PLATFORM : It’s Not a Black Thing--or a White or Latino Thing

The mayor’s race is a scant eight months away. Already candidates are lining up to compete for a seat that may be open for the first time in more than two decades. Already, speculation has begun about how voters, particularly minority voters, like myself, an African-American, will respond to a field of candidates that promises to be as ethnically diverse as the city itself.

Many view the misguided, but highly publicized, skirmishes between some African-American and Latino leaders as a sign of things to come. Their destructive rhetoric and tactics, having gone unchallenged, threaten to further isolate and undermine the very communities they pretend to serve.

In the face of a crippling fiscal crisis, the city’s crumbling infrastructure, crime and post-rebellion uneasiness, the overriding issue in the 1993 mayor’s race simply must not be color. None of us, particularly in poor and under-served neighborhoods, can afford that. It’s not a black thing or a white thing or even a gender thing. The issues now, more than ever, are leadership, vision, integrity and commitment to ensuring opportunities for all citizens.

The undeniable clout wielded by the city’s self-appointed ethnic powerbrokers comes at the expense of the long-term political interest of the communities they hold hostage. It also comes at the considerable expense of the city’s efforts to heal itself and rebuild.

Clearly, the time has come to repudiate the self-serving actions of the increasingly hostile and radical elements in our midst and to move on to matters of more pressing concern. The need for bridges and new coalitions, based on mutual respect and understanding, could not be more critical.

If we are successful, maybe campaigns in Los Angeles will be governed by the degree to which candidates appeal to our concerns as individual citizens and not as amorphous ethnic voting blocks.