Black Pastor, Korean Shop Owner Resolve Racial Incident

Just when reconciliation seemed beyond reach in the vexing conflict between a Korean American hat shop owner and an African American minister, two trouble-shooters--a Korean and a black--have joined to bring the two sides to the table.

The result is an amicable resolution to what could have been yet another addition to the dismal inter-ethnic scorecard in Los Angeles.

“We’ve all been praying about this,” said the Rev. Leonard Jackson, chairman of the Koreatown-West Adams Public Safety Assn., who played a key role in bringing the two sides together last week. “We are all God’s children. If we can’t get along as God’s children, then we really have a serious problem.”

“It’s not so difficult to iron out misunderstanding when you sit down and just talk quietly,” said Yohngsohk Choe, who works alongside Jackson as secretary-general of the community group.

The two were meeting last Thursday for association business when Choe told Jackson he had learned that In-Suk Lee, owner of the Accessory Shop on Vermont Avenue, had not reopened the business after it was picketed in February.

An estimated 30 or more African American protesters, mobilized by the Brotherhood Crusade, had arrived at her business charging that the Rev. Lee May, pastor of First AME Church in Pasadena, was refused service because he is a black man.

Jackson, associate pastor of First AME Church in Los Angeles, took it upon himself to work with May, whom he knew because they belong to the same denomination. Choe said he would contact the Korean side, starting with the Rev. Sang-Won Shin, Lee’s pastor, who has been trying to help her since the incident.

The two were able to arrange a two-hour private meeting Thursday at her church in North Hollywood.

At the close of the session, the black pastor and the Korean shop owner hugged each other, held hands and prayed.

“Pastor May is a good, warm man of God, after all,” Lee said. “He prayed for my health and for my husband’s hearing problem.”

May could not be reached for comment after the meeting.

A news conference to announce the reconciliation is scheduled for Thursday at Lee’s church.

The intermediaries and May are preparing a statement announcing the formation of a sister-church tie between the two congregations. They are also expected to announce other “positive” programs, such as scholarships, for black students.

Jackson, chaplain for the Los Angeles Police Department, is no stranger to the Korean community or inter-ethnic squabbles.

Working with Choe, he has helped resolve several potentially inflammatory conflicts in the past year, he said.

Having visited South Korea on several occasions--most recently after the 1992 riots in Los Angeles--and after working with the local community here, Jackson said he feels at ease among Koreans and their culture.

He also felt confident that the impasse could be overcome because of the common ground the two sides shared in being Christians.

When Jackson approached May after talking with the Korean go-betweens, May was “more than glad” to meet with Lee, Jackson said. “That’s what he wanted all along,” he said.

Lee, who had apologized and sought May’s “forgiveness” in a March 13 letter, had resisted a “face to face” encounter, saying the prospect scared her.

But the Korean intermediaries persuaded Lee to reconsider after assuring her that the session would be at her church with only May and the intermediaries on hand--and that she would not have to face representatives of the Brotherhood Crusade who led the protest at her store.

The controversial episode began Jan. 20 when May entered the store to buy a hat for his wife after officiating at a funeral in the neighborhood.

According to May, he was about to ask for some help from a man he assumed to be one of the store owners when he was told the store was for “women only.”

Lee said it was a friend of her husband who had the exchange with May.

“Mr. Kim has abrasive mannerisms and has a voice so loud you get a headache if you listen to him for half an hour,” she said. “Of all days, he had to come to the store the same day as Pastor May.”

Sensing that two elderly women who were in the store at the time were nervous about the presence of an unfamiliar male, Kim told May to leave, she said.

*

She should have apologized to May right then, but Lee said she hesitated because she did not want to make her husband’s friend lose face.

By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late, she said.

May said all three Asians in the store, including Lee, were “united in wanting me to leave the store.”

Lee continued her business as usual until Feb. 13., when the protesters arrived. The store has yet to reopen.

Now that they have reconciled, Lee feels relieved.

But her health is still too frail to resume the business. For the time being, she is “petrified” at the prospect of the news conference. But she has agreed to be there because she has been told by the Korean intermediaries that is the only way to bring the matter to a close.

“I hope they won’t take my picture,” said Lee, who has shielded her face from the camera in the past.

Her pastor said the development offered a valuable forum to establish ties with African American and other non-Korean churches.

“This is a real blessing,” said Jackson. “It’s just the kind of thing we need to keep on doing.”