Researchers, nonprofits working in Watts, South Central reflect on the region 60 years after riots

It is not an easy question to answer.

“Are people in Watts better off today than they were 60 years ago after the Watts Riots? Yes, in terms of many metrics. But relatively speaking, about the same,” answered Fernando Guerra, a professor of political science and Chicana/o Latina/o studies at Loyola Marymount University, and the founding director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

Guerra, who has spent more than 30 years studying Los Angeles history and politics, was asked along with others, to reflect on the 60th anniversary of the Watts Riots — that erupted on Aug. 11, 1965 after a traffic stop of a Black motorist — and offer their assessments of the present day with an eye toward the future.

“Safer today than 60 years ago? Yes,” he said on Tuesday