in the family's van. A surveillance camera inside the store recorded what happened next. She comes into the shop. She walks to the back of the shop. And she gets a bottle of orange S6, which is about a dollar and seventy nine cents. I believe that was the price of it. She places it in her backpack. She has a backpack on S6 OUT THE TOP, YOU KNOW. AND THEN SHE WORKS OUR WAY BACK TO THE COUNTER. Reporter: IN THE VIDEO, Latasha IS WEARING A UCLA CAP AND S6. S6 Jadhu's son had warned her that people who were closed like S6 were gang members. Two witnesses later testified that S6 Jadhu confronted Latasha. When she gets up to the counter, she's immediately accused by missus Doo, who is the wife of the shopkeeper as S6. And Latasha tells her right away, I'm not stealing. You know, she has the money, which is two dollars in her hand. As soon as I do, wasn't satisfied in the video, you can see our lean over the counter and grab the left sleeve of Latasha S6 Xiaodu was and satisfied. In the video, you can see her lean over the counter and grab the left sleeve of Latasha sweater. Natasha Slaps do's hand. De holds onto the sleeve and tries to pull Natasha closer. At this point, you see two young children move toward the door. The conflict is escalating. Latasha swings her backpacket to his head and follows up with two hard punches to her face. Do falls behind the counter. Think it's back up. She S6 the stool at Latasha. The stool misses. Theyd, reaches behind the counter and pulls out gun. She points it at Latasha, clutching it with both hands. Latasha sees the gun. And this is, what's very interesting about the and this is what's very interesting about the video as you see her see the gun. And and she, you know, continues what she's doing. She's 2 put the orange juice down and she turns around to walk out. S6 Natasha begins to walk away, S6 Jadoo pulls the trigger. Just like that, Natasha collapses out of sight of the camera. Latasha Lavonne Harlan S6 right there on the floor of the Empire liquor market. She was fifteen years old. A police officer showed up at Ruth Hollidays' apartment later that after afternoon. Latasha's cousin, S6, wasn't the living room. Latasha and I, we were headed out that afternoon. I think De was going to the movies. So they came and knocked, showed a picture, and my grandmother verified it was Natasha. And all hell broke loose. I remember running out the S6. And I remember falling down in our driveway, just crying. Like, they killed their fuck, they killed her, like, fuck, they killed her. Let's take a break. Slow burn is brought to you by better help is something preventing you from achieving your S6 burn is brought to you about better help. It's something preventing you from achieving your goals. What interferes with your happiness? Betterhelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapy S6 better help, you can start communicating with your own licensed professional therapist in under forty eight hours. Connect in a safe and private online environment It's so convenient. Check out better help.com/slow Check out better help dot com slash slow brown. It's not a crisis It's not a crisis line. It's not It's not self help. It is professional S6. Done securely online. Send a message to your counselor anytime. You'll get timely and thoughtful responses. Plus you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions all without ever having to sit in an uncomfortable waiting room, better help is committed to facilitating great therapeutic plus you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions. All without ever having to sit in an uncomfortable waiting room. Betterhelp is committed facilitating great therapeutic matches so they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed. It's more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. I want you to start living a happier life want you to start living a happier life today. As a listener, you'll get ten percent off your first month by visiting our sponsor at betterhelp dot comslobburn. burn. Join over 1 million people who have taken charge of their mental Join over one million people who have taken charge of their mental health. Again, that's better Again, that's better help. H E L p.com/slow HELP dot com slash slash slash brown. The video of the Rodney king beating had been broadcast 12 days before the March 16th, killing of Latasha video of the Rodney King beating had been broadcast twelve days before the March sixteenth killing of Latasha Harland. The footage was still dominating the national and local news. On March seventeenth, the LA Times' Metro section featured a long profile of king. The lead photo in the metro section showed protesters gathering outside of LAPD headquarters demanding the resignation of police chief Daryl Gates. The ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news all ran series on police brutality 2 LAPD. But there were no stories anywhere