Watts riots
CulturalDiscover More
Los Angeles was the scene of another riot in 1992, triggered by the acquittal of white police officers accused of beating an African-American man named Rodney King.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Headhunters returned to L.A. in August with the Fab Four to play two shows at the Hollywood Bowl just weeks after the Watts riots.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025
Even then, Reagan was helped greatly by the restive climate stemming from the Watts riots, widespread campus unrest and voter fatigue shrouding the incumbent, Jerry Brown’s father, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2025
During the Watts riots in 1965, he had the band play in the middle of the road on a flatbed truck.
From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2023
Still, decades after the deadly 1965 Watts riots spurred construction of the original hospital — which was supposed to bring high-quality health care to poor neighborhoods in South Los Angeles — many disparities persist.
From Salon • Nov. 9, 2022
He was a sheriff in L.A.; he quit after the Watts riots.
From Joe Burke's Last Stand by Wetterau, John Moncure
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.