500 March to Protest Bigotry

More than 500 people marched through the streets Sunday afternoon in what organizers billed as a show of unity against hate.

The event comes nearly two weeks after white supremacist Buford O. Furrow captured national attention after he allegedly shot up the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and killed a Filipino American mail carrier.

Joseph Ileto was fatally shot Aug. 10 while walking his postal delivery route in Chatsworth, an hour after three children and two workers were wounded in the community center attack.

Ten members of the slain postman’s family attended Sunday’s event.

Many in the crowd, including Granada Hills resident Monica Svars, 45, said the haunting images of young children being led out of the center in a daisy chain by police moved them to speak up for the first time publicly against bigotry and prejudice.

“I saw on the news what that guy did to those kids,” said Svars, who said she was the victim of anti-Semitism as a child growing up in Argentina. “I thought maybe this would happen to my own grandchild. I said, ‘I won’t let this nonsense happen again.’ ”

A week earlier, U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Gov. Gray Davis and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan spoke at a rally before 1,000 people at Cal State Northridge that focused on eliminating assault weapons.

During Sunday’s march and rally, participants braved temperatures hovering around 100 degrees as they made their way about a mile along Fallbrook Avenue, turning east on Vanowen Street, where they ended with a rally at Shadow Ranch Park.

The event was organized by National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the Valley Interfaith Council and Em Habanim, a West Valley Jewish learning center.

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Most of those who spoke were clergy, youth and civil-rights leaders, who urged participants to get more deeply involved in their communities and join forces with all groups that have been targeted by hate crimes.

One political leader, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), told the crowd he would work to pass legislation that would broaden the definition of a hate crime. The legislation is aimed at making the federal government more responsive to hate crimes and expanding protection to include those targeted because of gender or sexual orientation.

He also acknowledged that there is only so much government could do, even when it succeeded in passing such legislation.

“Changing the culture is more important than changing the law,” Sherman said. “Community involvement may be more important than what we can do in Sacramento or Washington.”

Faith Kelman, a 61-year-old heath care worker, agreed. The Pasadena resident, whose colleague’s child attends the North Valley Jewish Community Center, said society was “in a sad state” when it allowed young innocents to be shot.

“It touched me personally because someone that I knew was involved in it,” she said. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life hiding behind a door.”

Marcus Fitzhugh of Santa Clarita said making a difference was a simple matter of breaking the normal routine.

“A year from now when you look back on your August Sunday, are you really going to remember that rerun movie you saw on television--or that you actually got out and participated in something that is positive for the community?”

Tarzana resident Norma Norton was impressed by the turnout.

“It [might] seem that there’s no there there,” she said. “But these community events show that we are here.’