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Black racism does exist and it is more open. However, there's another side to the story of Asian storeowners in black neighborhoods. Some storeowners don't live in the neighborhood, and they don't care about it. Example: We lived in a largely quote-unquote "minority" (mostly black) neighborhood, and there were Asian storeowners on our block. One was a hardworking couple who were robbed at gunpoint and eventually had to sell their family business. They DID care about the neighborhood. The other ran a sandwich and beer shop around the corner, and he DIDN'T care about it. In addition to attracting drunkards and people hanging around begging for money for liquor, the guy had a burglar alarm that was nothing more than a very loud bell. One night it went off, and, even after we called 911 several times, the owner refused to come out and turn it off. He didn't live in the neighborhood, so he took his time and came out to turn it off around 8 a.m. Imagine a loud alarm ringing nonstop from 1 a.m. to early morning through your back window when you have work and school the next morning. We got no sleep. About 4 a.m. we tried to stop it by throwing a brick at the bell. By the morning, we were ready to wring the guy's neck. But his only response was that he doesn't speak English very well. Same went for other storeowners there from outside the neighborhood. One family (I think they were Jewish) were caught trading drugs for food stamps over the counter. It was well-known in the neighborhood, but you never heard that one in the news.

Yes, there was a great deal of resentment in L.A. about things such as prices and how the customers were treated. I remember some years earlier going with an acquaintance to a liqour store in South Central to cash a check. I was stunned by what was being charged for diapers and groceries. (There were no other markets nearby.) In 1992 there was also still anger over the fatal shooting of a teeanger by a Korean shop owner ealier in 1992 or late 1991.