They Need Protection, Not Segregation

The tragic arson fire that killed five members of a Mexican family in the predominantly African-American Jordan Downs public housing project in Watts prompted fearful requests from Latinos for segregated housing. Later, segregation demands were dropped; in any case federal housing guidelines prohibit intentional segregation. But the plea for additional protection for all residents should be addressed.

Police and fire investigators have not determined if the motivation for the arson was retaliation by drug dealers who wanted to punish anyone who dared to stand up to them or if race influenced the choice of targets. Whatever the motivation, the arsonists proved that the Zuniga family and their neighbors need greater protection.

The Housing Authority’s 50 officers are overwhelmed by gang violence. The Los Angeles Police Department has ultimate jurisdiction. It has increased foot patrols to 24 hours and put cops on horseback in Jordan Downs. These community policing efforts should be expanded, but not at the expense of surrounding and similarly besieged neighborhoods. Perhaps the LAPD can deploy these additional officers, and allow them to stay long enough to gain the trust of law-abiding families, by shifting personnel from desk jobs to patrol.

Those officers will need help from law-abiding tenants. Unfortunately, one good Samaritan, Gregory Moore, who tried to come to the rescue during the recent fire was shot in the confusion. That shooting was a tragic example of what can happen when the good people of Jordan Downs--black and Latino--don’t work together.

Neighbors are already meeting. Black and Latino tenants have formed a task force to map out solutions. The residents council also has met to address the violence and downplay any racial animosity.

The racial tensions cannot be denied as the predominantly black Watts becomes increasingly Latino. Nearly 20% of the residents in Jordan Downs are Latino, and that percentage is expected to grow.

The new leadership at the city’s Housing Authority is aware of the changing dynamics and willing to listen to the mothers and the few fathers who live in public housing. The housing officials can also learn from strategies used successfully to integrate Boston’s once violence-prone, all-white public housing projects, and from tactics used recently to reduce unauthorized residents and the number of homicides in several Chicago projects.

Fear knows no color in Jordan Downs. The solutions too must be colorblind.