LA92 Panel - Live | National Geographic

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you hiya pjmartin and I'm Dan Lindsey and we are the directors of LA 92 there's a clear irony in introducing a film that part of its intention was to create an immersive and visceral experience that brings you closer to what it felt like during the civil unrest of 92 all the while we're experiencing something very similar in our own backyards much like the horrifying images that we're seeing every day and consuming on social media at times this film can be hard to process and hard to watch but we hope you engage with a very critical and hopefully an empathetic guy part of our intention in making this film was to use the power of video to compel us as a country to face hard truths and to that end we'd like to thank National Geographic documentary films for making tonight possible please join us at the conclusion of the film for a panel discussion [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is where it began this is where the fuse was lighted it began with the arrest by white officers of the California Highway Patrol of two young Negroes one on a charge of drunk driving the other his brother his passenger their mother who lives nearby came to the scene there was an argument there was a scuffle by then a crowd of several hundred Negroes had gathered the story of police brutality quickly spread through the community up the street a block or so in that direction a church where a Negro leader pleaded for peace and were rejected now that way the busy intersection where cars were overturned and burned where a television technician was pulled from his wagon and almost beaten to death it was the most widespread most destructive racial violence in American history the burning and looting the shooting and beating went on for nearly a week 34 persons were killed but five of them Negroes police chief Parker described Los Angeles Negro rioters as monkeys in a zoo and Negro leaders have more than once called for his removal in creating the situation where was the failure on the part of the city the county the schools this I think is one of the difficulties in meeting this is that we're trying to find a failure other than the people themselves and this is a very dangerous move because it serves to sort of sanctify their acts every grievance that was had by the people who started this thing there has been nothing done to solve it the only thing that was done was that massive forces were brought in to suppress the actual overt action how has it affected you it's getting tired of being pushed around but you like this off now pushed around how bad it's stopping us on the street kicking it adults taking down a police station you keep your teeth in well they're stopping people on the street now they've been done a long time before now during this entire incident we've heard constant references to respect for law and order and more particularly what they mean is respect for law enforcement how to really understand the problems of these people you'd have to understand what law enforcement has meant to them for a hundred years we're talking about the white man's law enforcement that's responsible for many of their parents being chased out of the south on one pretext or another under those conditions you can understand that the people aren't going to be reverent about law enforcement and the men who enforce the law what would make it better what herd maker all the riding stopped how think it was never that mean that may not be like distant it'll never stop I don't think Macomb Commission sought to answer questions about watts can it happen again so serious and explosive is the situation says the Commission that unless it is checked the August riots may be only a curtain raiser - what could blow up one day in the future what shall it avail our nation if we can place a man on the moon but cannot cure the sickness in our cities this is bill stout for CBS reports in Los Angeles good night [Music] out of the ashes of this community I think that is an opportunity to build a better society in terms of Economic Security better housing conditions better schools and to deal with the police problem to make Los Angeles a model city for the nation Thomas Bradley was sworn in today as mayor of Los Angeles the largest city in this country ever to have a black mayor Bradley is a former policeman and the son of a Texas sharecropper tonight it's not just a victory for Tom Bradley that a victory for progress a victory for our children thank you very much [Applause] [Music] Darrell Gates had spent 28 years working his way through the ranks to the top job he had been chief Parker's driver and bodyguard his heir apparent I'm going to put my stamp on this organization this would be a Daryl gates department blacks and liberals have become intensely critical of what they charge is excessive use of force by the Los Angeles Police Department many Americans think of Hollywood when they think of Los Angeles but Los Angeles is also the port of entry for America's new immigrants from Asia and from Latin America in the last 15 years more than two million immigrants from around the world according to this city many of the city's new small businesses are the American dream of the foreign-born our city is a stunning ethnic and cultural mosaic we have forged a sense of identity of common concern and destiny in the late dr. Martin Luther King's words I am honored to stand here today and look out upon faces of many different colors intermingle like the waters of a ribbon yet I see only one face the face of the future thank you [Applause] [Music] [Music] one two three I am pleased to announce that at midnight tonight all United States