[djrogers]

It is absolutely horrifying that you would compare the violent rioting, looting, arson, rape, and general mayhem of the '92 LA riots with the peaceful demonstration in Tiananmen Square.

Regardless of your opinion on the motives of the rioters, their 'tactics', the actions of the thousands of others who followed in their wake, and the geography involved (the riots covered over 32 miles in an area with several million residents) set the stage for a government response that included military forces. This was not the case in Tiananmen square where the demonstrators were a)peaceful and b)located in a relatively small area.

Your comparison shames the bravery of the '89 demonstrators, while at the same time drastically minimizing the horror of the response (both that day and after) by the Chinese military.

[firstOrder]

This person makes my point. As I said, American students are more apt to know about what happened longer ago and farther away in Beijing than what happened more recently and closer to home in Los Angeles. When and if it is brought up, the military being unleashed on the poor and working people of Los Angeles is defended, the civilian population is called criminals etc. This is a fairly normal reaction for a typical American professional.

As far as being "peaceful" in Tiananmen Square, policemen and soldiers were killed, vehicles were set on fire injuring and killing the occupants - there are plenty of pictures and videos of the violence the police and military faced when they tried to peacefully clear the square, as well as in other parts of the city.

[djrogers]

I was living in Los Angeles during the riots, and regardless of your revisionist history lessons, the people I saw raping, pillaging, and looting were not merely the 'poor and working people of Los Angeles' - they were criminals.

[firstOrder]

Here are some of those peaceful people you were talking about in Beijing - a soldier bloodied by the peaceful crowds beating, a soldier beaten to death by the peaceful crowd, a tank set on fire by the peaceful crowd etc. Glad they were peaceful and not violent criminals like in Los Angeles.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bi... http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bi... http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/china060412/s_t29_...

[akfanta]

@djrogers

"It is absolutely horrifying that you would compare the violent rioting, looting, arson, rape, and general mayhem of the '92 LA riots with the peaceful demonstration in Tiananmen Square."

"I was living in Los Angeles during the riots"

did you live in Beijing during the Tiananmen event?