about Latasha Harlands. The S6 and prosecutors had seen the video of Natasha's killing, but the public hadn't. And like in the Rodney King case, no one brought copy to a TV station. After a brief investigation at the store, police arrested soon chapter. Three days later, prosecutors charged due with murder on March nineteenth nineteen ninety 1991, and the LA Times S6 story about Natasha's death. An LAPD officer said the case was just a business dispute and it was not racially An LAPD officer said the case was just a business dispute and was not racially motivated. Nonetheless, responses to the killing broke down along racial and ethnic lines. Some Korean saw Soon Jadu as a frightened shopkeeper in a crime ridden neighborhood defending herself against a violent threat. Here's Elaine Kim. Honestly speaking, my initial impression was similar to the other Korean people who thought, poor Sunja De. This girl is dead, but poor Sunja do was probably terrified what were the circumstances of poor, S6 do inadvertently shooting someone because she was slugged and she was terrified. Black people in communities like South Central saw something different, a teenager. Shot in the head by an adult with a racist grievance. In those neighborhoods, Natasha's death tapped into years of anger and resentment. More than two hundred of Latasha classmates signed a letter to the LA Times. Was Natasha shot and killed because of racial intolerance they asked? When will this stop? We needed to make our voices heard. We needed we needed those voices to be loud and we needed to you know, get the community rowed up about and we did. Denny Bakewell is the activist who was skeptical of the Black Korean alliance. In the days Latasha Harlins says killing, he organized the demonstration in front of the Empire liquor market. About one hundred and fifty people showed up. Theyd posted a sign across the front of the store reading, S6 for murder, and S6 black people. Bakwell helped organize boycotts of other Korean merchants that were accused of discriminating against black customers. This was the kind of moment the black Korean alliance had been set up to address. The group promoted dialogue, not boycotts. But now the divisions were much harder to contain. Edward Chang, We still try to forge coronation and sustain it, but without any support, Shearman and financial support and the media just overwhelmed still try to forge coalition and sustain it, but without any S6, human and financial S6. And the the media just overwhelmed us, you know, De wasn't interested in mitigation. Media was interested in covering conflict, tension, boycotts, S6. In June, another Korean store owner shot and killed a black S6. He suspected of trying to rob his store. No charges were filed. In August, three Korean owned stores in South Central were fire bombed. LA mayor Tom Bradley held a press conference in front of a burned out storefront. De surrounded himself with Korean American business owners, Black Clarity, and members of the Black Korean alliance. He urged everyone to talk out their differences. But bakewell was done with talking. He kept up the boycotts for another month. This is not a S6 is not a game. This is our lives. This is our communities. This is our children. And you have to be more responsive and respectful or you De are gonna have a problem with each other. S6 Jadhu's murder trial was originally scheduled to take place in Compton near the Empire liquor market. But in August nineteen ninety one, a judge ordered a change of India. The proceeding was moved to downtown Los Angeles. The judge's reasoning did some witnesses a court staff, including a Korean interpreter, might feel intimidated driving in and out of Compton every day. The trial of S6 De began in September. At the center of the prosecution's case, was the surveillance De tape from the liquor S6, the first time that footage had been aired in public. In our opening statement, prosecutor Roxanne Carvahal, let the jury know what they were about to see. I do have to warn you that you should brace yourself because you will see Natasha being killed and she will die in front of your I do have to warn you that you should brace yourself. Because you will see Latasha being killed, and she will die in front of your eyes. Carl Hall, hope to show the jury that du had been the aggressor do hit grab Latasha sleeve, do hit thrown the stool, do hit, pulled out the Carvahal hoped to show the jury that De hit bendy S6 sir. Do hit grab Latasha sleeve. Do hit their own stool. Do hit pulled out the gun. And when Natasha tried to leave the store, De shot her. Earlier, you heard Elaine Kim say that, like some Koreans, she had sympathized with Soon Jaw De when she first heard about the killing. That changed when she saw the video. It looked like she was executing her. That's what it looked like 2 me S6 to see some woman pick up a gun and shoot the girl in the back of the head as