and coalition forces will suspend offensive combat operations this is not a time of euphoria certainly not a time to gloat but it is a time of pride pride in our troops pride in our nation and the people who strengthen resolve made victory quick decisive and just [Music] this latest Gallup poll shows people in the United States feeling positive about their country and their president following the Allied victory in the Gulf la residents will have to drink shower and consume 10 percent less water mayor Bradley signed the water conservation measure today looks none too good in fact they keep saying that the recession is the only thing pulling us out of inflation to several degrees [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] an unusual twist in a case of alleged race-based police brutality in Los Angeles neither the police nor the suspect knew that a home video camera had captured the scene it began as a high-speed chase and ended early Sunday morning with the motorist a black male being brutally beaten and kicked the victim was struck as many as 56 times and suffered several broken bones George holiday lives across the street he had his video camera out and it recorded what happened as the suspect was being arrested the camera sort of ready and looked across the street and that's when I saw that the action was going on the suspect identified as Robbie one King King who is married and has two stepchildren was on parole after serving time for armed robbery his wife says that's no excuse for what happened it was a traffic violation come they just couldn't arrest him and give him some kind of fine or something I'd had to beat the mess out of them like that doctor said that he suffered a concussion one of his eye sockets was pulverized his cheekbone was so pushed in from the blows to his face that it would require reconstructive surgery from what I see member the prisoners of war from American forces taken by Saddam Hussein came back beaten that badly Los Angeles police say the incident was not racially motivated but the black community is not buying that about 300 members of the n-double a-c-p marched on police headquarters today this is an aberration this is something that should never have happened we had in place all of the procedures that would keep it from happening those procedures fell down because of human error the ACLU said that receives about 55 calls a week from people alleged police brutality the incident early Sunday morning is not an isolated incident the difference this time is that we have the proof do you have any idea at all how many times you were hit by a club what do you remember about that every time several times I mean stones and cake that's from some kind of device that they use the shocking you gotta be kicked out of that what makes you say they got a kick out of him because of how long he left it him it was like they had a little toy and they wanted to see how at work what kinds of things did you hear from the officers did you hear any kind of slurs at all what do you mean sir were there any kind of racial comments made it all Oh Rachel no I didn't know I didn't you can cut this from the tape if you want but rods family has made it very clear that they're not looking to turn this into a racial crusade mr. King doesn't want to make make it ours though they did it just because he was a black man they may have been incidental to it and they may be personal motives that these officers had we don't know that yet but at the present time it doesn't seem like that [Music] [Music] as you know the District Attorney's Office has been conducting an investigation into the beating of Rodney King and I am announcing today that we have obtained indictments against four Los Angeles police officers for their role in the beating of mr. King LAPD officer Lawrence Powell Timothy wind Theodore Briceno and sergeant Stacey Koon have been indicted for assault with a deadly weapon and for excessive use of force under color of authority officer Powell and Wynn and sergeant poon are further charged with inflicting great bodily injury in the brutal attack that has now been witnessed by millions of people under California law these are felonies punishable by up to seven years in state prison sergeant Koon and officer Powell have also been indicted for filing false reports all four officers surrendered this morning to the district attorney's office they have been arrested fingerprinted and potent this is World News Tonight with Peter Jennings sitting in tonight in Washington Ted Koppel good evening the evidence is new it's dramatic and it's devastating to those Los Angeles police officers involved in the March 3rd beating of that black motorist one of the two officers who wielded batons that evening relate a message after the arrest to another car saying quote sounds almost as exciting as our last call it was right out of gorillas in the mist one policeman involved in the beating said quote I haven't beaten anyone this bad in a long time another joke later saying I'm sure the lizard didn't deserve it Mayor Tom Bradley said the transcript raises more questions about Police Command I think it has been devastating to the image of the city and especially to our Police Department it's very apparent that some not all but some of those officers are clearly out of control and they have to ultimately be willing to take a good hard look at the leadership of the department [Music] mr. president all of us I think have been stunned by what has happened and I can't imagine that the chief or anybody else in the city would condone the kind of conversation that took place both electronically and by voice in that Foothill division that night blacks are not animals they're not lizards they're