It was 20 years ago on Jan. 30 that Los Angeles reacted with horror to the murder of 27-year-old graphic artist Karen Toshima, killed by a stray bullet during a shootout between rival gang members as she walked on a Westwood street.
Her murder shocked the city and attracted national attention. The LAPD tripled patrols around UCLA and 30 officers were assigned to a task force to find her killer. Politicians staged press conference and vowed to take strong measures to quell the gang menace, even promising to hire 150 more cops for the underpoliced city.
TIME magazine concluded its article, noting that "this is not likely to end the debate over life and death in Los Angeles. Not many of the 387 gang-related killings in Los Angeles County last year ended with a press conference announcing an arrest."
The New York Times focused on the backlash in the black community over the attention the Toshima murder attracted, noting it "brought anger from some blacks who, while deploring the Toshima killing, said that no such concerted police and media attention attends the numerous killings of innocent blacks by gangs in the predominantly black south central part of Los Angeles...
''We are tired and we're not going to take it anymore,'' Congresswoman Maxine Waters, then a state legislator, was quoted as saying.
Sound familiar? It is because so little has changed.Gangs still flourish in much of the city, terrorizing vast neighborhoods, engaging in mayhem and murder.
The senseless killing of Jamiel Shaw II has prompted outrage across the city and calls for tough action just as so many similar slayings have in the past. And the backlash against strong action is just as visible.
So what does it take to get City Hall to act? Letters, phone calls, emails, petition drives -- past experience shows those tactics only get City Hall to step up its public relations efforts, briefly, without affecting real change.
But if you want change you have to do more: Go to your neighborhood council meeting, community organizations, civic groups and stand up for what you believe. Bring along friends and neighbors. Push for them to take a stand and unite with other groups across the city.
The answer to what's broken in L.A. is People Power. Nothing will change because you cry tears in your beer. It takes action.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Here are some of the ideas I've had about helping to fix this city that apparently loves to hate me. (I'm only half-joking.)
I wanted to start a non-profit group that plants trees in South L.A. Lots of them. In yards and parkways.
Ah, the trouble is, I don't know how, I don't have time to learn how, I would have to fight city hall and five BILLION regulations about doing anything as dastardly as planting trees, and I'd have to deal with the mistrust of the community wondering why the crazy white lady is knocking on their doors asking if she and her crew can plant a tree in their yards.
Just the thought of dealing with it all---all the mistrust and apathy and mistrust and complaining---oh god. I'm too old to put up with such **ap. Just the thought of it is overwhelming.
Then sometimes I think about becoming a high school counselor and working for the district that is an expert at turning good people bitter: LAUSD. I could teach the frightened young masses how to get into college.
Sounds great, right? Ah yes, except then I have to figure out how to explain to the people what the crazy white lady is doing in South L.A. again. Hmmm...perhaps a note on the door of my office would suffice?
What would it say?
It would say, "I am here because I know what it is to have a dream deferred."
Do you think they would believe me? Or would I be judged an ignorant fool because I didn't grow up in the 'hood?
What's that old saying? "NO good deed goes unpunished"? Amen.
You're right of course---the key is to band together and fight the lies. Safety in numbers is the key I guess.
To the above crazy white lady:
Go out and plant those trees!
No need to reinvent the wheel. One Million Trees L.A. wants you to bring your idea to the table and would most likely help you make it happen. It is is a city-sponsored program, but unlike most, it has been kept mostly apolitical, simple and effective. Visit www.milliontreesla.org I think you'll be heartened.