Informed Opinions on Today’s Topics : Cooperation Is Needed to Fight Racism

As the arson-caused fires of black churches in the South captured national attention recently, civic and religious groups across the country have been asked to reexamine the problems of hatred and racism in their communities.

To many, the problems of racism are as obvious as the riots that followed the Rodney King beatings and the split reaction to O.J. Simpson’s acquittal on double-homicide charges. To others, the problems are more subtle, insidious and hard to combat.

And a debate continues as to how much real progress has been made since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

What is the status of racism in the Valley?

The Rev. Zedar E. Broadous, president of the San Fernando Valley Branch, NAACP:

“It’s still an underlying current within the Valley . . . I see it in housing, employment, schools. I get complaints on discrimination on every level . . . One person may answer the question saying there is no discrimination in the Valley, everything’s fine, but then a week later that person may call and say, ‘I was discriminated against.’ . . . Our leadership has to show that they can work together . . . We have to show we can work with diverse communities.”

Barbara Rhodes, Cal State Northridge professor of Pan African studies:

“It’s always rather surprising to me . . . that people seem to have the overwhelming feeling that things are better and racism has really declined. People point to things like the rising middle class . . . For many people, they point out that in their own minds they are not racist. However, the institutions are, and since people are modeled by institutions, there is still a great deal of racism . . . People are not as comfortable in articulating [racist] points of view as before. They feel they need to rationalize their points of view . . . I’m not a pessimist about it. I feel you have to look at truth directly in the face if you are going to change it.”

Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Kol Tikvah Temple, Woodland Hills:

“It knows no boundaries and it knows no state lines . . . It should have no status but it does unfortunately . . . First of all, it’s no longer the Valley it was 20 years ago. It’s a big city. There are over 2 million people in the Valley . . . You have all kinds of cultures converging on one another, not understanding each other . . . But people need to see that there are people [of all races] who are good . . . Silence is a crime. Silence leads to indifference as it did in Nazi Germany, as it does here in the San Fernando Valley . . . When there is indifference, it will lead to hatred and racism.”

Irene Tovar, executive director, Latin American Civic Assn.:

“Yes, there is racism in the Valley . . . It also appears that it’s acceptable and reasonable to be [biased] against Latinos. I don’t see many heroes standing up in indignation against the stupidity of it, but I think it’s what every decent American should do . . . Where [racism] happens in social circles, we should speak up and say it is not acceptable. And when people are made the scapegoat for the problems of the economy, we should be rational and look at the reality of the problem.”

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