ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a demographic perspective on the "riot of color" that engulfed selected parts of metropolitan Los Angeles while leaving most of the area unscathed. Riot participation by older males seems to have been much more common among blacks than among Hispanics, given the populations at risk. The black community of South Central Los Angeles may regard the incursion of Hispanics as "threatening". Black-Hispanic rivalry for political power and patronage jobs in Los Angeles County has often been reported by the press; ethnic tension in residential neighborhoods has been less apparent. Hispanics tend to marry young and have children after; domestic commitments may well limit the "availability" of all but the youngest Hispanic males for riot participation. Consistent with this hypothesis, over 60 percent of all Hispanic households in South Central are married couples; just 7 percent are composed entirely of unrelated individuals.
