Watts Called Still Plagued 19 Years After Riots There

Nearly 20 years after the Watts riots, many of the major economic, education and racial isolation problems that helped trigger the violence remain unresolved because of piecemeal government programs, a new report timed to coincide with today’s commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday says.

The 16-page report--prepared jointly by the city and county human relations commissions--calls for a concerted effort by public agencies to readdress the issues outlined in the 1965 McCone Commission report, which studied the riots and recommended programs to prevent further disturbances.

The latest assessment of what has been done since the riots, which generally reiterates government failures pointed out in previous reports, was based primarily on a public hearing last year that drew together civic, government and community leaders.

Although some progress has been made in South-Central Los Angeles--notably the construction of the county’s Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital and improved public transit--inferior education, lack of jobs, inadequate health services and police protection and lack of affordable housing still plague the area, the report says.

Poverty remains the basic problem, the commissions said. Nearly 20% of black adults and 50% of black teens in the area are unemployed, the report notes, while school test scores in South-Central remain the lowest in the city and crime and gang activity have increased sharply.

“The overall conclusion of those testifying was that conditions are as bad, or worse, in South-Central Los Angeles today as they were 19 years ago,” the report says. “We should not have to wait for a second Los Angeles riot to erupt to bring these problems to serious public attention.”

Specifically, the two commissions urged Mayor Tom Bradley, the City Council, the Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles school board and Gov. George Deukmejian to order various agencies to draft long-range plans over the next six months to address the problems.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who represents the area, said, however, that most government decision-makers do not understand how much needs to be done. He also said it would be “very difficult” to get the current conservative majority of the board to target significant new resources for South-Central Los Angeles.