Bradley Stirs Support From Black Church Leaders

Presidential candidate Bill Bradley drew enthusiastic reviews from African American church leaders Thursday after telling a group of about 150 ministers in Los Angeles that “race remains an unresolved dilemma” in America.

Citing continuing racial discrimination in housing, health care and access to new technology, Bradley told the annual meeting of the Congress of National Black Churches at the Regal Biltmore Hotel, “I see it too, and it must end.”

He vowed to continue to support affirmative action, provide comprehensive health care coverage and impose strict gun control laws.

“We can’t afford to have the 21st century stained by the same racism that poisoned the 20th century,” he said. “We cannot be who we can be as a people unless we realize the ultimate truth: We all advance together.”

Bradley’s comments echoed a similar call he made in Baltimore last week, where he told about 300 elected officials at the National Black Caucus of State Legislators that the nation’s racial divide remains a critical challenge.

There, Bradley’s blunt assessment and his pledge to fight against racism won over some legislators who had been expected to support Vice President Al Gore. On Thursday, Bradley’s speech was also received warmly by the group of church leaders, many of whom said they were surprised and impressed.

“I was spellbound,” said the Rev. William D. Smart Jr. of the Phillips Temple C.M.E. Church in Los Angeles, a longtime Gore supporter. “I think he’s going to offer serious opposition to the vice president. I think Bradley understands what needs to be fixed in America.”

The Rev. Barry Wright, of Columbia, S.C., called Bradley’s speech “a most powerful and refreshing message.

“Sen. Bradley does not just talk about tangential things but the healing this country needs to bring us together.”

Donna Brown Guillaume, a Los Angeles television producer who attended the event to hear Bradley speak, said she “felt a connection to him as a human being.”

“I think if more black people got to listen to Bradley, he certainly offers as much to our community as Gore does,” she said.

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Audio of Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley’s speech Thursday to the Congress of National Black Churches is on The Times’ Web site: https://www.latimes.com/elect2000