she was leaving is so shocking. And S6, yes, it it theyd a huge difference to see to actually see that happen. I I can't believe that that that people would still think Latasha Harlins was at fault in any way. Du's lawyers argued that she'd acted in self defense. On the witness stand, do S6 that she thought Latasha might kill her, either with her punches or with a gun that she might be carrying in her Latasha didn't have a gun, but remember, Duke claimed that she believed Latasha was a gang member. Under cross examination, Dude said she'd been beaten senseless almost to oblivion and that even with a gun in her hand, she thought she was going to die. But due's version of events didn't line up with the tape. She wasn't beaten S6, and she had no reason to fear a teenage girl who had turned around and was walking away from her. HERE'S 2 Stephenson. IT REALLY GOES TO THIS NOTION OF HOW BLACK PEOPLE ARE S6 WITHIN OUR SOCIETY. De are perceived as being criminal, as being aggressive, you know, people who are violent, and just 2 be clear, Asian American women are not perceived in that way. But at the moment in which we were this case took place, missus De was S6 of as more feminine. She was thought of as more respectable because of her racial status and her generation. Latasha was thought of as being, you know, a rash teenager, as being someone who was brought up in a violent atmosphere. As the S6 parent is say, she hit like a boy. So that's what the jury had to consider. The security videotape versus the defenses caricature of a teenage black girl. Theyd could find S6 shot dude not guilty on self defense grounds. They could find a guilty of second degree murder or they could convict her of a lesser charge. Voluntary manslaughter defined as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice upon a sudden quarrel. Theyd for three days. Mister Severn, would you please keep the date of the the court? The court case reads the court. volunteering. Manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter was the same verdict that came down in the killing of Latasha mother. The verdict that made the family feel they hadn't gotten justice. The verdict that made Latasha want to be a lawyer to protect her family. That was the verdict for S6 job 2. But De didn't feel that she'd gotten off easy. She was facing up to sixteen years in state prison. When the verdict was read in court, she lowered her head and wept. S6 Jadhu's fate was now in the hands of Judge Joyce Harlins. Carlin had been appointed to the bench by Republican governor Pete S6. Just 2 months earlier. This was the first case she'd presided over that had gone to trial. The punishment she handed down would have huge consequences for the Harlins and two families, and for the city of Los Angeles. We'll be right back. If you're listening to this show, then you're probably a fan of unique and interesting stories. I wanna tell you about Pocket. Pocket is a website and app that finds the most interesting, thought provoking, and entertaining articles from trusted sources around the internet and puts them all in one place. Low on time, pocket lets you save articles, as well as else you find online like videos, recipes and shopping pages, to your personal pocket for digging into later. Pocket will even read the stories you saved aloud to you, like a podcast of back to back articles. Wanna go deep on a topic? They have some incredible curated collections that are hand selected by pocket editors or an ex expert pocket partner like me. Wanna learn more about what we discussed on season six of slow burn? Go to pocket dot com S6 slate. And check out slow burn to see my collection. When S6 De was interviewed by a probation officer before her sentencing, she admitted that she was frightened by black people and didn't understand them. She also said that if she was in the same situation again, she wouldn't do anything differently. The probation officer recommended the maximum sixteen year S6. Just Harlins rejected that recommendation. Was it murder? S6 jury convicted due of voluntary men's S6. But judge Joyce Harlins on the bench just since July imposed probation of five hundred dollar fine. No jail time. After announcing theyd would serve no jail time, Judge Harlins ran a S6. She said, Latasha death should be remembered as a catalyst 2 force S6 and Koreans, to confront an intolerable S6, and create solutions. This is not a time for rhetoric. It is not a time for revenge. It should be a time of healing. Harlins said De had acted out of fear and that she wasn't a threat to the community. Harlins also said they do likely hadn't shown remorse because of cultural and language barriers. After wrote a statement, Soon y'all do cried out, thank you God and Korean. But then, the Harlan's family had already left courtroom. Once again, the justice system had failed them. Here's Ruth Latasha grandmother. Alright. This wasn't it was an