according to a report prepared in 1993 by the latinos futures research group for the latino coalition for a new los angeles, one third of those who were killed and one half of those who were arrested in the riots were latino; moreover, between 20% and 40% of the businesses that were looted were owned by latino owners. hispanics were considered a minority despite their increasing numbers, and thus lacked political support and were poorly represented. their lack of representation, both socially and politically, within the area additionally silenced their acknowledgment of participation. many of the individuals of the area were new immigrants; they often did not speak english and were seen as unimportant and "different" from blacks.