Television Reviews : A Cursory Look at 200 Years of ‘Black Angelenos’

“Black Angelenos: The True Story,” airing tonight at 8 on Channel 13, hops, skips and jumps over 200 years of black history in Los Angeles--an unfortunate approach that works against the possibilities of its subject matter.

Hosted by actor Robert Guillaume, “Black Angelenos” starts out with a look at Los Pobladores , L.A.’s first settlers, making the claim that 26 of the 44 were either “black or mixed racial,” then moves on to a quick look at the 1850s and the hard-earned success of Robert Owens and Biddy Mason, the most widely known black Angelenos of their era.

Next comes a very cursory look at Central Avenue in the ‘20s, a “Golden Era” for black Angelenos; a whirlwind jump to the 1950s and 1960s, and a segment on Mayor Tom Bradley.

A better framework was needed. Executive producer Marilyn Solomon’s choices take away from the show’s stronger segments. One example: Valuable minutes are wasted on a Community Redevelopment Agency hearing about a memorial to Mason, shortchanging an affecting interview with Mason’s great-granddaughter, Gladys Owens Smith (further marred by some poor editing).

And the strong segments were certainly worth exploring. “Black Angelenos’ ” strongest suit is its interviews with the descendants of the Los Pobladores , some of whom are confronting mixed feelings about their racial heritage; with the descendants of Mason and Owens, and with Pauletta Laws Fears, who literally “lived on the wrong side of the street,” fighting her case to the Supreme Court after purchasing a house restricted by racial covenant.

Lonnie Bunch, a curator of history at the California Afro-American Museum, might have provided the missing focus for “Black Angelenos.” When he is on camera, the thoughtful, studious Bunch gives solid and informative social and historical perspective to the scattered segments (and would have made a better host than Guillaume, who all too often seems to be obviously reading a script).

“Black Angelenos,” produced in cooperation with the California Afro-American Museum, is worth a look but could have benefited from a firmer hand on the wheel.