Ueberroth and Rebuild L.A.

“Rebuilding” Los Angeles will be meaningless if taken literally to mean the reconstructing of physical plants and local businesses. That would only repeat the mischievous errors of postwar urban renewal and the redevelopment schemes that more directly preceded the mayhem. What needs building is a respect for minorities’ entitlement to an American way of life and a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth. None of this will be accomplished by a Ueberroth commission that would, if successful, merely accelerate the re-creation of a disastrous status quo.

Although the incendiary policies and utterances of Chief Daryl Gates have been a special twist, the problems in Los Angeles are not unique. They reflect a national crisis grown worse by 12 years of regressive economic and social policies at the state and federal levels. Ueberroth and others of blue-ribbon vein would better devote their time and resources to disestablish prevailing policies and attitudes at the nation’s power centers than to try, once again, to close such gaping holes with local brick and mortar.

HARVEY MOLOTCH

Professor, Department of Sociology

UC Santa Barbara