Little Scarlet by Walter Mosely: Historical Account of Watts Riot

America's history, as with any other culture, can be traced through it's popular culture. Music, movies, books, and theater are all ways of safeguarding heritage and history. Often the best place to look, when searching for the true meaning and emotions of an event, is in a book or a song or a movie. Little Scarlet is a perfect example. Walter Mosely captured the events of the Watts riots better than any news article or police report. He puts the reader directly into the action, emotion and chaos of the Watts riot in a way that nothing else can. Little Scarlet is a great testament to the 1960's; it provides a historical insight into the Watts Riot, it depicts a more personal view of the Watts Riot through diverse characters, and it shows the intense race relations and underlying problems that remain in todays society.

The Watts Riot of August 1965 lasted a total of six days in Los Angeles. At it's end there were thirty-four deaths, one thousand and thirty-two injured, and three thousand nine-hundred and fifty-two people arrested (Governor's Commision 2). The riot was in reaction to police brutality that had been prevalent in Los Angeles and throughout the country for that matter. The event escalated enough to have the national guard sent in to quell the situation. The initial cause of the riots stemmed from the arrest of Marquette Frye by a white police officer named Lee Minikus. After Marquette failed to pass a sobriety test, Minikus refused to let Marquette's brother, Ronald, drive the car home and the situation became heated from there. A few onlookers turned into a mob of angry men and women that turned to violence. The Watt's Riot's impact was immense. It sparked films like "There Goes My Baby," novels like Little Scarlet, a song by Frank Zappa entitled "Trouble Every Day," and it even made it into the television show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" as Uncle Phil supposedly participated in the Watts Riots. Most of all, however, the Watts Riots were symbolic of things to come in the world of civil rights; it was almost as if the black community found its tipping point. According to an article written on the National Public Radio website the riots were more than a race issue, "Forty years later, many area residents still remember those days. Some still term it a rebellion, not a riot. The official government report concluded the riots were rooted in discontent over high unemployment; poor housing and medical care; and bad schools. Relations with the police were at an all-time low" (Mandalit 1). The national impact of the Watts Riot is one of recognition; American's were forced into recognizing the racial problems at hand. However, on a local and smaller scale it seems as though things aren't incredibly different. In the same NPR article, a woman by the name of Alice Harris or "Sweet Alice" was interviewed and she says "Things haven't changed much at all. Everybody is tense -- no jobs, zero tolerance in the housing projects... people scared of the police" (Mandalit 1). The Watts Riot was the boiling point and shed light into the black communities unhappiness and what lengths they were willing to take it too, yet to this day the underlying problems of the Watts Riots remain.

Little Scarlet hits at the very heart of the Watts Riot and does so through it's characters. While all of the characters in Little Scarlet are certainly important and help move the story, Easy Rawlins, Mouse, and Melvin Suggs are the three characters that give the most insight into the Watts Riots. First and foremost is Easy Rawlins, the protagonist of the novel. Easy is a detective with no formal credentials which is a major symbol and a key theme that Mosely wants to get across. Basically, Easy is the quintessential example of white oppression of the sixties. He is intelligent, caring, yet rugged and tough. The police use him for his abilities as a detective and ability to investigate without causing trouble; however, they don't bother to think about giving him the proper credentials he deserves. White America at the time had the same attitude towards black America at the time. They used them for what they needed and when the time came to give recognition they did not do so. Lyndon B. Johnson even recognized this in his speech to the nation after the Watts Riot occurred saying there were "thousands of disenfranchised Negro men and women" (Johnson, 1). Easy's right hand man is Raymond Alexander or "Mouse." Mouse is a fiercely loyal friend to Easy and is his muscle throughout the novel. However, he seems to be lacking a moral conscience and that mixed with a violent temper leads to bad things. It seems as though Mosely wanted to use Mouse as a symbol of the black backlash that was the Watts Riot. Again quoting Johnson refering to the causes of the Watts Riot, "these things no doubt led to these riots. But they did not justify them"(Johnson 1). Mouse is the character that does just that, he sees a problem and acts out of emotion and anger and does things that are unjustifiable. While the Watts Riot, in hindsight, hastened the civil rights movement; violent riots are still unjustified. Finally, one key component to the Little Scarlet novel is the white detective Melvin Suggs. While he is lacking in content and dialog, without him, the story wouldn't be. He is the symbol of the white man that looms in the background over black community throughout the entire novel. The story moves along through Easy and the black community, but one can't help but think who actually got them in the situation they are in. When Suggs talks to Easy, tensions become evident and Mosely really gives the reader a feel of what it was really like to be in that situation. Easy says, "Suggs didn't look at me when he talked. He didn't seem like the kind of driver who needed to keep his eyes on the road, so I guessed he was a little embarrassed by needing my help"(Mosely 12). This quote sums up race relations at the time. When Suggs does not look Easy in the eyes, it is symbolic of his embarrassment and also his seemingly lack of respect for Easy. Easy, Mouse, and Suggs are each given personality traits that are representative of different aspects of the Watts Riot; which in turn gives the reader an even more intense view of the event.

It is difficult to say what the actual long term effects of the Watts Riot are, as they are still coming to fruition. In the grand scheme of the civil rights movement, however, the Watts Riot was just another piece to the puzzle so it can't be linked as a direct cause to changes in civil rights laws. Also, as seen in the quotation of "Sweet Alice," the living conditions and racial tensions of the Watts neighborhood is seemingly unchanged. The immediate impact was never in doubt, the country recognized it's problem and realized it needed to be fixed. But as for the impact of the Watts Riot on todays society, it is almost invisible. In an L.A. Times interview Rena Price, mother of Marquette Frye, supported this argument saying "There's a whole lot of worse things going on now. Like killing kids for no reason. It's terrible. There have been two to three riots since the '65 riots. What was the name of that King guy? Rodney? You hear more about that than the '65 riots. Oh it's been years. I'm through with it" (Reitman 2). While the laws have changed and racial equality is at an all time high, example being the president of the United States, the underlying problems still remain. What was once a racial issue has now become a societal issue. It is the same story on a different day in many African American neighborhoods; people are out of work, in poor housing, and living with intolerant police. Los Angeles isn't an anomaly when it comes to poor relations with the police. It is an over arching societal problem. When men and women grow up in a poor area and are surrounded by wealth and they are told that is where they should want to be; crime will no doubt grow as people are simply trying to find a means to being part of that upper class. Thus, police must become stricter and tensions will rise. The situation in Watts should tell American's, if anything, that the situation was not just a racial problem and if something is not done to fix the social system and increase social well being then something similar could most certainly happen again.

Little Scarlet does a wonderful job of encompassing everything that is the Watts Riot and all of the racial and societal issues involved. Walter Mosely accomplishes his intent to inform the public of the true emotions and thoughts going on during the riot and in the aftermath. Overall, this novel is a great tool for anyone looking for a fictional look into a historical event.