not Apes they're not gorillas any more than any of us are they're human beings the first way to open the door to brutalizing people in anyone any place is to cheapen their worth as human beings and when I read the transcripts of the conversation I was appalled but the ability to freely converse in racist terminology suggests a level of tolerance for that kind of discussion that that is unacceptable by any standard of decency well first of all this is a department that this council has supported over and over again this is a police department that has supported you each of you and I just tell you this if you don't speak out on behalf of the men and women Los Angeles Police Department of theirs serve the people this city well if you don't do that at this crucial moment in our history now I'm going to tell you you're going to have a police department that is not going to be the kind of department that you want the kind of department that people deserve mr. Wu thank you I want to know did you mean that as a threat in other words that if if if I or other members of the council are going to be criticizing you or the department are you saying that you will will withhold support of these services to fight crime in our districts that is the most insulting thing I have heard on this council floor and all the time and I've been here a lot longer than you've been alive absolutely not it's a professional organization what do you think we are [Music] [Music] she'll be up against the wall and started strangling I cannot breathe it tried to kick me in the testicles he threw me aside and said get in your hat we found one case where a dog attacked and bent the chest of a 16 year old girl the dogs are quite large and aggressive they will rip away flesh and muscle they will tear out blood vessels and they will sometimes break bones please send our kids completely conflicting messages they're in our schools every single day and yet our kids see them on TV beating a man like a dog the police are trained to approach black men as criminals first and citizens second but before you leave South Central you need to understand verbal abuse happens here every day and every night [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] people are talking about taking this to the street and we ain't talking about just marching [Applause] another widely publicized incident captured on videotape in Los Angeles this grainy security camera videotape graphically depicts the last few moments of fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlan's life store owner soon-ja dude thought 15 year-old Latasha Harlan's was going to steal some orange juice she had the money in her hand you can see the money in the videotape and the suspect grabbed the backpack and there became a physical altercation over the backpack and as our victim turned to walk away from the scene the suspect raised a weapon and shot the victim in the back of the head [Music] Natasha was an ace duty honor roll student she got money every week for her allowance so she did not have to steal orange juice the store clerk a Korean woman is now in jail the black community is outraged over the killing the n-double-a-cp is demanding the clerk be tried for murder the case has become a symbol of tensions between two large groups in this ethnically diverse City African Americans and the Koreans who become successful merchants in many of the poorest black neighborhoods as many as 300,000 Koreans live in Los Angeles many of them in an area known as Koreatown some blacks see the Koreans as a merchant class that takes advantage of the black community we are deeply concerned that this incident may be detrimental to the positive efforts between the two communities in order to strengthen our bond we will actively join with the african-american community to develop measures to prevent further tragedy [Music] [Music] it is now a time for healing it is not a time for rhetoric which serves no purpose other than to fuel the fire it's like throwing gasoline on a fire that's already burning it is my opinion that mrs. du is not a danger to the community and that she is not going to reoffending law when I see one I know a person who presents a danger to the community when I see one when I don't I treat that person as something other than that [Music] I mean you can have a black person killed up with a video with eyewitnesses and this is what you'll get a judge who's probably never been down here a judge a judge decided where Kasia was killed a family was killed racism is not the Korean killing her racism into crisis [Music] to the salvation of our people prepare to be simply disappear [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] judge Barnard Kamen's caught observers by surprise when he reversed himself and announced that he would grant a change of venue in the trial of the four police officers charged in connection with the beating of motorist Rodney King the change of venue motion is greatly entwined with whether we can get jurors and I'm very concerned whether we can get jurors who are tainted other high-profile cases such as those of Charles Manson and Robert Kennedy assassins Syria and Sirhan were not transferred out of Los Angeles despite high publicity but defense attorneys say this case is different everyone has opinion on the guilt or innocence of these defendants and that's why it will be very difficult to get a fair trial to move the trial away from the swarming controversy in the LA media the venue was changed to the Simi Valley a mostly white suburb of Los Angeles where many police officers live Simi Valley is a town of 100,000 people just 35 miles north of Los Angeles Simi Valley residents are 88% white just one and a half percent of the