The Latasha Harlins Justice Committee called for Karlin, the judge who issued Du’s sentence, to step down. Activists protested at her home and on the steps of the courthouse where she worked. They collected thousands of signatures in two failed efforts to recall her. Karlin remained a judge until stepping down in 1997.
But in Los Angeles, Latasha’s death had a profound effect in both the black and Korean communities. For blacks, the killing became a symbol of the dangers and indifference faced by African American youths. Those feelings turned to rage when the woman who shot Harlins, Soon Ja Du, avoided jail time.
Latasha’s aunt, Denise Harlins, founded The Latasha Harlins Justice Committee in her honor. She passed away on Christmas Day in 2018. A Love Song for Latasha is available to stream on Netflix now.
It seems like the Latasha Harlins story encapsulates so many issues we’re seeing play out today.
What happened after the death of Latasha Harlins?
Despite intervention from leaders of both communities, the time after the death of Latasha Harlins was categorized by boy cotts, tense debate, bitterness, Molotov Cocktails, and more convenience store murders. However, while tensions were exponentially increased because of the killing of Harlins, they were built on existing conflict that had been present in the community. Korean immigrant shop-owners have a growing presence in black communities since before the 1970s. Since then, they have been a target of anger from both black shop-owners and black customers, with competing claims from either group that say Korean shop-owners “undercut prices” by the shop-owners and that they over charge by the customers. In 1984, seven years before Latasha Harlins was shot, an editorial was posted in a black community newspaper urging a boycott of Korean stores, saying that any black person who went to their stores was a ‘traitor’. Korean immigrants bought their storefronts in black neighborhoods, specifically South Los Angeles, because the real estate was significantly cheaper than other neighborhoods. The distrust runs possibly even further, because in the same editorial the writer exclaims, “The real question is, why was my brother’s brains blown out fighting for those Koreans?” in reference to the Korean War. Further, the stereotypes of the two groups was a source of contension, with black people often being labeled at economically “dependent” while Koreans and other Asians are often labeled at economically self-sufficient. Tensions only continued to mount during 1991, where injustices against black Americans, and the release of the police officers who beat Rodney King were released. These events all culminated in deadly and destructive riots beginning on April 29, 1992 and continuing through May 4, 1992. Many of the targets of looting and destruction were Korean stores, with more than two-thousand Korean stores being burned or looted. Though these ethnic tensions have not resulted in wide-scale violence since 1992, the relationship between Koreans and the black community remains strained.
Latasha Harlins was born January 1, 1976, in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Crystal Harlins and Sylvester “Vester” Acoff Sr. Latasha had one younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr., and one younger sister, Christina. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981. In 1982, when Latasha was six years old, her father took a job in a steel foundry while her mother worked as a waitress in a local tavern. They lived near 89th St. and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would be killed ten years later.
Los Angeles Riots in 1992. Latasha Harlin’s murder was one of many events in Los Angeles that lead to the riots in 1992. While the event itself was a tragedy, another tragedy that came from the event, in the eyes of many in the black community, was that Soon Ja Du did not receive any jail time for her blatant crime.
Two eyewitnesses—9-year-old Ismail Ali and his 13-year-old sister Lakeshia Combs—disputed that claim, saying that Du called Harlins a “bitch” and accused her of trying to steal, to which they claimed Harlins replied that she intended to pay for the orange juice.
Soon Ja Du testified on her own behalf, claiming that the shooting was in self-defense and that she believed her life was in danger. But her testimony was contradicted by the statements of the two witnesses present at the time, as well as the store’s security camera video, which showed Du shooting Harlins in the back of the head as the teenager turned away from Du and attempted to leave the store. The Los Angeles Police Department ballistics report also found that the handgun Du used was altered in such a way that it required much less pressure on the trigger to fire than an ordinary handgun.
The Los Angeles mayor’s office estimated that 65 percent of all businesses vandalized during the riots were Korean-owned. On August 17, 1991, while Du was awaiting trial, a small fire occurred at her store.
Du reached under the counter, retrieved a revolver, and fired at Harlins from behind at a distance of about three feet (one meter). The gunshot struck Harlins in the back of the head, killing her instantly. Du’s husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the gunshot and rushed into the store.
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Why did Latasha not get justice?
Latasha did not get justice and decades later people still fail to get justice because of the color of their skin. We are still far from having a perfect justice system. However, open conversations around race and racism may be the catalyst to change.
She explained that she had shot Latasha because she thought that she would die if Latasha had punched her again. She also stated that she believed Latasha was a thief as she had placed the orange juice in her bag instead of holding it in her hand.
When Latasha entered the Empire Liquor Market she made her way to the refrigerator section and got herself a bottle of $1.79 orange juice. She placed the juice in her bag and took out her money and walked towards the cashier with her cash in hand. The cashier, Soon Ja Du didn’t see the money Latasha had in her hand and immediately accused …
The movie shows the link between Latasha’s murder and the subsequent 1992 LA uprising. Although people are often tempted to say, “not everything is about race”. The racist undertones, in the Latasha Harlins shooting, cannot be ignored.
A mural honouring the life of Latasha Harlins was unveiled on what would have been her 45th birthday: Source BET.com. In memory of Latasha, a playground in Los Angeles was named after her.
Apr 10 · 5 min read. Latash Harlins (Left) and Soon Ja Du (Right): Source Wikipedia. On March 16, 1991, Latasha Harlins who was fifteen at the time entered her local convenience store, the Empire Liquor Market in Vermont Vista, Los Angeles. Unbeknown to her that was where she would take her last breaths as a victim of a senseless act of violence.
The judge justified the sentence by stating that Soon had acted as a result of fear from past robberies at the store.
Who killed Latasha Harlins?
A generation ago, long before Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and the Black Lives Matter movement, the death of Latasha Harlins lit a fuse inside Los Angeles’ African American community. Latasha, 15, was shot in the back of the head by a Korean woman who owned a South Los Angeles liquor store. The killing was captured on a grainy security video.
3 / 10. Richard Lloyd Brown Jr. , second from left, uncle of Latasha Harlins, receives a hug as Latasha’s grandmother Ruth Harlins, center, and community members attend a vigil for Latasha on the 25th anniversary of her shooting death along Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 10.
For blacks, the killing became a symbol of the dangers and indifference faced by African American youths. Those feelings turned to rage when the woman who shot Harlins, Soon Ja Du, avoided jail time.
Shinese Harlins wears a T-shirt in her cousin Latasha Harlins’ honor at a vigil on the 25th anniversary of Latasha’s shooting death in Los Angeles. A 1992 photo shows Empire Liquor Market Deli in South Central Los Angeles.
