{"product_id":"the-contested-murder-of-latasha-brenda-stevenson-9780199944576","title":"The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the La Riots","description":"Helicopters patrolled low over the city, filming blocks of burning cars and buildings, mobs breaking into storefronts, and the vicious beating of truck driver Reginald Denny. For a week in April 1992, Los Angeles transformed into a cityscape of rage, purportedly due to the exoneration of four policemen who had beaten Rodney King. It should be no surprise that such intense anger erupted from something deeper than a single incident. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins\u003c\/em\u003e, Brenda Stevenson tells the dramatic story of an earlier trial, a turning point on the road to the 1992 riot. On March 16, 1991, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins, an African American who lived locally, entered the Empire Liquor Market at 9172 South Figueroa Street in South Central Los Angeles. Behind the counter was a Korean woman named Soon Ja Du. Latasha walked to the refrigerator cases in the back, took a bottle of orange juice, put it in her backpack, and approached the cash register with two dollar bills in her hand-the price of the juice. Moments later she was face-down on the floor with a bullet hole in the back of her head, shot dead by Du. Joyce Karlin, a Jewish Superior Court judge appointed by Republican Governor Pete Wilson, presided over the resulting manslaughter trial. A jury convicted Du, but Karlin sentenced her only to probation, community service, and a $500 fine. The author meticulously reconstructs these events and their aftermath, showing how they set the stage for the explosion in 1992. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn accomplished historian at UCLA, Stevenson explores the lives of each of these three women-Harlins, Du, and Karlin-and their very different worlds in rich detail. Through the three women, she not only reveals the human reality and social repercussions of this triangular collision, she also provides a deep history of immigration, ethnicity, and gender in modern America. Massively researched, deftly written, \u003cem\u003eThe Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins\u003c\/em\u003e will reshape our understanding of race, ethnicity, gender, and-above all-justice in modern America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Brenda Stevenson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0199944571\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199944576\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/23\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 444\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.40h x 6.30w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEssence\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013 pg. 60\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013 pg. 109","brand":"Brenda Stevenson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43981503168767,"sku":"9780199944576","price":58.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a41bf964-dffb-4db2-aa5e-c4a6c0dd391e.jpg?v=1683255963","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-contested-murder-of-latasha-brenda-stevenson-9780199944576","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}