people who live here are black [Music] [Music] [Music] did you say anything to mr. King yes what did you say to him yelled at him to lay down on the ground get down on the ground a series of those commands a series yes you repeated him right and tell the jury what happened next hey I continued to hit him and then knocked him to the ground yell at him to stay on the ground and he repeated the motion again getting up again I was completely in fear for my life scared to death that if this guy got back up he was gonna take my gun away from me or there was gonna be a shooting and I was doing everything I could to keep him down on the ground at any time during this evening did it go through your mind that this was not a human being that you were beating no he wasn't an animal was he no sir just waiting like one he was just acting like one yes sir was he acting like a gorilla no sir now this call that involved these African Americans was it in a jungle you know what jungle no was it at the zoo No were there any gorillas around I didn't see any I'm thinking that mr. King has been subjected to an enormous amount of a pain and he's not it's almost as if his body is anesthetized to the pain what were you thinking now I was thinking that I have exhausted all of the use of force that I have short of deadly force at this time I'm thinking at this time I mean they're gonna have to use a chokehold or my weapon and why didn't you want to use a chokehold sir because in Los Angeles for chokehold is associated with death of blacks how do you you were looking at this videotape sir it's violent and it's brutal was this anything that you enjoyed no why was it done it's done to control an aggressive combative suspect and sometimes police work is brutal it's the fact of life everyday regular folks from the public file in to watch the trial and you can too if you could beat the rush actually I have a pretty good chance we have 17 seats allocated for the public however the other seats that we have reserved if people don't show up for those seats then we immediately open them up to the public if you want to come here though here's the little book they should dress appropriately for court of course um nothing that says anything about the trial itself or any type of racial slurs on anything that might be misconstrued by anyone well a court order covers that you have another shirt in the car [Music] stopping the video 350 102 have you seen mr. King swinging anyone no I have have you seen him punch at anyone no I have your testimony then in any point after 342 20 any baton blow received by mr. King is unreasonable and unnecessary yes sir it is [Music] as sergeant kun not been there to control that situation as ugly as it looks Rodney King wouldn't have been home now and maybe sergeant tune would have had to go tell some officers family why they didn't come home you've got this man down he's not doing anything he's not trying to escape he's not trying to resist when you reach that point on that tape where you say enough is enough that's when unreasonable force starts our whole system of justice is based on the belief that if we get 12 people from the community to fairly and dispassionately decide this issue devoid of prejudice and bias then the truth will come out justice will be done think ahead and make a decision now about what you will be able to say years from now I was true to my oh I was true to the law I was true to myself [Music] [Music] she's a package for the office yes sir defendant [Music] you better believe it yeah yeah they're holding the jungle bag tiger I'm jungle no sir I think the defendants are jungle people okay for you to support those defendants is another is an indication of your humanity your immorality you got a constitutional right of poor judgment and your exercise right now you have a constitutional right of just inconspicuous inhumanities keep your mouth shut I didn't ask you down I have a constitutional right to freedom of speech right now aim it somewhere else yeah [Music] morning sergeant the barbecue is great looks like you're dressed for it today I got my clothes can you just tell us what it's like the last few days for you it's been no not really it's just down David I have nothing to hide real sure he can use accordingly what do you think of the doughnuts I know with the ability I didn't open it yet excuse me mr. Winn I wasn't waiting right now waiting yeah no I mean for the verdict how do you feel about got to be really tough [Music] so let's go to Brian live now at the courthouse in Simi Valley well Pat everybody is in a state of nervous state of nervousness just waiting for this decision to come down right now your people outside there's a beefed up security here for what we don't know but I'm supposing that they're prepared for whatever may arise in the event of a verdict so everyone's in a state of purpose anticipation five four three two one hello I'm told that we have the courtroom verdict so we will go live there now verdicts been reached on all counts as to all defendants who are mentioned in those counts and have you brought with you the verdict forms for those counts okay would you hand them to the bailiff please title of cordon cause we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Lawrence M Powell not guilty of the crime of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon the violation of Penal Code section two four or five a1 felony as charged in count one of the Amended indictment this 29th day of April 1992 signed by the Foreman we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Timothy E when not guilty of the crime of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Theodore J Pacino not guilty of the crime