Newspaper Page Text
8A
February 9, 2006
Segregated: Many reasons given as to why cities are segregated
Continued from page 2A
torian at USC who studics seg
regation in Los Angeles.
h‘{‘(’ha( is troubling is that the
divide is getting worse. This
suggests that this is not a tem
porary stage ... We have found
a dar pattern of ‘rescgrega
aon.
The USC studies and
Ethingtons ongoing rescarch
are the latest in findings by
scholars that bring a snhring
reality to the widespread obser
vation that Los Angeles, as a
metropolitan arca, has become
more and more diverse — a
conclusion that one study sug
gests has been a mideading
rading of the highly diverse
workforce in Los Angeles, espe
cally on the l’N\""cs(sidc.
Residents of Los Angedes arc far
less racially and ethnically segre
gated at work than they are in
alcir home neighborhoods,
according to a University of
Washington study.
“The differenaes are striking,
By day, the rgion s a more
mixed place, roughly half as
segregated, than itis by night,”
said Mark Ellis, a one-time res
Gas bills: Heating up
Continued from page 3A
ral gas and liquid propane
throughout the winter. Per
duc’s signature made it the
first bill of the 2006 logisl.l—
tion session that was signed
into law.
Although the plan s
expected to return up to S2O
million to only residential
gas customers, the measure
would only mean a typical
savings of less than $6 on a
S3OO bill when factoring in
usage fees that aren't taxed.
Consumer groups have
blasted the government for
not dning more.
Among their proposals:
Require the state to provide
resources to homeowners on
how to lower their gas bills,
and - to help conserve ener
gv over the long term — man
date that new public build
ings meet strict cfficiency
standards and offer rtax
INCENtves to encourage resi
dents o buy fuel-cfficient
vehicles.
Mecanwhile, clection-year
mancuvering is heating up.
Statc Democrats intro
duced legislation in both the
House and Senate that
would declare an emergency
and re-regulate the natral
gas industry in an attempt to
drive down gas bills. Perdue
scoffed at the proposal as
“pure politics.”
Wise, the PSC’s chair,
urged lawmakers to think
long-term. Quick to cite his
staunch support for nuclcar
energy, he said the state
should encourage more fuel
diversity. “We need to look
ahcad of today’s high prices,”
he said.
Adair Park resident Ellie
Fountain said she’s not
impressed with the tax cut
passcd by state lawmakers,
which saved her only a few
dollars.
“Five dollars on a $495
History: “Black History should be recognized all year around”
Continued from page 2A
older ones, think their history
ins and ends with slavery,
said.
orthwestern University's
Dardene Hine said black histo
ry is vital to American history.
“No one believes that a
month is sufficient enough to
fully explore the lives and expe
nienacs of African-Americans,”
said Hine, professor of African
an Women's Histox'. “But it is
absolutely essential for the
ident of Los Angclcs who head
ed the Washington study.
“So Beverly Hilfi: or Brent
wood, for example, are not
only for wealthy predominant
ly White residents. There also
are a large number of people
from other groups who come
to work there every day and
make the neighborhoods work.
They mow 31&' grass, clean the
house and take care of the kids.
It is the ulimate irony. The
waalthy try to sl themsdves
oft from the working poor, but
still need them o make their
community work.”
Although those findings of
racial Ls'(:tninn in Los Angdles
housing do not belic the racial
and ethnic diversity that polit
al and avic kaders have been
lauding in recent years, experts
say the two are almost exclusive
of cach other.
“Politicians like to say that
diversity is our greatest
slrcng(fl." saild Ron Whak
abayashi, formerly exccutive
director of the Los t\ngdk‘b
County Commission on
Human Relatons and now
with the Justice Department’s
Community Relations Serviee,
bill,” hufts Fountain, whosc
gas bill more than doubled
from last vear. “That's not
going to do nothing.”
Fountains family was one
of the first black houscholds
to move in during the 19705,
back when she said the white
home with blue awnings
across the street used to
house KKK meetings.
