Economic Deprivation and Hopes for Revitalization in South Central LA (1992)

When trying to explain the underlying conditions that gave rise to the LA Riots, many politicians and commentators looked at the barren economic landscape of South Central Los Angeles. In this field piece from The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, community activist Juanita Tate estimates that Black male unemployment had reached 40 percent, and shows how abandoned storefronts and high-interest check cashing stores had replaced successful businesses and banks. In such an environment, residents had little access to well-paying jobs or investment capital to start new businesses. According to entrepreneurs and advocates like Tate, fixing the social problems of South Central, or other impoverished urban neighborhoods, required government and financial institutions to provide more economic resources to people in these communities.

The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour | NewsHour Productions : Washington D.C. | May 07, 1992 This video clip and associated transcript appear from 15:20 - 20:22 in the full record.