of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant Stacy C Koon not guilty of the crime of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon ladies and gentlemen of the jury are these your verdicts so say you won so say you all [Music] the jury in the Los Angeles police brutality trial has just reached its verdict the four police officers who were videotaped repeatedly beating an unarmed man were found not guilty on all but one cannot one of the four police officers seen on video tape beating which became [Applause] and into the jury's deliberations none of the jurors blood there were ten whites one Asian and one Hispanic they this jury told the world that what we all saw with our own eyes wasn't the crime today that jury asked us to accept the senseless and brutal beating of a helpless man today that jury said that we should tolerate such conduct by those who are sworn to protect and serve my friends I'm here to tell this jury no no our eyes did not deceive us we saw what we saw what we saw was a crime you got another white jury saying that it's okay for white caps to beat up black people and that's racism american-style and it's been that way from the get they making it bad for all the good cops if they're gonna let dirty cops off how does that make a guy who's trying to do his job for us to try to go back to tell black people in the community that justice is blind they say you write it is so blind and they can't see us it is so blind to whenever something happens to one of us we get the max if we don't get killed first and so it is blind in my streets with a belly full beer I don't think I have to respond to them they have to respond to themselves to make their own decision they have all the facts in front of them I would hope and that's what they should base it on it shouldn't be any sort of an emotional thing I'm glad that you guys showed this to the world to let them see how black people are treated in this country you know you guys do not respect us we you feel with sub-creatures if I went a beat if I win a beat your dog the way they beat this man I'd be in jail these guys are going out to have a drink emerges from this verdict to the rest of the country do you think why do we say the rest of the world President Bush stands up to challenge leaders of nations around the world to respect human rights and to not engage in a denial of those rights to citizens they're gonna laugh at him they're gonna point to this videotape and remember the name Rodney King in South Central LA get together get out in the street stop killing each other and let's deal with what the real problem is who is the real white people white people you got all the economic power you sell in the country to the Japanese we've been here 437 years and don't get nothing [Music] it sends a bad message it says it's okay to go ahead and beat somebody when they're down and kick the crap out of them if it's not videotaped don't worry about another brother officer won't turn yet and if a brother officer does turn you don't worry we'll get white jurors or whoever it takes and will you walk and you're protected by the system you're backed up by the system in fact it would happen here what happen anywhere is disgusting it's a good time folks if you got a plane ticket cash it it and get the heck out of Dodge this is gonna be a bad place to live [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] piece of cheering them on he's cheering a lot man I know cheering here [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] tonight we must tell our children one more time stay cool become that for african-american children and adults freedom is not yet a reality in the United States [Applause] [Music] [Music] peace every time somebody talked about peace we get a foot 9 [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] boys me now with her over reporters buzzer number three man were bullish right now oh we got many officers as many people running [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] deeper and show you the core of this thing what's going on let's go this way [Music] [Music] very angry people they're doing signs and have taken over in Los Angeles Street and again situations Ron is this an organized demonstration or I think I think it's farther than desert organized demonstration and and then it grew and grew and now now it has been for the past hour or so pretty much a standoff here [Music] you're looking the partner centreboard stations one of the guard stations they have taken it over there I'm breaking the windows we found is trying to seal off the three the group basically just marching right down the middle of the street it is a multi wrinkle crowd it is not enough predominant with any color there's a fellow who's lighting the freezer he not yes going along block to block nobody stopping I mean one tree after another these bearded palm so with the dead frogs hanging down very fuel for an arsonist [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I thought some of the officers a little while ago days they really don't know what to do right TV for us to work for Civic Center right turn 1.2 stephanie is that you do you want to change that to house widespread is the violence because it'll be hard to talk about okay well at this evening we understand that there are about 20 fires burning mostly in South Central Los Angeles this is a predominantly black area of the city this is a super swapmeet location someone actually a group of over 100 people went into this location and looted it and every time they go and loot after they are done looting they set fire to the structure [Music] [Music] for the first time tonight from Daryl gates who is holding a new staff is let's go to my it's again I think most of