Platform : Racial Healing: ‘People Have to Talk, People Have to Listen’

What needs to occur is a dialogue. People have to talk and people have to listen. Unfortunately, what occured immediately after the civil unrest, at least in a political context, is that (Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley) established Rebuild L.A. and then walked away. It wasn’t just the mayor who walked away--and certainly the full responsibility doesn’t lay at his feet--but in many ways the entire organized political Establishment walked away.

What we have now is a situation in which politicians are almost afraid to engage in or to begin any dialogue that doesn’t have a predictable outcome. We have to begin to accept that the problems of racial assimilation and accommodation are not things that will be resolved easily or quickly.

Why are African-Americans angry with Korean-Americans? Why don’t Korean-Americans understand African-Americans? Why is it that the (white) community is still mystified by all the different ethnic groups and clashes? That dialogue will only begin when the political leadership gets involved, unless some other entity moves in to fill that vacuum.