Tales of a Blue Dragon

I was watching the news with my friend Nicole, who is 4, when she turned to me and said she wished the war would end.

She was holding her stuffed blue dragon and staring in deep concentration at the screen.

This is a kid who knows what’s going on. She named her dragon Enemy Fire as a metaphor for violence. Well, actually, Emeny Fire.

“The war’s over,” I said. “We won.”

“Not that war,” she said. “This war.”

My attention had drifted from the screen. When I looked up, they were showing scenes of the riots in Westwood, re-playing the police beating of Rodney King and talking about another gang killing in South-Central.

“When will they stop this war?” Nicole asked. “Emeny Fire wants to know!”

She doesn’t always ask questions for herself. She asks on behalf of Emeny Fire. It’s a neat ploy. I’m thinking of buying a blue dragon of my own.

When she left the room, I turned off the television and thought about what she’d said. She and Emeny Fire.

We do seem to be at war in L.A. On the Eastside, the Westside and all around the town.

But something’s missing. Not guns, certainly. Not death. Not grief and vengeance and territorial imperatives.

What’s missing are the peace marchers.

Emeny Fire was wondering how come thousands will gather to protest a war half a world away and no one is marching to protest a war in their own back yard.

Good question, blue dragon.

I asked it of some peace activists in the area. I said, “Here’s a really convenient war. You can jump right into the middle of it. Will you?”

I got some interesting replies.

Jerry Rubin, who will march until he drops for just about anything, said he hadn’t thought about marching for peace in L.A., especially in gang areas.

Valerie Sklarevsky, who has been arrested 35 times demonstrating for peace, said it was too long a commute to the war zone.

Charlene Richards, who has been a peace activist for 20 years, said it was too dangerous to demonstrate in places like Watts.

She thought a study of the situation would be more appropriate.

You’re no doubt familiar with the peace chant relative to her comment: “What do we want? A study! When do we want it? Now!”

I was also interested in Sklarevsky’s attitude. She lives in Malibu and is bothered by the necessity of commuting to East L.A.

“Valerie,” I said, “you’ve been to El Salvador once and are planning another trip in April, but you won’t go to El Monte?”

She thought about that, then said, “I know people in El Salvador. I don’t know anyone in El Monte.”

Rubin, who heads Alliance for Survival, said we’ve got to think globally and impeach George Bush.

“That would end the war in L.A.?” I asked.

“It would help,” he said somberly. “Violence is trickling down.”

Clearly, the blue dragon’s question had caught them off guard.

Their uncertainty, however, was not based on insincerity. Rubin, Richards and Sklarevsky are all dedicated peace activists.

It’s just that the peace movement hasn’t given a lot of thought to peace in its own city.

One activist, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “That’s much too complicated a concept for them. It will take years to decide.

“I attended meeting after meeting dedicated to whether or not we should wear yellow ribbons during the Gulf War. They never did make up their minds. I was in deep depression for weeks not knowing what to do.”

Of those I spoke with, only Rubin demonstrated enthusiasm for a peace movement in the war zones of L.A.

He dismissed Sklarevsky’s long-commute argument by suggesting sourly that she hitch a ride with Malibu neighbor Martin Sheen.

Charlene Richards shook her finger in my face angrily and said the only way to get peace in L.A. was to fire Daryl Gates. I had to grab her finger to keep it out of my eye.

“We’re just not used to war zones being in L.A.,” she said later, in a calmer mode. “Santa Monica is composed of cute little houses. Watts is another planet.”

Demonstrating in gang-plagued neighborhoods would be a waste of time, others said. Power is the name of the game; power and money.

“I don’t want to demonstrate,” one activist added cheerfully. “I want to lobby. It’s safer.”

Sorry, blue dragon. We’ll have to wait for the next war 10,000 miles away before the activists march again.

It’s just too damned dangerous to march for peace where there’s a war going on.