its concentrated at South Central Los Angeles area but problem is you find many locations where there are no officers and that needs to be corrected and we're trying to do that a strictly game sixty-four [Music] they're dispatching LAPD units trucks that respond to major emergency blazes for protection but with respect to trying to get LAPD service or anything else folks you're on your own down there [Music] there are fires burning being beaten very salut that is a dangerous night city of Los Angeles [Music] I'm advised that there is someone from the Secretary of State's office on the way over to accept this proclamation of a state emergence of a state of emergency for a Los Angeles City in Los Angeles County this is in response to requests by Mara Bradley as a result of the discussions that we have had there will be as many as 750 California Highway patrolmen additionally we have made available some 2,000 National Guardsmen they are on standby prepared to move transport has been arranged and it is our purpose here at the state government level to restore law and order and to minimize the danger to the residents of the area this is a matter that needs to be settled in the courts and not in the streets thank you [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] the house officials are scrambling at this very moment to produce a statement from President Bush nobody expected that verdict the way it came down there's nothing really that the White House can do about that verdict but it does present a huge political problem many civil rights leaders thought that President Bush has been weak on civil rights civil rights promises must be straight about this we have no access to the White House we had one meeting since I have been in Congress what the President did was Performa it was courtesy but there is no relationship administration officials say that the Justice Department had in fact launched a civil rights investigation into the Rodney King beating but once state charges were brought they sort of put that on hold now it's unclear at this moment exactly where that investigation stands faith we would almost seem at this point Jimmy they'd have to pick it up again you cannot ignore that all of this is coming in a presidential election year you know that I don't think he's done enough that I think we have had too much division and too little harmony I think there's been too little effort to bring people together across racial lines this is a human problem people in this country don't trust each other and don't trust the system and the political system is too often divided people by race and that is the urgent task for America today our diversity will either be our undoing our the source of our greatest strength I am angry and I have a right to that anger and the people out there have a right to that anger we don't want anybody killed none of us believe in violence but there's some angry people in America and young black males in my district are feeling at this moment if they could not get a conviction with the Rodney King video available to the jurors that there can be no justice in America [Applause] [Music] 1:02 3kj l-82 here in los angeles and we're discussing all the violence and the aftermath and the directions to go as far as they say an incident here vent your anger your frustration your your hard feelings not out on the streets not breaking windows not looting not writing but you know I guess if some people say just punch on me punch on the radio station talk to us over the lines let's go back to the phone lines let's see how you feel this morning this is not the way for us to vent our frustration this is what they expect us to do I've been lifting the kjh on my life I only have three words for what's happening and those are the same three words that was uttered during the 1965 riot and you're going to say those bad words and a third and baby bar yeah thank you Robert [Music] lazy this is your hands store yes that was a liquor store here or no this was a 99-cent store and she has another store on Crenshaw and that one is gone it's terrible absolutely terrible what can you say they said it all yesterday and this is outcome up yes are not sort of a passive am upon some defendants a radio Korea will use the caucus modality dijo que WB Quebec ship am new suit at the owner he 100 units are hundred pyaar hai Junction Bahadur has me that he bangs on shaken Hanukkah on TANF ok Hanon draped a dr. Kovac you go [Music] other than any other people any other ways any other colors just does it happen it happened that's it you're gonna believe again we're gonna good attached to our keep our protein tension continues and I say we we live here and we even live here and the city is still officially under a state of emergency the City Council is going to meet discuss how to proceed from here the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the necessary action relative the state of emergency in the city of Los Angeles declared by the mayor on April 29th okay mr. Holden mr. president members I'm sure you've heard from each of my colleagues before I arrived and certainly you've seen them on TV asking for calm and regretting the tragedy that took place last night and continuing in our city the question is how do we stop it if we have a pretty good idea that's likely to occur and it will unless we have a presence but you got to start deploying right now I tell you handwriting's on the wall I can't really tell because we're on the radio and I could barely see the television are people still looting at this time yes they are I seen him when I was coming into work they still going into stores and they still taking things going inside man okay while the looting seems to continue unabated