Attorney Robert Kang (seated, middle) at a community press event on the redistricting court case Sept. 8, 2014 Photo: Christianity Daily Back, left to right: Pastor Peter Park, David Ryu, and Alex Cha. Front, left to right: Grace Yoo, Robert Kang, and Hyepin Im.

Robert heard about the redistricting fight and volunteered to help through the Korean American Bar Association (KABA) of Southern California. He got involved because throughout his lifetime he has so often seen Koreatown held down and oppressed, from the LA Riots (also known as Saigu) until today.

"You can feel sad about it and do nothing," he said. "Or you can feel sad about it and then do something."

Robert believes Koreatown has actually made enormous strides since Saigu, over twenty years ago. Back then, Korean Americans fought the City of LA and even took the City to court over its mishandling of the riots. The result? "We got creamed," Robert said.

Fast forward twenty years. Koreatown is once again speaking with one voice, but from a position of strength. Koreatown plaintiffs have retained two high-powered law firms who are working pro bono. They are making a sophisticated civil rights argument before a federal judge that the City used race impermissibly in drawing the new boundary lines. 

The controversy has generated plenty of heat in the community and in the media. City Council President Herb Wesson, who is African American, was videotaped speaking to an African American audience about using race in the redistricting process.

Robert is watching closely and feels Koreatown has a strong case. In fact, strength is a theme that informs his activism. I asked who influenced him to become actively engaged in the community.

In addition to the Herb Wesson video, there is more evidence that proves to Grace Yoo the process was flawed. One of the redistricting commissioners wrote an email, now made public, that acknowledges using race to draw the lines.

"They rigged the whole process," Grace said. "It was a democratic sham."

As Executive Director of the Korean American Coalition (KAC), Grace has been involved in many campaigns to protect and rebuild Koreatown. But this fight is unique.

"Korean Americans represented a third of all the people who showed up to over two dozen hearings," she said. At more than one hearing, though Korean Americans were the first to sign up for public testimony, they were bumped to the very end of the line, waiting for hours to speak. 

Not all fights face such ugly opposition. It took KAC and its allies two and half years to bring a new police station to a K-Town neighborhood in order to improve access to a largely immigrant community. Now Olympic Police Station anchors a model police district, with lower crime rates and an engaged community.

Redistricting may take longer. "This is really a six to eight year process which began in 2012," Grace said. But she added, "We have to fight this all the way through. A seat at the table is being denied."

The consequences of not having a seat at the table can be devastating.

On April 29, 1992 (Saigu), Grace was a 21-year old campaign manager for Mark Takano's first race for Congress. She remembers the day they held an event at their new campaign office in Riverside. She was standing next to her candidate, watching a smokey, purple haze rising from the Los Angeles skyline. She turned to Mark Takano and said, "I'm going to have to leave the campaign for a little while."

As she worked side-by-side with other community activists to protect life and property during the riots, she will never forget the sense of abandonment by our government, how no one came to their rescue. It explains why this redistricting fight is important to her. It represents political power, which the community lacked during its hour of need. 

"It's the basis on which our democracy stands."