Editorial: Once again, Los Angeles burns -- and the unrest is sparked by an all-too-familiar rage

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jun 11, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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From generation to generation, it seems, Los Angeles burns.

During World War II, white Angelenos attacked Mexican and Filipino Americans who wore zoot suits as identifiers of racial pride and protest. In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was called in to help bring a peaceful end to the Watts Riots. While condemning the violence, King called Watts “the beginning of a stirring of those people in our society who have been bypassed by the progress of the past decade.”

In 1992, the acquittal of four officers charged with the brutal beating of Rodney King — one of the first instances of police brutality captured on video — became the impetus for rioting.

This weekend, raucous protests have focused on the ham-fisted and cruel execution of President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The spark may differ, but over decades, the underlying cause remains the same: In the City of Angels, the flames that define civil unrest are more often than not fueled by America’s original sin, our history of bias, discrimination, and racial injustice.

“All men are created equal” was a bold statement for the 18th century, particularly when it was uttered in a world ruled by those who held power based on the station of their birth. Yet, despite its moral clarity, it rang painfully hollow.

After all, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, enslaved 600 people over his lifetime. The people who toiled at Monticello might have been created equal in the eyes of what Jefferson referred to as “Nature’s God,” but they were never treated so by him or his contemporaries.

This hypocrisy endured for four score and seven years. And even then, despite the passage of the “freedom amendments,” it was replaced by a new system of segregation. No matter how much progress Americans seem to make in ensuring the founding promises of this nation are kept, we are quick to demonstrate how far we have to go.

The recent series of high-profile deportations under the second Trump administration and subsequent protests in California — and growing anger across the nation — should be seen in this context, yet another chapter in America’s longest struggle.

Led by anti-immigrant White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the Trump administration has embarked on a new effort to ramp up deportations. It has even gone as far as reassigning FBI agents away from other priorities. This sweep is not aimed at removing violent criminals, like many past deportation efforts. According to the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet, Miller attacked officials who sought to focus on legitimate dangers to the public, asking them, “Why aren’t you at Home Depot?”

ICE seems to have been given carte blanche to sow fear and visit terror upon immigrant communities. Along with raids at places of business like Miller’s apparently preferred target, Home Depot, or a North Philadelphia car wash or grocery store, agents have also targeted immigrants attending scheduled court hearings and detained people at their citizenship interviews.

In the rush to arrest first and ask questions later, immigrants legally in the country and American citizens have seen themselves targeted, sometimes at random, and sometimes for reasons of clear intimidation. Agents have begun covering their faces and badges, tactics that do not belong in a democracy.

The Trump administration would claim it is only enforcing the law, but given its own lawlessness — including the deportation of more than 200 immigrants to a Salvadoran prison without due process and in violation of a court order — it is no surprise civil resistance has come to the fore. Angelenos took to the streets to demand that the rights of their friends and neighbors be respected.

It is highly concerning that the Trump administration pounced on a few examples of vandalism over the weekend to militarize the response to the protests. Despite no request for support from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass or California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the president activated the National Guard. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered the services of Marines at nearby Fort Pendleton.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday the state will sue the administration over the National Guard deployment. Given the objections of local leaders, it is likely any additional presence — of Marines or other federal troops — would only inflame tensions, rather than quell them. Of course, that may be exactly what the Trump administration wants.

Miller, who is from nearby Santa Monica, presents the unrest as proof of the dangers of mass migration and how it “unravels societies.” The fact is, protest and dissent are at the heart of America — much like the sickness protesters are rallying against.

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