Violence Symbol Analysis

Violence symbolizes the oppression of marginalized communities. Maxine Waters articulates this relationship explicitly in her speech to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, which serves as the source material for “The Unheard.” In this speech, Waters states, “riot / is the voice of the unheard.” Waters’s statement challenges those who condemn the Los Angeles riots, or reason that protestors using violence to express themselves renders the protestors’ messages and grievances invalid. To the contrary, Waters suggests that rioting is the only option available to “the unheard,” or those whose voices politicians and law enforcement refuse to listen.

Throughout the play, the characters’ varied responses to the violence and destruction the riots caused highlight differences in race, class, and privilege. Many of the play’s Black characters welcome the violence, viewing it as a visual manifestation of their despair and frustration at being denied equal treatment in society and under the law. The tangible, highly visual quality of the destruction validates these frustrations as real, substantial, and powerful. Paul Parker is one character who describes the riots favorably, calling them “good for the soul” and “beautiful.” Parker states that, “it was some victory. / I mean, it was burnin’ everywhere.” Like Waters, he sees the violence as if not a remedy for his oppression, then at least a clear expression of the pain and suffering that Black Los Angeles residents suffer. In contrast, some characters with more privileged backgrounds have a more negative view of the violence, viewing it as senseless and unjustified. For example, Judith Tur, the news reporter who shows Smith her video recording of Reginald Denny’s attack, compares South-Central to “a war zone” and accuses the protestors of “taking advantage” of the social unrest to commit acts of violence for violence’s sake. Her disgust reflects her inability to recognize or sympathize with the systemic oppression that keeps the voices of marginalized communities “unheard,” leaving them with no other option but to “riot.”