Celebration, Politics, Selective Looting and Riots: A Micro Level Study of the Bulls Riot of 1992 in Chicago

In the aftermath of the Bulls riot of 1992, which started as a celebration of a basketball victory but turned into a night of looting and rioting in Chicago's black ghettos, local and national newspapers asked: was it just a celebration? Was it an expression of pent-up anger and frustration? Had Korean and Arab merchants been targeted? The sociological literature on riots contains a great deal of analysis of city level data, but few micro level studies that analyze who are the victims and perpetrators of the violence and destruction associated with riots. I argue in this paper that the Bulls riot of 1992 was political as well as celebratory, responding in part to massive welfare cuts in Illinois and to the televised drama of the Los Angeles riot of 1992. A store by store analysis of ghetto merchants reveals that despite the political undertones, the extensive nature of the riot, and a history of organized boycotts against Korean stores, there was no targeting of merchants based on race or ethnicity. Some implications for the political and racial nature of riots are discussed.