The gritty neighborhood
has scen worse times, but it's
got a long way to go, said
Greg Sanders, a community
activist. He and Leslic prowl
the neighborhood on foort,
pointing out prostitute dens,
grudgingly greet drug dealers
and complain about the ram
shackle abandoned homes
which make up more than
halt of the neighborhood's
houses.
After a PSC emplovee ran
a local workshop on e¢nergy
saving tips, many of the resi
dents now dress warmer, line
their windows with plastic
sheeting and stuff open
spaces in entrances with tow
cls. But the advice will only
dent the gas bills in some of
the more dilapidated homes,
where roofs sag and insula
tion is a rarity.
Gaping holes above the
window in Richard Mahones
bedroom draw in a stcady, chilly
current. To make up for i,
two heaters blaze a flow of
hot air. A gas heater at the
foot of his bed rests precari
ously on a wooden plank he
found on a side street. Next
to his pillow, on a cardboard
box, sits a portable clectric
heater he also lugs into his
bathroom.
Mahone, a 62-year-old for
mer limo driver, has scen his
S6OO monthly check from
the government devoured by
utility bills nearing SI,OOO.
“We need help,” he said,
managing a meck smile. “I'm
a litde shamed, but we need
help.”
country to continue teaching
and training scholars 1o
explore, invest and write about
the contributions of people of
African-American descent have
made to the creation of Ameri
an cvilization.”
State RLE David Miller (D-
Calumet City) said Freeman
was r?n to say black history
should be recognized year
round, but adda? the impor
tance and necessity of B‘:d(
History Month has not dimin
ished sincc Woodson's Negro
History Weck 80 years ago.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
“ That is b.s. Diversity simply is.
The core question is how gu we
extract its assets while minimiz
ing its labilities?”
R’i()l‘t‘ significantly, experts
point to the reality that while
Angelenos of different races
;uus‘ cthnidities may often work
and vote side-by-side — they
live side-by-side in small and
sometimes infinitesimal num
bers.
Afnican-Amernicans, accord
ing to 2000 census data, make
up only 1.93 peraent of the
population of Bd Air; 1.77 per
cent of Bevery Hills; 2.48 per
cent of Brentwood; 3.09 per
aent of West Hollywood: 1 per
ant of the Paafic Palisades;
and do not even register a hun
dredth of a percent in West
wood.
Professor Ethington, who has
been tracing segregation in Los
Angeles xina'%;c 1940 census,
says that while avil rights laws
of the 1960 s may have wiped
out discimination in housing
and other aras, an uneven
plaving fidd in real estate sill
remained.
“In the Westside and the
beach areas, whites had gotten
Coretta: Together at last
Continued from page 3A :
madc a joint appearance.
The elder Bush, noted for
his clumsiness, drew laughter
when he said, “This may
be vour lucky day. 1 lost
2 page.
It this had been a pres
idential sweepstakes, Bill
Clinton would have been
declared the clear win
ner. He received a pro
longed standing ovation
before he uttered a word.
And when he did speak,
it was with a passion he
routinely uses to connect
with predominantly
black audiences.
‘I don't want to forget
that there’'s a woman in
there,” he said, pointing
to a casket adorned with
flowers. “Not a S)’Illh()l.
But a rcal woman who
lived and breathed, and
got angry and got hurt,
and had dreams and dis
appointments. 1 don't
want us to forget that.”
Clinton continued,
“We're here to honor a
person. Fifty-four ycars
ago, her about-to-be
husband said that he was
looking for a woman
with character, intelli
gence, personality, and
beauty, and she sure fit
the bill. And 1 have to
say, when she was over
75, I thought she still fit
the bill pretty g(md.“
The audience laughed
in agreement. The for
mer president observed
that instead of remaining
in mourning, immediate
ly following her hus
band’s assassination,
Coretta Scott King was
on a plane from Atlanta
to Memphis to continue
“Weve shaped America. To
put :fiuual emphasis on this
month is not an exause not to
adebrate the legacy 365 days a
year,” Miller said. “It’s the way
in wh(lich w:hau; continue to
remind youth of our legacy.
