Talk:Watts riots

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A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on August 11, 2004, August 11, 2008, August 11, 2009, August 11, 2010, August 11, 2012, and August 11, 2016.

Cause of Riot, Etc.

The information found at http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19093 needs to be intergrated into this article. As is, it's not very informative.

MSTCrow 21:22, August 12, 2005 (UTC)

Ask these questions:

If helicopters were used by the entertainment journalists to follow the action, how can it be possible?

The answer is scary if it's true.

How did the city commemorate?

Please someone tell me. I think people in the city did. I doubt the city wants to remember. Thank God people here want to. Thank you whoever chose ::to put Hoover's secretary's article in the featured list. Read that and then tell me you don't think this is true. I'll give you more to read if you ::make me, with this silly battle I can already imagine the next round of. Can someone else please chime in on this? I feel like I'm in school again. ::Literally being forced to teach people how to behave, that were being paid (off) to teach me dogma. It so happens that I don't know how to convert ::an investigative journey into an encyclopedia article, but I thought we were all in this together.

Whoever wrote this needs to be clear, concise and understandable. Also needs to sign.

1 23:31, August 13, 2005 (UTC)

Nikko Balanon?

Was the cop's name "Lee Minikus" or "Nikko Balanon"? I find no evidence for the name "Nikko Balanon" anywhere else on the web, apart from other sites posting this same article under a different banner.

Roots of black gangs, and cultural references

At the end of the "Racial segregation" section, it stated "The black mutual protection clubs that formed in response to these assaults became the basis of the region's fearsome street gangs." I have read that predictable allegation before and it is totally at odds with in-depth histories of black street gangs in Los Angeles. The same allegation has been made about Mexican street gangs in Los Angeles and, again, fails scrutiny. It's unsourced, and if someone finds a link where some professor states that it's true, I'm sorry; that's not enough. There is NO credible evidence that the above quote is true. The passage before that also described whites running around "firebombing", assaulting and harassing blacks which is un-sourced as well, although I'm sure someone will dig up a reference somewhere.

As to this, "The Joseph Wambaugh novel The New Centurions culminates in the Watts Riot and examines the negative impact of racist police in minority communities in the years preceding it.", I've read the book several times and it does NOT "examine the negative impact of racist police...". If anything, it does almost the opposite. The riots are shown as a breakdown of society, where black citizens are incited by radicals. The police are clearly portrayed in a sympathetic light, trying to uphold the law in a changing society. There's absolutely nothing about the "impact of racist police".

Cultural Reference

The Watts Riots (referred to as the Watts Rebellion) is referenced in episode 5 of the Japanese anime series Haruchika. A character's grandfather is said to have traveled to America in 1966 and experienced the riots. Though they took place in 1965, this error may be intentional because the subplot related to the riots is a red herring.

I have no experience editing Wikipedia but I figured it was a reference most people wouldn't catch since the anime is not particularly popular and American race relations are not a topic covered by anime very often.

Someone more qualified than me can verify the scene referring to the riots by watching episode 5 starting at 14 minutes 32 seconds (it is available for viewing on Funimation's YouTube channel.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.109.176.251 (talk) 23:41, 9 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Original research in background section

From the first paragraph of WP:NOR:

"To demonstrate that you are not adding original research, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article and directly support[b] the material being presented."

In this Watts riots article, the first two paragraphs of the section Background violate the above Wikipedia policy because the sources for the two paragraphs do not mention the Watts riots. Bob K31416 (talk) 16:13, 5 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There is not a blanket ban on sources if they don't mention the topic. Background in any article provides helpful context. The policy is about the content as described below. Are there particular sentences in those paragraphs which violate this policy?

"Wikipedia does not publish original thought. All material in Wikipedia must be attributable to a reliable, published source. Articles must not contain any new analysis or synthesis of published material that reaches or implies a conclusion not clearly stated by the sources themselves." 〜 Adflatuss • talk 17:51, 5 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The issue is that the material in the two paragraphs is not supported by any sources that mention the topic of this article, viz. the Watts riots. The given sources do not mention or make any connection with the Watts riots, so the two paragraphs of this Wikipedia article violate WP:NOR. As it stands now, the connection to the Watts riots is made by Wikipedia, not by sources. Bob K31416 (talk) 01:11, 6 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at the remaining part of the section, which consists of the subsection Residential segregation, one sees that it has the same problem of using sources that make no mention or connection to the Watts riots. The only exceptions are the last two paragraphs that begin with "Despite its reform..." and "Resentment of....", which contain sources 17 and 18 that make reference to the Watts riots. Bob K31416 (talk) 22:42, 7 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

On further review, I found that in the subsection Residential segregation, the fourth paragraph (beginning with "The Rumford...") is OK. Also, I redid the citation there, including the link and numbering for relevant pages. Bob K31416 (talk) 23:37, 9 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Please see "This page in a nutshell" for a summary of WP:NOR. It is not about sources having a specific mention. It is about "original thought". I don't think that Watts being a neighborhood of LA and describing the that black people moved to LA is a "new analysis or synthesis". The section is Background and this is appropriate content for this article. Please list any sentences that are "original thought" or "new analysis or synthesis". 〜 Adflatuss • talk 04:00, 11 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, What are your thoughts on the excerpt from WP:NOR that is in my first message? Bob K31416 (talk) 15:35, 11 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"To demonstrate that you are not adding original research..." What follows in your excerpt is how an editor can show their addition of content is not original research. WP:NOR is not about sources but about "original thought". 〜 Adflatuss • talk 05:41, 12 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The excerpted sentence describes a test that determines whether an editor is contributing original research. Here's the rest of the sentence, "...you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article and directly support[b] the material being presented." In the first five paragraphs of the Background section , it appears that the given sources fail this "directly related to the topic of the article" requirement of WP:NOR. If you find otherwise, please let me know. Bob K31416 (talk) 14:52, 12 January 2024 (UTC).[reply]