4.29.92

That’s the date of the beginning of the infamous L.A. Riots that broke loose upon the acquittal of the Los Angeles Police Department officers who had been videotaped beating Rodney King. What began as a White-Black racial issue quickly became a Black-Korean conflict with a mob of mostly African-American youth attacking Korean businesses in South Central Los Angeles and Koreatown and Koreans retaliating violently. In the end 55 people died and more than 2,000 were injured.

To many African-American residents of South Central L.A., Koreans represented greed, selfish upward mobility and racist condescension. Koreans were there to make money off them so they can quickly become as wealthy and successful as the Whites in the suburbs—in the meantime treating their predominantly Black customers with open disdain.

Things are somewhat different now, 15 years later. Nobody wants another riot. There’s a more complex ethnic landscape now, further segregated by ethnicity, making Los Angeles probably the most segregated city in the U.S. One can literally find every nation, tribe, tongue and people in L.A. We know exactly where to find them as well.

So . . . we’ve learned to put up with one another better, as long as we stay in our ‘hoods.

And . . . unfortunately, Adventism in Los Angeles reflects the ethnic silo reality. It’s not surprising. Adventism as a church has never really led society in its vision for racial harmony; we’ve tailgated it. Whatever visionary, reform impulse that drove Adventism in the 19th century, it was coopted by the need to self-preserve, to survive, to be accepted by society.

Some changes are indeed happening in L.A. Five years ago this month, the first annual Asian Hip Hop Summit was inaugurated to bridge the gap between Korean-Americans and Blacks. Last year’s Summit was on December 1 and 2, and was billed as an event “for the street, the gangsters, the thugs, the incarcerated, the poor.” Performing and in attendance were young people of all nations, tribes, languages and classes. Whatever one thinks of hip hop, it’s bridging the gap. It serves as an incarnational tool.

And, of course, there’s Cristina Yang and Preston Burke of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC. Set in Seattle, but very much Hollywood and L.A. in its ethos, the drama offers a glimpse at where Black-Korean relations might be heading. She’s Korean; he’s African-American. Both are interesting, highly competent yet flawed characters. They’re in love, engaged to be married before the end of this season. At the wedding (if it’s portrayed with some reference to reality), families (lots of them) from both sides of the couple will be there. It’ll be a surreal pointer to which Black-Korean relations can to grow. Or . . . it may end up as just another TV fantasy. Still, Yang-Burke coupling would have been unthinkable 15 years ago. So, it means something . . . that some things are changing.

What’s changing in U.S. Adventism? Are there any models for the future of racial/ethnic relations that goes beyond the silos of today? What incarnational opportunities are there? One strong clue from the Hip Hop Summit is that the under-25, “millennial” generation shares so much with one another across racial/ethnic lines. The feast that we host as a church must be one that that has “streed cred” to which those who are “both good and bad” can come (a la Matthew 22).

That’ll be a riot.