From Latasha Harlins to Breonna Taylor: Black Girls Lives Matter

“Nobody matters less in our society than young black women. Nobody.” -Jim DeRogatis, 2000.

Two weeks after Rodney King was beaten by four LAPD police officers, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was murdered by a Korean-American shop owner in Koreatown, LA. The murderer claimed self-defense and claimed Latasha was trying to shoplift a bottle of orange juice that cost $1.79. Latasha was shot in the back of the head. She died holding two dollars in her hand. The shop owner’s husband called 9-1-1 to report that the store was being held up. The entire incident was caught on a security camera.

The shop owner was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The jury recommended the maximum sentence of 16 years. The judge did not accept the recommendation and sentenced the shop owner to probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. The judge said the shop owner’s actions were “understandable” and now is “not a time for revenge.” The shop owner’s sentence was upheld one week before the Los Angeles riots.

It is estimated that 65 percent of the businesses that were destroyed in the Los Angeles riots were Korean-owned. The riots were seen by many as a response to the Rodney King verdict. Tupac Shakur knew differently and dedicated his 1993 song “Keep Ya Head Up” to the memory of Latasha Harlins. Latasha’s murderer was not punished for her death because Latasha existed in a system where her life didn’t matter. Where her murder was understandable. 29 years later, Breonna Taylor existed in a system where her life didn’t matter. Where her killers shoot “wantonly and blindly” into her home, murdering her, and are punished with administrative leave.

We Asian Americans have quietly benefited from, profited off of, and perpetuated this system of oppression that deemed that Latasha’s and Breonna’s lives didn’t matter. When George Floyd was murdered over an alleged counterfeit twenty-dollar bill while an Asian-American cop looked on, I thought of Latasha. We’ve been duped to seek the approval of a white supremacist system that conditions us to view black skin as dangerous. We often only view ourselves as people of color when it benefits us. We must realize our place in this system and be better allies.

Latasha Harlin’s life matters. Breonna Taylor’s life matters. It should matter to Asian Americans, as well. “It’s still on” for us until the cops who killed Breonna Taylor are arrested.