The Specter Is Not Yet Exorcised

Ponder the results of the latest Times Poll: The majority of Los Angeles residents say they have put the 1992 riots behind them, but two-thirds still believe that race relations in the city are poor.

Yes, the city has made an emotional recovery from that wrenching event, but the public perception of continued racial polarization is troubling and requires new policies, new leadership and new themes.

If our city is to be unified, we must identify first as 3.6 million people who happen to encompass a variety of ethnicities and races. We all share values that speak to the good of families and communities. We all--well, surely, nearly all--want better schools, a higher quality of life and to live in peace. But too often it’s a matter of whose schools, whose quality of life, whose peace. Personal loss or gain too often is the litmus test. Too many Southern California “leaders,” conservative and liberal, play the easy game of race politics and parochial interests. They focus only on their own groups and personal ambitions, often at the expense of the larger good.

Yet according to the poll results, all groups share the goal of improving racial relations. All major racial and ethnic groups support increased community spirit and seek to learn about and from each other. All groups say they want to confront their prejudices. They say they do indeed want, as Rodney King said a few years ago, to “all get along.”

It is, in fact, remarkable how well Los Angeles manages now, considering the strains. Just about every nation in the world is right here. Imagine what this city could be if we combined our forces behind issues that unify us all.