Southern California Voices / A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Platform : Race: ‘Authentic Dialogue Is Not For Cowards’

President Clinton has called for a national dialogue on the issue of race in the wake of the Simpson trial and the “Million Man March” in Washington. In Los Angeles, the City Council is encouraging a “Day of Dialogue on Race Relations” on Tuesday, consisting of 100 small-group discussions led by professional facilitators, all over the city. ERIN AUBRY asked organizers what they hoped to accomplish.

BONG KWAN KIM, Executive director, Korean Youth Community Center, Los Angeles

There’s a lot of value in trying to create safe places for people to talk about race relations and racism in Los Angeles, particularly for recent immigrant communities. What many people don’t know about Asians is that the majority of immigrants came during the post-civil rights era. They really missed out on a very critical time, racially speaking, in this country. Race has traditionally been defined in black and white perspectives, and that’s difficult for Asians to understand. I would like to have our organization and other Asian organizations talk about this, because only when you put something on the table can you deal with it.

For a lot of adults, racial opinions only come out in the voting booth. They’re reluctant to talk about race because it’s complex, and the scars of the 1992 riots, which were a nightmare for a lot of Asians, are still fresh.

This dialogue is just the beginning point. Lots of things have to happen, like the formation of more grass-roots coalitions, which right now are not being politically encouraged. The guy on the street doesn’t think about race problems like a professional or a a community activist does. That’s the challenge, to make street-level people aware. We can’t allow the majority of people to live anonymous lives because they feel alienated from political and government institutions. Even though there’s a conservative backlash now, it’s inevitable that political power will shift to people of color. So as people of color, we have to organize within and among ourselves.

JIM HILVERT, Executive director, National Conference of Christians and Jews

We avoid talking about things affecting relations between groups. It’s hard to get beyond the social conversation because we lack the rules of engagement that govern conversation about racial and ethnic difference. We want to teach people that this [racial difference] isn’t something you can avoid.

My concern is that if the dialogue isn’t facilitated properly, it may become be more divisive than helpful. You just cannot put a group of people in a living room for a day and expect them to get beyond their biases and prejudices. But this dialogue is an opportunity to really start something significant after the issues are confronted and brought to the table.

This is obviously a beginning for people. It’s a place for them to get out and talk about racial issues away from the hype and the media spotlight. People are tired of the divisiveness, the shrill and often vitriolic nature of TV and other media forums.

Rev. GEORGE REGAS, Rector emeritus, All Saints Church, Pasadena

One thing we must do is talk to each other--sit down and be honest and candid with each other, talk about race and stay there and see what happens. There’s absolutely no way to lose, even if these dialogues end up in estrangement. If creative things don’t come out at first, it’s still good. It’s a mistake to see this [dialogue] as one discussion; it will point us in the direction of hearing one another. Most of us, black and white, have not been listened to. We know we’re divided. Let’s talk about those factors.

Blacks say they are not allowed a place to be honest. They say they are so beholden to the white man’s largess that they won’t take the chance of honesty. We’re all so afraid of political correctness, so afraid of saying the wrong thing. It takes courage to be honest, white or black. Authentic dialogue is not for cowards. I’m very, very hopeful that this dialogue will lead to creative things. I see it as one step toward healing that horrendous chasm. We are at a critical juncture.

MICHAEL PRESTON, Director, USC Multi-Ethnic Transitional Studies

We didn’t set any lofty goals for this dialogue. Quite candidly, nothing has been happening with human relations at the top level of city government, so we had to do something.

There’s no question that things are strained now, always have been, and that the strain has been extended and accelerated by the O.J. verdict, by the Million Man March and the prominence of [Nation of Islam leader Louis] Farrakhan. These issues are on people’s minds. One of the things people don’t do is sit down and discuss race relations with people outside of their own race; they talk to their own groups. We want to create an atmosphere where people can feel free to talk because we’ve taken the personal element away from the discussion. What we expect to do is hold an open dialogue on race relations in a relaxed, informal setting. People should feel free to vent their anger and talk about the state of race relations in this country.

For help in forming a dialogue group, call (213) 485-3331 or 213 485-8324.