the mood at least seems to be very calm today we can right through that says factory direct sale this is the biggest sale they've probably ever seen it's like people are looting anything they can get their hands on here's a guy with a plant even coming right out the front window and taking off I've been taking pictures at all this is exciting it's wrong but it's exciting but you know something is kind of ordered it it's kind of watery in a way tell you is this a maid let me get this side here where are the police where are all the police if the chief gates said we're being ready for this chief Guedes yes just to emphasize our deployment will increase substantially and we hope that that will satisfy the need now now there are some place now everyone's running here though here the police are coming that they must be two or three dozen people there's milk coming out of that store right now I don't know how many people fit in that store but they're all running out because there's the police finally moving in the police can't arrest as many people they just go running with their merchandise and the police really aren't running after they can't run after him we just don't have enough people are doing so as we chase them away they come right back it's my judgment that the overwhelming majority of those who are engaged in that unlawful activity now are not the law-abiding citizens of this community but those who are taking advantage of an opportunity what are you doing are you embarrassed you know this is illegal [Music] also you don't scream where are the National Guard troops that have been promised why do we not see them know why hasn't the National Guard been called out that's a mystery too and we have had reports that several hundred are in the area and we expect to see and hear from them soon I understand the idea that they could make things worse but then you could say that about the threes too I mean how much worse doesn't need to get [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we have a fire that's broken out of inquiry Italia cross Western Avenue find the disturbances in Koreatown I think this is the first we've heard about this kind of activity yes that's right Pat this is Justin ruff didn't I don't see any official firefighters injuries no firefighters here good truly deep Ubud a cool passion wasn't money $40 for Jubilee now eligible to eat it a B as a tradition winter peas woman called up and down as well [Music] the union token Indians have crumbled hooliganism Buju absolutely kitchen from college in German for dinner and they've taken the law into their own hands position themselves on the roof they are also armed with 12 the wrens here have prepared to protect themselves against anything that may come their way the police didn't come here we need addition of God in here we have no police support whatsoever people are driving by shooting at us and we have to do something about it always dressed for war games that's right and it's certainly not a game to those people that are on the roof and are carrying rifles and Watts and boxes of ammunition that's right they're shooting at us so far we'll be shooting up but when it comes to worst we're not gonna sit in writing up thud we're gonna shoot at them this is window more live some of the Korean shop owners here pulled out of their stores and they start pulling out weapons there's I don't know if you got a slide you don't have a that fire was one of three fires that had recently broken out the Hollywood area the other was just east of that and frankly up in the air here we can see fires easily beyond the Watson Compton area clearly the fires are spreading [Music] we are getting reports of looting from all over Los Angeles and also surrounding areas is not confined to south-central not defined in the city of Los Angeles it's all over Vernon convalescent hospital of fire over there somebody said a fire in the convalescent house the fire department the police department and everybody else is trying to help scattered all over the city so the fires are burning out of control [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] confirmed dead at this time at least 572 injured and Hulu to fire fires this number is staggering I don't know exactly how to tell you this but 916 structure fires are burning in the Los Angeles area 916 [Music] what a mess there's people down there with automatic weapons Neels Culver City on the right it's like they're feeling so impressed [Music] well this going on with people other than you know a black thing you know what I mean her her I mean he got some people that work 60 to 80 hours a week and still have bill collectors calling they see their bosses bill out he smirks and he's roses every day and struck him on the back and told it's gonna be alright you know how long can it last [Music] that's not right not right for talk to [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the California Army National Guard has been deployed to assist assurance department and Los Angeles Police Department in a mutual aid operation to restore law and order and to protect life and property in the Los Angeles County [Music] apparently lessons of the LA officials to use the guard on the street then I don't think there was reluctance I think that there was some delay for logistical reasons reasons that have to do with equipping the guard the chief problem has been with respect to ammunition the troops came but the ammunition didn't they came with some ammunition not the full complement that they should have the problem was that it was slow in coming from Camp Roberts you start out where we are right now we're gonna head to Haiti once position at a kilos position then weapons company position we're