Los Angeles: one year on
Los Angeles had been hailed as a positive preview of the future United
States. It had become the most ethnically diverse city in the country - replacing New York's Ellis Island as the new port of entry for immigrants.
But the fires of 1992 dramatically exposed the decaying foundations of
International Viewpoint #247 July 1993
African American organisations won more contracts for Black owned companies and some jobs for African Americans. But newspaper articles and television coverage reported comments by Latino and Korean urban life. EVELYN SELL* — Los Angeles, June 1993
A
CCORDING to the 1990 census, the city was 40% Latino, 37% Anglo, 13% African American, and 10% Asian - with the largest concentration of Mexicans outside of that country, more Salvadorans than any city except San Salvador, and the largest Chinese, Korean, Philippine and Taiwanese populations in the US. In the city's schools almost 100 different languages are spoken. With the influx of new money and new people during the late 1980s, Los Angeles was projected as the "capital of the Pacific
The Los Angeles Times, which had boasted of the "globalization of Los Angeles", unhappily reported "the first multi-ethnic riots" in US history after the eruption of outrage following the April 29, 1992 acquittal of police officers charged with beating Rodney King. The only unusual feature of this cop assault on an African American was that it was videotaped by an onlooker, and then broadcast across the
If developments in Los Angeles serve as a window on tomorrow, what has happened over the past year shows a bleak picture, indeed, of the nation's future.
Nothing substantial has been done to improve the conditions which prompted the actions last year.
• Police brutality against African Americans, Latina/os, Asians, and peoples of colour continues to take place on an everyday basis. The greatest number of complaints against the police are filed by Latinos. The police have stepped up aggressive shows of mass force, carried out intensive and highly-publicised riot control training exercises, and bought $1 million worth of riot gear, including tear-gas bombs. One
* Evelyn Sell is a member of the revolutionary socialist organisation Solidarity and a supporter of the Fourth International. 16 newly acquired item, rubber bullets called "knee knockers", were used by police against African Americans in South-Central Los Angeles on December 14, 1992. Cops claimed they were breaking up an unruly crowd - but, in fact, they attacked Blacks distributing leaf-lets for a defence committee, storeowners, and residents in front of their homes.
After striking drywall construction workers were beaten by police in July, 1992, the executive director of the California Immigrant Workers Association explained, "Every time Latino workers organise, every time Latino students demonstrate, every time that it's us, we feel the discrimination and violence and excessive arrest by the police." On May 11, 1993 city cops brutalised and arrested students demonstrating for a Chicano Studies Department at the University of California
• Poverty rates and unemployment figures continue to be greater than those in other states — an especially important fact because one out of every ten Americans lives in California, and the state accounts for 14% of the Gross National Product. The most recent report showed that California's jobless rate rose to 8.7% in May
- significantly greater than the national figure of 6.9%, and the highest jobless rate amongst the 11 large states noted in the government's report. The 9.1% unemployment rate in Los Angeles County was even worse than for the state
Friction
The scarcity of jobs has contributed to rising tensions between racial and ethnic groups. An example was the friction caused by the disputes over which firms would receive contracts and which workers would be hired to demolish fire damaged buildings. Demonstrations at work sites by
American workers who complained that they had lost their jobs although they, too, were poor inner city residents and badly in need of work.
• California's most severe budget crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s is resulting in cuts to vital government services, including: health and welfare programmes, public school systems, colleges and universities, mental health clinics, public recreation areas, and a range of services for the elderly, disabled and blind The Community Health Clinic of East Los Angeles, which provides services for the poorest people in the county, was forced to reduce the hours it was open after the state eliminated $10 million in funding for recent immigrants' health care. Martin Luther King Jnr/Drew Medical Center, built after the 1965 Watts uprising and the sole positive legacy of that Black revolt, has suffered a stream of cutbacks and is now threatened with complete closure by county administrators.
• Neighbourhoods with the highest rates of poverty and the largest concentrations of people of colour and non-Anglo ethnic groups have he worst housing, overcrowded schools, damaged streets, fewer recreational areas, and the greatest deterioration of public services. Environmental hazards abound. Discriminatory practices result in higher insurance rates for car owners and small shopkeepers.
