Research Paper: The Watts Riots

In August 1965, the Watts area of Los Angeles exploded as Black Americans expressed pent-up rage for second-class status in America. The event that triggered the so-called Watts Riots was a simple traffic stop of young man by a Highway Patrol motorcycle officer for reckless driving. A crowd gathered, the driver’s mother was called to come witness the event and within 24 hours Police Chief William Parker called in the National Guard to patrol the streets of Los Angeles. A simple traffic stop had become a national stand-off about civil rights and a community-wide release of decades of anger. The Watts Riots changed Los Angeles - and America - for ever.

Your assignment is to write an outline of a 3-4 page paper describing the underlying reason why Black citizens of Los Angeles exploded. You will find information about the vicious treatment they faced at the hands of the police of L.A. But don’t dwell just on that, investigate the more subtle ways discrimination played a role in enforcing inequality. You could investigate the restrictive covenants that prevented Black people from buying houses beyond certain boundaries. Examine the impact such “ghettoization” had on educational and health opportunities. Look into workers rights and access to good, union jobs. Find one aspect of this brutally enforced double standard and investigate carefully.

You need to find facts to back up your topic by using the LASC library resources. This paper is not about your opinions. Rather it is about finding the facts that prove the double-standard that Watts residents (and Black people everywhere) faced daily. When you create your outline, you will organize the facts that you found while doing your research. You must cite your sources (prove where you got your information from). Your sources have to be good, respected sources suitable for evidence in an academic paper. 

Then, write two strong, interesting paragraphs to begin your paper that will show that you’ve learned how craft a good hook and a solid thesis statement. You will also hand in an outline for the rest of your paper. Use MLA citations to document your research. 

Use the LASC library database to do your research. You should be able to find the information you need this way.