The apprediation of the contri
butions of black Americans
should not end on Feb. 28,
Miller said. i ’
Hine agreed the study «
Black History should be :}' year
long pursuit, but Bladk Histo
Month isomwafytogivcblmz
people a sense of ownership of
in on the valuable picacs of
property carly on,” says Ething
ton. “And they saw d{: stecpest
increases in pr(/){)fcny values...
“By the time [African-Amen
ans| were able o buy, they
werent able to because of eco
nomic means. The prices of
those valuabl: picaes of proper
ty had alrady gotten out of
what they could afford.”
Cheryl Cook, a resident of
upsaale Ladera Heights which
with its views of the Pacific has
become one of the wealthiest
arcas in the country, offers a
telling example of how African-
Americans of means have made
their choice on where to live, In
the 19905, when she and her
family were looking for a new
home, they found comparable
homes on the Westside out of
their ;)nu range.
“We muldfilavc bought in
Cheviot Hills, Santa Monica or
the South Bay,” says Cook,
“but the difference in price
would have been greater ;ur a
lot less.”
But another study produced
as recently as the mid-199%s
found that even in the cardy
1990 s discrimination and prey
his work.
“What are we going to
do with the rest of our
lives?” Clinton asked.
“Do you want to treat
our friend Coretta like a
model? Then model her
behavior.” He issued a
pointed challenge to the
city of Atlanta, where the
Kings spent most of their
lives.
“Atlanta, what is your
responsibility for the
future of the King Cen
ter?” Clinton asked,
referring to a complex
that had been beset in
recent vears by debt and
controversy. “What are
vou going to do?” Ber
nicc King, who was 5
vears old when her father
died, eulogized her
mother, who died Jan. 30
of respiratory problems
associated with advanced
ovarian cancer. She was
78 years old The
voungest child was with
her mother when she
died in Mexico.
“I'm just here to cele
brate,” said the vounger
King, an associate pastor
at the church. “I don'’t
have to say a word.” But
she said many words in a
wide-ranging culogy that
lasted about 38 minutes.
Alluding to a controversy
over the funcral being
held at New Birth Mis
sionary Baptist Church,
Bernice King said, "I
said, ‘God, why here?’
He said, ‘lt’s time for the
world to be born again.”™
She urged mourners to
live in the present, not
the past.
“God is not looking for
a Martin Luther King or
Coretta Scott King,” she
their past. “A part of black his
tory is about establishing
(blad(}z‘?mtrihnk)m and get
ting the larger society to recog
m/‘i/: thusi% mntfih‘:{ium." skc
said. “All black people want is
some lu»fim
Worrill acknowledged that
Freeman was correat to say
black history should be a part
of American history every day,
but the actor’s comments were
not made in historical context,
he said.
“Obviously we need to con
tinue the struggle to recapture
udice against minorities was the
mafiumm for racial hous
ing scgregation. It also condud
c'}' that other common expla
nations for segregation — that
radal groups choose to live
together or that minorities cant
af%{)&rd to buy houses or rent
apartments in white neighbor
hoods — were not supported by
the study.
“There have been many rea
sons given as to why American
citics are so vanxf,, but racial
prejudice ;}?\3’ discrimination
still provide the best answer
siven the evidence,” said
Eamillc Zubrinsky Charles,
now a professor at the Universi
ty of Pennsylvania who co
authored the sudy with
Lawrence Bobo, a sociologist at
UCLA.
Some experts have argued
that Afican-Americans them
scdves are most responsible for
scgregation because they want
to live in predominandy black
neighborhoods — a condusion
that Zubrinsky Chares said
was disproved by her study, in
which African-Americans in
Los Angdes surveyed said their
ideal neighborhood would
said.
“The old has passed
away; there is a new
order that is emerging.”
There was some unspo
ken tension between
some¢ who had worked
with Dr. King and
organizers of the funeral,
which was held at the
10,000-scat mega-church
in suburban Lithonia, 15
miles cast of Atlanta.