injustice. Alright. S6 has not been served. This lady has killed my fifteen year old granddaughter, and she did a way to five year probation. This is an injustice. S6 know, justice has not been through. Shaniise Harlan's killed Gore. If it was the other way around if Latasha would've killed Sunja De, she'd probably be imprisoned to this day to day. You know, because she, a typical black girl in a ghetto with a bad reputation, reputation on her name, S6 De live in a fucked up world, I guess. The justice system is not for us. Soon Jadu's light sentence, turn would have mostly been a local story and to a national scandal. S6 of the Harlan's family focused their outrage on judge Harlins. Black anger boiled over. I'm declaring today. The black community is at one with Judge Karens. Am I right? Are you with me? Even the S6 of and he stoked the flames by condemning and blacklisting the judge. This was such a stunning miscarriage of justice that judge Karlin cannot continue to hear criminal cases with any public credibility S6 was such a stunning miscarriage of justice. That judge Harlins cannot continue to hear criminal cases with any public credibility whatsoever. Black leaders led S6 at Carlin's courtroom and home. Some Koreans and Korean Americans also criticized the sentence. Theyd that the judge's ruling might come back to hurt them in their community. Edward Chang, she handed out the very light sentencing didn't help at all. I I mean, just probation for, you know, taking away persons in life, it just unacceptable. unacceptable. S6 The English language newspaper, the Korea times pointed out that soon, John do's sentence was less severe than the 30 days in English language newspaper, The Korea Times, pointed out that S6 sentence was less severe than the thirty days in jail. A Korean man see for kicking and stomping a dog. Some justice, the paper wrote. The LA Times looked at sentences given to people convicted of violent crimes in Los Angeles in the previous year. Of two hundred and forty seven defendants, Only two got straight probation with no jail time. Both of those were assault cases, not killings. In an interview almost three years later, Joyce Carlin lashed out at the media. The media is supporting the notion that racism is behind every decision that is made, that racism is is supporting the notion that racism is behind every decision that is made. That racism is behind is is the skeleton and everybody's closet. I have never been so aware, forced to be so aware of racial issues nobody thinks in terms of just human beings anymore. No no statement is made without injecting some politically correct thought. I think that I think we have to stop focusing on this system so much. I really do. You have to stop seeing it behind every You have to stop seeing it behind every door. Harlins said that she remained comfortable with how she handled the case. You don't make a decision because it's gonna make it look good or bad. You don't make a decision because you're afraid of being called a wimp or to S6 of make decisions for the right reasons and not personal consequences. That's my belief. That's certainly my belief as a judge. And if there comes a time when I can't make decisions without thinking about personal consequences, then it's time for me to lose the dash. Soon Jadu's sentence confirms something to Harlan's family, and many black Americans already near The justice system seemed to go into overdrive when meeting out punishment to black people. But when a black person or family came to court as a victim, Nothing worked as it should. Brenda S6 again. This was really, really a devastating judgment as far as black people were S6. If it's not the police, then it's and it's not the jury, then it's the judge. Black Angelinos would not forget the pain of Natasha Harlins killing. When the riots began, six months after Judge Harling issued our verdict. Demonstrators would write Latasha name on S6 signs, and twenty three hundred Korean owned stores would be looted and burned. But the Empire liquor market, it stayed standing. The building would be set on fire four separate times, but neighbors always put out the flames. Theyd wanted to preserve the S6 as a memorial to Latasha, and they didn't want to do family to get any assurance money. In the years following the trial, Latasha aunt, Denise Harlins, started an effort to recall judge Harling. She hoped to conjure the justice her family never found in court. Denise Harlins spent years lobbying public officials, staging protests, and crashing events where Harlan was appearing. Denise, who died in two thousand eighteen, issued Denise Harlan's killed Gore's mother. My mom didn't work at all. S6 was her job, a non theyd job. So this was her life to make sure judge Harlins wouldn't S6. Comfortable knowing she let murderer off. Joyce Carlin didn't get recalled. She retired as a judge in nineteen ninety S6. She said she wanted to spend more