### Hunger
A study of hunger in inner cities, conducted by UCLA and reported in the June 11, 1993 Los Angeles Times, spotlighted higher food costs and less access to markets in one South-Central Los Angeles community covering two square miles. Among the findings about this predominantly Latino neighbourhood: families have a median household income which is less than half the county level; in comparison with suburban areas studied, these poorer families actually pay $300 more per year to buy minimum food requirements recommended by the federal government; one third of the households have no car, and many residents must take two buses to
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International Viewpoint #247 July 1993 get to a supermarket. This limited shopping access forces residents to rely on smaller stores with poorer quality produce, resulting in disproportionate rates of diet-related diseases. The year long study found enough money to cover food costs, lies go hungry an average of five ting crises — compounded by unrelenting injustices within the legal system, in the workplace, and in all aspects of daily life -were widely known well before last summer's explosion of frustration and protest. Newsweek magazine reported in its May 11, 1992 issue: "After years of neglecting the pent up misery of the inner cities, the country shuddered at the bloody wake up call... The elements of race and class mingled and combusted with tremen-
Politicians immediately promised aid but little has actually been delivered.
### State of emergency
President Bush (campaigning for his failed re-election bid declared Los Angeles a disaster site after visiting the city a week after the fires were put out and the end of the state of emergency a type of martial law). This was the first time a civil disturbance was given the designation previously reserved for floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural calamities. While the city officially qualified for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Los Angeles residents and officials discovered that FEMA's actions hampered recovery efforts more than they helped. For example, federal officials immediately insisted on restrict-ing relief programmes to fire damage only. They balked at reimbursing the state for more than $1 million spent in staffing 10 disaster application centres and fencing in demolition sites. They lacked bilingual staff, and failed to involve the local com-
Government regulations prevented many from access to needed programmes already in place; for example, food stamp rules disqualified numerous elderly and disabled residents. Community activists pointed out that many working class and poor people were not receiving assistance because the initial informational campaigns were mostly aimed at business owners.
Disaster relief workers explained that many people did not seek help for fear of being reported to immigration authorities.
This was a realistic concern. During the
April 29-May 2 events, the Los Angeles Police
Department collaborated with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service in invading homes (mostly community, and setting up detention centres in
¿ local police headquarters.
By November, 1992 over
1,100 people had been
The US Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development visited Los Angeles in June 1992 and declared that the city would receive $137 million in federal funds. When city officials studied the closely, they discovered that this money had ready been allocated for housing projects
- it was not new or addiemployed over and over again. Federal grants and loans amounting to $195.2 million turned out to be funds previously committed or were directed at meeting limited emergency needs. None of the amounts promised were designed to allev-iate the basic long-term economic revitalisation desperately needed to create jobs, improve housing and schools, provide public transportation and child care, or repair the area's infra-structure.
Reconstruction
City, state, and county government bodies also failed to provide adequate aid.
On May 2, 1992, Rebuild LA (RLA) was launched as a non-profit corporation with a sweeping mandate to lead the recon-struction of the city. To head up this ambitious campaign, the mayor chose Peter Ueberroth, a well connected business man. The
Board of Directors was supposed to reflect the city's diverse racial and ethnic population as well as its various communities. But the board membership ended up heavily weighted with state and local government officeholders and prominent business executives. There are some African Americans, Latina/os and Asian Americans; labor representation is almost non-existent.
RLA's mission statement was: "To bring together the positive power and resources of the communities, government and private sector to achieve change by creating new jobs, economic opportunities and pride in the long neglected areas of our greater Los Angeles basin."
### Large sums
Initial operational funding came from a major utility company and a large bank IBM donated computers and office furniture. The US Commerce Department provided $3 million for start-up costs. Enough was secured to keep RLA operating for five years but recovery projects announced but there is no being translated into real assistance programmes. The first pledges totaled $400,000 from foreign owned businesses; in October, 1992, Ueberroth & announced ¡ investments of more than • $1 billion from over 500 US, European and Japanese companies. These included industrial giants such as American Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola and British Airways. A Los Angeles Times investigation in November, 1992 found that many companies named by the RLA as contributors had no such investment plans.
Even if the pledges were substantiated, they were not sufficient. Estimates given to RLA's first board meeting in July 1992
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International Viewpoint #247 July 1993 noted that what was needed to revitalise the economy of the city's neglected and damaged areas: about $6 billion in investments, and the creation of 75,000 to 94,000 jobs. Ueberroth's stated goal of creating 57,000 new jobs was obviously inadequa-
An internal report on RLA, presented at an April 1993 board meeting, concluded that the agency's role in the rebuilding process had been confused and ineffectual, and that city officials utilised RLA as a "coveniant way to rationalize inaction" by telling questioners, "We thought RLA was
Charges and counter-charges were exchanged at a May 11, 1993 City Council meeting. Elected officials criticised RLA for not co-operating with local politicians trying to attract businesses to the inner city, ignoring the council's Ad Hoc Committee on Recovery and Revitalization, and taking unwarranted credit for business openings. The RLA board members responded by asserting that they had secured $500 million for inner city investments — a claim which was never itemised nor sufficiently substantiated. About a week later, Peter Ueberroth resigned as head of RLA (although he remained as a board member). At a May 21, 1993 news confer-ence, he explained that he had become a lightening rod for criticism which took attention away from RLA and its activities.
