The riots that changed the way DC connected with the Latino community

Since its founding, the Latino Economic Development Center has helped families offer services and empowered Latinos in DC to grow their small businesses.

On May 5, 1991, a D.C. police officer shot and killed a resident of El Salvador, sparking several days of riots in the city. The response to the shooting also was the culmination of years of tension over language and cultural barriers between police and the Latino community.

Emi Reyes, executive director of the Latino Economic Development Center, said that in the 1980s, when civil war broke out in El Salvador, many Salvadorans fled to the United States, and many chose the district as their destination. Many settled in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, which she said has a large Latino footprint.

“Suddenly this became an area that had the second-largest Salvadoran population in the country,” Reyes said.

At the time, there weren’t many resources for people who didn’t speak English, so Reyes said this led to a rift between the city and the Latino community.

Things came to a head when news of the 1991 shooting spread. The man who was shot was injured, but was rumored to have died.

According to a 1991 Washington Post report, an African-American officer shot and wounded a man after police said the man threatened her with a knife.

“So this has led to a lot of miscommunication and a clear breakdown in the very delicate threads between what supports this immigrant population and what it does not. “I think that was really the culminating factor that forced them to respond to the requests and demands of a growing population of residents and brought attention to what the city had been neglecting so much,” Reyes said.

Riots soon began and lasted for three days as businesses, buses and other facilities were destroyed and a curfew was imposed.

In the wake of the riots, the city established the Latino Civil Rights Task Force, and one of the recommendations was the creation of an organization that would better connect the Latino community with city resources.

“The recommendation to create an institution that would actually provide people with the financial tools and education in the language they needed, with the cultural competencies to understand the immigrant experience, and really be able to provide services where they needed them, as they needed them,” he added. Reyes said.

LEDC receives a $100,000 check from Wells Fargo. (Courtesy of Jaime Segui-Asad)

Since its founding, LEDC has helped families connect with city services and connected Latinos in the city to grow their small businesses.

“We provide micro loans ranging from $1,000 to $250,000 to really help entrepreneurs start or expand their businesses throughout the city,” Reyes said.

In the immediate aftermath of the riots, the organization also helped local officials better connect with the Latino community to prevent another incident like the one that occurred in 1991.

“We were really in favor of helping to create a police force, like a Spanish-speaking force that could operate in Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights and other parts of the city where we had these immigrant groups whose first language was Spanish,” Reyes said.

Reyes said while not everyone agrees on the problems, it’s still important for the community to work together on solutions.

“It is critical that the community come together and include the voices of immigrants who have been here for over 30 years, as well as those who arrived here a few months ago,” Reyes said.

She also said the city must continue to invest in minority-owned businesses so they can thrive in D.C. as costs rise.

“I think the commercial real estate industry can learn a lot from residential real estate in terms of existing programs, whether they are rent stabilization programs, rental assistance programs, or down payment assistance programs,” Reyes said.

In summary, Reyes believes that we have seen positive changes over the past decades.

“I think our organizations and infrastructure are much more welcoming and supportive than they have been in the past,” she said.

As for today’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood and its former appearance, Reyes said that while the landscape has changed, the neighborhood works to maintain its cultural identity.

“Mount Pleasant has a very long history, so I think it’s important that we actively work to preserve it,” she said.

Get the latest news and daily headlines in your inbox by signing up here.