CRIMES AND MISCONCEPTIONS : When It Comes to Kids on a Dead-End Street, There’s Plenty of Blame to Go Around

Reflecting on L.A.’s lackluster “recovery” after the ’92 uprising, I envision my home turf as Das Gangsta Kapitol with no one left but prison-calloused low-lifers, not 10 Righteous Men or Women in sight. After hearing comparisons of riot/fire/quake/flood-torn L.A. to beplagued Egypt of Old and wondering if there’s a Lot, Moses or Messiah among us, I took my questions to someone whose social activism was underscored by faith.

Can one man of God curb violent social trends? “Probably not.” Harold Jackson, a 64-year-old United Church of Christ ordained minister and graduate of Pepperdine University, is as firm-jawed as any cinema-classic Irish priest, except he’s black as well as Protestant. He speaks with the not-quite-relaxed expertise of 20 years and nine months as the state correctional system’s first African American chaplain of the Youth Authority, hired, in his words, “for content not pigment.” It was 1974, Vietnam had wound down, and Jackson, then 43 and ex-dean of students at Claremont seminary, was dubious about taking the job. “What can a black parson say to young black men? Would they say I was just part of the system?”

Now it’s 1995. What have you seen? “The system is as hostile now for African Americans as it was then, reflecting the racism outside.” An overwhelming rise in the black gang population in prison and a corresponding increase in black-on-black crime among the men, who were largely between ages 17 and 25, put others at risk even in church. The gangsters “wanted the chapel to be their place and tried to claim it by coming to Mass in overwhelming numbers. No deal. It took a few years--but to the day I retired, it was understood: Refuge was the chapel.”

Do other changes echo those in our broader community? “Yes, for example, the Vietnamese now compose the largest Asian prison group. There’s lots of Hispanic versus black tensions from outside. Black power inside prison culture has diminished. Latinos are the larger group.

“Hispanics wouldn’t come to Protestant service but would come to see me during the week. I developed real ethnic-based programs, forming Bible-study groups more and more. Forget ‘Home Boyz--I’m gonna do mah thang’ even at the price of threats and beatings. By embracing faith, guys could draw strength from each other.”

What about the streets? Seems the gangs are winning. “The gang has won!” The Reverend pauses. “And I don’t mean poor black and brown teen-agers. THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CRIMINAL, especially to African Americans and people of color. Excuse my shout, but the only way to improve the penal system is to fire everybody and start from scratch.”

But didn’t the uprising have positive impact? “Nothing came out of the riot. It proved inarticulate because of disunity among and within groups.”

But what about that gang truce? “If you’re honest, you don’t call a truce but declare the end by calling it what it is--an end. No hostilities implied. Riot said: There is no leadership. The community is so fragmented it’s difficult for anyone to take the role of leader--MLK, Malcolm X. We’ve got to look to many leaders. Otherwise, how do we establish community again? The person who is true to the community must lead without recognition.”

Rumor says the black leadership crisis is planned . “In California, more of our young men are in prison than college. We’re creating a prison economy that taxes people to maintain itself. Yet 90% of those incarcerated will get out someday. We must be more creative. Warehousing must stop.”

Any solutions, Dr. Rev. Harold? “Take gangbangers out of the streets and into settings that stress worthwhile values--in school--with adults, male and female, willing to provide strict but loving discipline. Require them to be responsible without demanding perfection. Our community must be willing to forgive and start again when someone fails. It is incumbent upon the system to guarantee that it succeeds in helping us succeed.”