### Small business
What has the RLA actually accomplished? In April of this year, the agency announced the creation of two projects: an independent RLA Community Lending Corporation to provide financing for small businesses in areas damaged during the 1992 events, and a RLA telephone hot line to link thousands of volunteers with community service groups. RLA has also established 14 worker training programmes, and recently received the credit when a large supermarket chain said it would build four new stores and create 500 new jobs in poor areas of Los Angeles and surrounding communities.
Immediate assistance — such as emergency food collection and distribution -was organised by community groups, charities, students and churches. Although limited by the absence of a central co-ordinating body, these efforts demonstrated a healthy response to urgent problems and established multi-racial and multi-ethnic grassroots working relationships. Longer term projects were initiated by individuals by individuals and newly formed organisations. An African American couple, operating out of their South Central home, formed the Youth Jobs Awareness Project 18 which secured employment for over 500 teenagers and young adults. A Korean pastor of the United Methodist Church opened the Korean American Food & Shelter Services which is used by all those in need regardless of race or nationality. Hands Across Watts, a coalition of some gangs (mostly from public housing projects) provided recreational activities for youths. The Asian Pacific Americans for a New LA was founded. Community Build has begun to implement the most ambitious plans for economic and human development, including: building affordable housing, securing summer jobs for youths, establishing a film and television facility, and programmes to revive depressed South Los Angeles communities.
### Credit unions
Over the last year, $26 million was either pledged or raised by religious organisations. The June 9 1993 Los Angeles Times reported: "Ground has been broken for low income housing and youth shelters. Church backed credit unions and entrepreneurial assistance programmes are opening to make consumer credit and business expertise more available to hard pressed inner-city residents. There are food giveaways and prayer vigils, crisis counselling and pulpit exchanges. Co-operation among Christians, Jews and Muslims have been unparalleled, clergy members say."
Religious leaders also say — along with many others - that the underlying causes of rebellion continue to exist. A multi-racial coalition of community activists released a report on April 27, 1993 calling for a major expansion of government funding for social welfare, environmentally safe job development, education and housing programmes and other steps for "Reconstructing Los Angeles from the Bottom Up." When asked how such programmes would be funded, activists replied: by tax increases for corporations and wealthy individuals who received numerous tax breaks in the 1980s. A coalition spokesperson explained that many people issued "a collective sigh of relief" when calm prevailed during and after the April, 1993 federal trial of police officers charged with violating Rodney King's civil rights (two of the four were found guilty) but, "Little progress has been made on the problems of polarisation of the races or the economic struggle."
Los Angeles civic leaders welcomed President Clinton's election expecting that the new national administration would rebuild the crumbling urban core in the US. But President Clinton's policies and actions have already shown his intention to bolster business interests at the the expense of working people and the poor. On June 10, 1993, two days after his election as the new mayor of the Los Angeles, Richard Riordan led a delegation to the state capitol. Governor Wilson and state legislators were urged to spare Los Angeles from proposed funding cuts. The delegation heard words of sympathy but received no help from California officeholders arguing over how to cope with a $9 billion deficit. On June 11, Los Angeles County Supervisors (who reign over a geographical area, population and financial resources greater than many countries in the world) called for $1.6 billion worth of cuts in hospitals, mental health care facilities, fire protection, children's services, libraries, parks, law enforcement and other services. As Southern California's largest employer, the county's proposed job cuts will push many more thousands into the ranks of the unemployed.
At the present time, there is no organised forces in the Los Angeles area with the authority, capacity and determination to mobilise the necessary struggle. Militant battles have been been undertaken by: immigrant workers who have won union recognition and improved contracts; African Americans resisting police brutality; college students fighting against increases in fees and cutbacks in education; Latina/os and community activists who established a Chicana/o studies centre at UCLA; and public employees protesting cutbacks in community services and striking to protect working conditions. These efforts have proven that combativity and consciousness exists within sections of the working class, people of colour and oppressed groupings. What is lacking is a more unified struggle which brings together the kind of power needed to achieve the inter-related range of goals projected by the groupings engaged in various fightback campaigns. *
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