Hearings Examine Intolerance

Improved race relations and greater tolerance in society in general have produced an unfortunate effect--alienated people who feel “compelled to take more outrageous actions to attract attention,” a speaker told the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission on Monday.

That partially explains why the number of hate crimes reported nationally is decreasing but the incidents that have occurred tend to be more violent and dramatic, said David Lehrer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith in Los Angeles.

“Of late, the hate crimes tend to be more violent, intense and reflective of more than casual racial or religious animus,” Lehrer said during the beginning of four days of hearings on the State of Human Relations 2000.

He told the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission that a number of recent incidents--including the three synagogues burned in Sacramento, the murder of a gay couple in Redding and a racially motivated shooting rampage in Illinois and Indiana--have demonstrated “the persistence and virulence of the virus of hate.”

Mayor Richard Riordan said he is hopeful that the hearings will help establish the models for human relations during the 21st century.

“The State of Human Relations, 2000 is an opportunity for divergent voices and views to be heard and help put Los Angeles on a course for greater understanding and cooperation among people in the years ahead,” Riordan said.

Joe Hicks, Human Relations Commission director, said the dialogue seeks to find new approaches to human relations. “The warm and fuzzy theories that for so long dominated race and human relations simply will not suffice,” he said. “The ‘can’t we just all get along’ approach . . . is not going to get us where we need to go.”

A recurring concern for the panelists Monday was the lack of communication among neighborhoods and communities. They warned that although Los Angeles has diverse ethnic groups, they rarely reach out to one another. Many residents drive on the freeway, oblivious to the people they pass on their way to work, not daring to venture south or east of downtown Los Angeles, the speakers said.

“I’m not saying to go back to Civics 101 and everybody hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya,’ that’s not the answer,” Lehrer said. “But people are afraid to go into a different community because it’s not in their comfort zone. Somehow we got to break people out of this or it will come back to haunt us.”

Panelist Gloria Allred, an attorney and radio host, said media vehicles such as the Internet and talk radio are increasingly being used to foment anger and alienation. As communities become “an insular, cocoon-type of society,” they tend to rely more on these means to communicate, she said.

The hearings, which will continue through Thursday, are the second part of a project undertaken by the Human Relations Commission. The discussions, in Room 317 of City Hall East, will include Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, radio host Larry Elder and Bong Hwan Kim, executive director of the Multicultural Collaboration.

The project’s first phase included more than 60 meetings with community groups to gather their views and comments. The final phases will include a youth summit, assessments of the community commentary and the hearings. A commission report should be ready by November, Hicks said.