Thirty years ago, the Venice enclave of Oakwood was one of the few residential neighborhoods beset by widespread rioting after four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.
No one died, and I find no record of injuries, but dozens of homes were attacked — some with bricks through windows, and one white family's rented luxury home was invaded and torched by Black neighbors, while a baby-sitter and 5-year-old child cowered in the laundry room.
So much of coastal Los Angeles County is white. African Americans were driven from Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach, but Oakwood was different. For decades, because of racist economic policies, it was the only Westside neighborhood where African American families could buy homes. Many worked for the developer Abbot Kinney, who dreamed of turning Venice into a replica of its Italian namesake, with canals and seaside attractions.
