Cynicism takes Inauguration Day off in Los Angeles

It was hard to find a cynic in Southern California on Tuesday.

Not downtown, where tears streamed down Alesia Adams’ face as President Barack Obama finished reciting the oath of office, projected on 15 massive screens at the new L.A. Live entertainment district. “Thank you, Lord,” she whispered, as her husband, James, tightly embraced her and their two daughters.

Not at First African Methodist Episcopal Church’s inaugural breakfast in South Los Angeles, where Diane Gomez, 55, who is black, threw her arms around the nearest stranger, who was white, and proclaimed, “This is a new America!”

Certainly not at Longfellow Elementary School in Compton, where lessons came to a halt so students could watch the swearing-in on television.

“This is awesome,” said 6-year-old Korissa Adkin, a first-grader in Jennifer Wagenbrenner’s class. “He’s the same color as me!”

Not even at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, an unlikely place to celebrate the inauguration of a Democratic president. Yet Timothy Naftali, the museum’s director, opened the museum doors for a screening of live inaugural television coverage because he wanted people to have a presidential locale at which to mark the historic day, regardless of politics.

“It shouldn’t matter what your political affiliation is; today is a great day,” he said. “Anyone with a sense of history knows this is a day people died for.”

History. It was a word that got thrown around a lot as people reflected on the extraordinary journey that brought the country to this point, when an African American could be sworn in as the 44th president. There was a sense, repeated often, that this was a turning point, a momentous new chapter in the national story -- not just, or even primarily, because of Obama’s race but because he represents a sharp change from an unpopular administration, perhaps even a new kind of American politics.

“This is going to be a ‘Where were you when?’ moment,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who organized a gathering at a North Hollywood sports bar. “This is a moment that’s worthy of not missing a word.”

Neighbors gathered in Beachwood Canyon, a Left Coast bastion nestled just below the Hollywood sign. They popped champagne when former President George W. Bush’s helicopter took off.

Elen Cary, a 56-year-old film editor, teared up as the national anthem was sung. “For years we haven’t felt proud of that,” she said. “We have been ashamed of how we were regarded by the world.”

The group of about 40 residents sat on plastic chairs or plopped on the pavement to watch a flat-screen TV perched on the sidewalk. Cary said residents held a candlelight vigil at the same spot when the war in Iraq began in 2003.

There was a momentary scare when the television briefly lost its connection just as Obama was being announced. People gasped. But the image soon returned.

On the other end of the political and cultural spectrum, students and professors gathered at Biola College, a conservative evangelical school in La Mirada. Although few had voted for Obama, many expressed support and marveled at the profundity of the moment. Freshman Ben Longinow,19, said he was particularly encouraged by the choice of Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, to deliver the invocation.

Many liberals and gay-rights advocates were angered by the choice, but Longinow said it showed that Obama “respects the Christian view on politics.”

The inauguration was a time for reflection among some of Los Angeles’ down and out. Sixteen people gathered at the Lamp Community center on downtown’s skid row to watch the inauguration and ponder the possibilities of a new social order in which, as Obama said, the son of a man who wouldn’t have been served in a restaurant 60 years ago had been entrusted with the solemn oath to lead the world’s most powerful country.

“It’s not so much change -- it’s the unity,” said Mary Hailes, a 48-year-old still trying to get a handle on her substance abuse. “It’s not a black and white thing anymore.”

The day was doubly auspicious for Jina Yoo, a student at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, a public school in the Pico-Fairfax area. It was her 17th birthday. Even before they wished her a happy birthday, Yoo said, her parents told her “how happy they were about the inauguration.”

As Ivy Lee, also 17, found a seat in the school’s auditorium packed with 700 students watching the ceremony, she said she felt like crying.

“There has been so much bloodshed in history between whites and African Americans,” Lee said. “The fact we’ve come so far seeps into you.”

A few blocks away, four generations of the Bridges family packed into Grandpa Herbert’s living room.

Granddaughter Joy Brown-Price, 52, of Inglewood brought orange juice. Great-granddaughter Alexandria Price, 17, helped get bagels and lox. Other relatives brought sparkling cider and champagne.

“People have come a long way,” said Rhonda Jones, 45, a granddaughter and hairdresser who lives in Inglewood. “That’s how I look at it. People voted for him. Not black people, not white people. People. The United States of America voted for Barack Obama.

“That lets you know that we’re not as closed-minded or divided as we once were or as we think,” Jones said. “I know there’s still a lot of division, but I think just by him becoming president it shows people have really opened up their minds.”

The family stood in silence as Obama was sworn in. Then they cheered.

Herbert Bridges wiped his eyes. He is 94 and said he hadn’t voted for more than 50 years until he cast a ballot for Obama. “It felt great,” he said.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1947 to work in the automobile industry and has lived in the one-story home on Ernest Avenue since about 1960.

As Obama’s speech ended, Bridges’ family crowded around him. “Can you believe it, Grandpa?” somebody asked.

He simply shook his head.

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Times staff writers Tony Barboza, Martha Groves, Gale Holland, Victoria Kim, Seema Mehta, Jennifer Oldham, Yvonne Villarreal and Carol J. Williams contributed to this report.