time with her family. Latasha Harlins family struggled to cope with her death. When Natasha was killed, Her cousin, S6, was still a teenager herself. Hell, I just lost my fucking best friend, and then the person I talk shit to the S6. You know what I'm saying? Why 1991 they call my hair? I just lost her. You S6 be like, what? Life just stop right then and they don't care how old you are. It was very painful to go home and to sit and just still have her clothes there. Still have her smell there. Billions soon shot didn't respond to our interview request. The author, Itabari and Jerry, spoke with Ruth Harlins in the year following due sentencing. I can remember this painful kind of squeaking voice from Ruth Harlins S6, talking about missus De. She has her grandchildren. 1991 don't I have my grandchild? Where is my grandchild? Los Angeles never delivered on his promise of a peaceful life for the Harlins Los Angeles never delivered on his S6. Of a peaceful life for the Harlins family. But with Ruth Harlan's couldn't give them in safety, she gave in love. She still lives in LA, not too from the home where she once lived with her children and grandchildren. She is now seventy nine years old. Having outlived two of her daughters and a granddaughter. Today, the painter Ruth many losses still lingers. My the way she takes death is super crazy because when her daughter passed away, my auntie passed away, my grandmother didn't keep no old pictures up. None. She she took every picture down of my auntie that she possibly can happen and she hit it. She put him away. So when Latasha passed on, she did the same thing. How long did it take her to take those pictures down? I don't honestly know, but if he was walking her house in the nineties, you wouldn't see a picture of Latasha or her mother. But now De years later, she's able to put a picture of a little And her mother. She accepts it. The the death She's dealing with the pain somehow someway. Next week on slow burn and outrage city meets an immovable S6 week on slow burn, an outraged city meets an immovable force. LAP was the most powerful political force in the city. I'm basically a fairly mild mannered person, but I I reached my living. The chief had stepped over the threshold that I could tolerate. Slow burn is a production of slight plus slights membership S6 burn is production of S6 plus. Slights membership program. You can sign up Slate Plus to hear a bonus episode of the show S6 week and every week for the next two months. And in this week's bonus episode, you'll be hearing more from Edibarry 2 who wrote a book about the Harlan's family called The Last Plantation. And from Edward Chang, who was member of the Black Korean S6. Theyd over to slate dot com slash slow burn 2 sign up and listen now. It's only a dollar for your first month. We couldn't make slow burn without the to S6 plus. So please, sign up. If you can head over to slate.com/slow burn, slow burn is produced by Jason daily own Ethan Brooks, Sophie summer grad, Jasmine Ellis and me Joel Anderson, editorial direction by Josh Levine and Gabriel Roth artwork by Jim cook theme up if you can. Head over to slate dot com slash slow burn. S6 burn is produced by Jason Daley own, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Jasmine Ellis, and Joe Landerson. Editorial direction by Josh Levine and Gabriel Roth, artwork by Jim Cook, theme music by Don Will, mixing by Mary Jayson. Brenda Stephenson's book was a great resource for us. It's called the contested murder of Latasha Harland. special. Thanks to the department of special research collections at the UC Santa Barbara thanks to the Department of Special Research Collection, at the UC Santa Barbara library, Lou Cannon, Jackson Vanderbilt, Devin Schwartz, Stan Mizrahi, Law Brilanti, Jared Hope, Lowe and Lou, Derek John, Derek Johnson, Evan Chiang, Davis Land, Janade Desmond Harris, Amber Smith, Bill Carey, Rachel S6, Seth Brown, Meredith Miranda, child two, Ashha Saluja, and Katie Rafford. Thanks for listening. If you're listening to this show, then you're probably a fan of unique and interesting stories. I wanna tell you about pockets Pockets is a website and app that finds the most interesting, thought provoking, and entertaining articles from trusted sources around the Internet and puts them all in one place. Low time. Pocket S6 you save articles, as well as anything else you find online like videos, S6, and shopping pages. To your personal pocket for digging into later. Pocket will even read stories you've saved aloud to you, like a podcast of back to back articles. Wanna go deep on a topic? They also have some incredible curated collections that are hand selected by pocket editors or an expert pocket good partner like me. Wanna learn more about what we discussed in today's S6, go to pocket dot com slash sleep and check out slow burn to see my collection of articles that dig deep into everything we talked about.