Jackson Call for Reforms Stirs Many in Balboa Park Crowd

Donell Smith went to hear Vice President George Bush at the Air/Space America 88 extravaganza on Friday, and Smith went to the Jesse Jackson rally Tuesday at the Organ Pavilion at Balboa Park.

He found one flat, the other exhilarating.

“You didn’t hear George Bush talking about getting rid of drugs and saving jobs and opening up to Mexico,” said the 34-year-old writer and show business entrepreneur. “Jesse’s totally different. He’s talking reality, about things that are important, not just putting some new icing on a week-old, moldy cake.”

Smith, among an estimated 1,500 people who crowded the pavilion to see Jackson, found the Democratic presidential hopeful bigger and more dynamic than his image on television. It was a common sentiment among the curious and the faithful in the Jackson crowd, some of whom waited more than three hours for the candidate to arrive.

‘Someone to Believe In’

“A lot of these people have been waiting longer than that for someone to believe in, so a few hours doesn’t make much difference,” said George Thomas, 43, an unemployed pipe fitter. “Many of these people don’t think this is America’s Finest City. These are the people who want to belong.”

It was a politically expansive crowd: blacks, Latinos, students, gay activists, a San Diego State University professor bearing a “Jews for Jackson” sign, labor union members and mothers with babies in strollers.

“I think he’s standing up for what’s important: investing in America, not hurting other countries, not depriving other countries of their own wealth,” said A. J. Croce, 16, son of the late pop singer Jim Croce and a student at John Muir Alternative High School.

To the delight of the crowd, Jackson peppered his 40-minute speech with references tailored to San Diego.

“It makes more sense to invest in prenatal care and day care in the beginning, rather than jail care and welfare later on,” Jackson said.

“One year at San Diego High School costs $3,000, but one year at San Diego County Jail costs $20,000,” he added. “Four years at the University of San Diego costs less than $30,000, but four years on a full scholarship at Soledad (state prison) costs $120,000.”

He also repeated his call for a Marshall Plan for Mexico, as a remedy to the problems of illegal immigration.

“As long as there is poverty in Latin America, there will be a crisis on our border, born of necessity,” Jackson said. He added that he was warned not to talk about his proposed freeze in military spending in defense industry-rich Southern California.

“You shouldn’t be in a business that is going out of business,” Jackson said.

Whirlwind Visit

Jackson arrived in San Diego after a whirlwind visit to five cities in Oregon. He is expected to return at least once to San Diego before California’s June 7 Democratic presidential primary.

Among those on the dais besides Jackson were Assemblyman Pete Chacon (D-San Diego), San Diego City Councilmen Bob Filner and Wes Pratt, County Supervisor Leon Williams and Charles Reid, a trustee of the San Diego Community College District.

Farther back in the crowd was Mary Solomon, 28, who brought her 8-month-old twins, Keely and Kelson, to see Jackson.

“You think I’d miss this?” Solomon said. “A black man running for President? San Diego listening when a black man talks? That’s history, and I want my babies to be able to say they were here.”