Jesse Jackson, a former
King aide who was with
him when the civil rights
leader was killed in
Memphis, was not
allowed to be part of the
funcral program. Jackson
and other top aides had
participated in a scrvice
the night before art
Ebenezer Baptist Church
in the historic Sweet
Auburn section of down
town Atlanta.
Many of those spcakers
were already upset that the
funcral scrvice was being
held at a suburban black
mega-church instead of
Ebenczer, Dr. King's old
church. And few tried to
hide their displeasure over
Bush being allowed to take
patt in Coretta Scott
King’s funcral after oppos
ing most of what she
fought for while she was
alive.
“We can't let them take
her from us and reduce her
to their trophy and not our
freedom fighter,” Jackson
said at the Monday night
Services.
Another top SCLC offi
cial, Rev. C. T. Vivian, said:
“As we think of Coretta, if
she were here right now, she
would say the president of
the United States is the
direct opposite to Martin
the African mind, the African
spirit and African traditions,”
he added. Worrill, while stick
ing to the notion that the four
week-long celebration s
gt
: i poin
capitalists are profiting from
Black History Month,
“One of our problems is cor
porate intrusion,” Worrill said.
‘Corporations are putting their
spins on our history.”
The challenge for black
Americans, Hine said, is to
reach beyond the corporate
have between 27 percent and
50 t non-blacks.
that the underlying factor con
tributing to segregation contin
ues to be racial prejudice.
“Racal tion isnt occur
ring because Elacks and Latinos
are too poor to live with
whites,” says Zubrinsky
Charles.
“The results from the surveys
are not surprising, but theyre
still disappointing, There’s sl
quite a bit of prejudice and dis
crimination thats preventing
integration in our citics.
More tdlling, still, says Zubrin
sky Charles, is what the contin
uing segregation in Los Angeles
augurs for the dty in terms of
race relations.
“The lack of regular contact
between blacks and whites and
Latinos reinforass negative atti
tudes,” she says. “Segregation
perpetuates poverty, inequality
m]g.xdw stcrg)ry;xs ofuLladcs
and Latinos as wdfare-depend
ent [and] criminally-indined. A
nci;ihburh(x xd setting would be
a place for these attitudes o
change.”
Luther King. It is in fact our
public policy that makes
people poor. Nonviolence is
the root of the matter. If we
forget that, we might as well
forget the movement.”
Former UN Ambassador
Andrew Young, another for
mer King aide, said the con
trasting services at Ebenezer
and New Birth showed that
Mirs. King had a foot in cach
world “They are both real,”
he explained to the Atlanta
Constitution. “[Monday] was
a movement service. It was
like a mass movement. It
unfortunately was too little
about Coretta, but it was
about carrying on the move
ment. Everything we have
said about Coretta has been
the truth, but she still made
sure Nixon helped build the
King Center, and she still
got Reagan to sign the King
holiday [bill]. She was
always so humble and grace
ful, and her protest was so
purc. That's why she was
so cffective.”
After the funeral,
Coretta Scott King's
body was driven to the
King Center, arriving at
2:14 pm. There, the
family released seven
doves, the symbol of
peace. The coffin was
placed in a temporary
crypt, where it will
remain until a perma
nent crypt is build next
to her husband.
Between the tombs is
an cternal flame.
Inscribed on Mrs. King’s
crypt, below her name
and vyears of birth and
death, is a passage from
First Corinthians 13:13,
which reads: “And now
abide Faith, Hope, Love,
These Three; but the
greatest of these is Love.”
pursuit for dollars and to con
centrate on intdlectual pur
suits. Bernard Williams, direc
tor of marketing for Malcolm
X College, agrees.
“Our salvation is thmufl
education and literature,”
said. “I rejoice in the fact that
black people are making all
kinds of (big) moncy, but they
are talking about stuff that
couldn't get on the radio 20 to
30 years ago. But | am about
giving respect to those who
came before us.”