gonna come up like that Israel I didn't expect to be on US soil doing this job ever ever tough moon done there getting the corn or something we like a load like a little round the same to never thought it would be done not in our own country it's amazing you've got to know who you're looking at and who you're thinking about whereas in the Gulf it was a lot easier you know hey take a corner stay down see it if you take mounds take it up go home get back off go get off the streets leave the area these are the police LAPD going up and down Pico telly resident the curfew is an effect now get off the streets [Music] [Music] Ram three gram 1 over grab 3 this is RAM 1 over they're gonna turn on the sprinklers out here so to keep it wet down you'll be careful you don't get wetter all right it was like the water pressure if they need it over here on these houses we'll turn it off I don't think it's gonna make that big a difference what I'm trying to do is avoid the sparks [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] be doing [Music] I know people got injured because of polluting and there were police across the street watching it there's nothing they could do it was already out of hand there were too many people just going crazy stepping all over each other around and say where do we go now I guess that's why we're here papers from other morning their reaction to racism in the United States of America is as American as apple pie Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and police officials said today that they're regaining control over the city Police Chief Daryl gates admitted that the police force got a slow start Wednesday afternoon when the violence began and gates and fire chief Donald Manning conceded that the city's forces were overwhelmed firefighters Don bulletproof vest says they fought the scores of new fires that were set last night there was still about 40 fires burning early this morning [Music] at least 35 people are now said to have lost their lives more than 1300 people have been injured and 3,000 arrested the city remains under a dusk-to-dawn curfew with many stores and malls closed [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] good afternoon everyone I'm Ross Becker here in the channel 13 newsroom we are interrupting programming this afternoon momentarily we expect to hear a statement from someone whose name will be indelibly connected to all of the violence we have seen over the last couple of days in Los Angeles and that is Rodney King and we're standing by it's been great anticipation certainly mr. King has not made public statements he has been really the the Invisible Man and all this and I detect some movement through the crowd yep I see here he comes [Music] [Music] ladies and gentlemen I want to thank you all for coming Rodney King and this to say to all the people of Los Angeles and all the people of the cities of the United States so caught up in there's horror and hate the killing the burning the looting the chaos must stop now the time for healing is upon us Rodney King has prepared a very brief statement people um I just want to say you know can we can we all get along can we can we get along can we stop making it making our before but uh for the older people in and the kids and I mean we've got enough smoke here in Los Angeles let alone to deal with the setting these fires and and thing is just not right it's not right and it's not it's not gonna it's not gonna change anything we've got it we've got to quit we've got to quit you know after all I mean I can understand the first upset for the first two hours after the verdict but to go on to keep going on like like this and to see the security guard shot on on the ground it it's just not right it's just not right because those people will never go home to to their families again and I mean please we can we can get along here we we all can get along we just gotta just gotta you know I mean we're all stuck here for a while let's you know let's let's try to work it out let's try to beat it you know let's try and work it out okay thank you very much Steven Steven I'll be available if you have any question [Music] [Music] tonight [Music] tonight I want to talk to you about violence in our cities and justice for our citizens what we saw last night in the night before in Los Angeles is not about civil rights it's not a message of protest it's been the brutality of a mob pure and simple and let me assure you I will use whatever force is necessary to restore order within one hour of the verdict I directed the Justice Department to move into high gear on its own independent criminal investigation into the case you must understand that our system of justice provides for the peaceful orderly means of addressing this frustration we must respect the process of law whether or not we agree with the outcome in a civilized society there can be no excuse no excuse for the murder arson theft and vandalism that have terrorized the law-abiding citizens of Los Angeles none of this is what we wish to think of as American it's as if we were looking in a mirror that distorted our better selves and turned us ugly we cannot let that happen we cannot do that to ourselves if we are to remain the most vibrant and hopeful nation on earth we must allow our diversity to bring us together not drive us apart the violence will end justice will be served hope will return thank you and may God bless the United States of America President George Bush and his address to the nation from The Oval Office time for your reactions once again from around the country for Washington Maryland here on the air first of all mr. Bush spoke with the last 48 hours is this the first time he's noticed that America has a problem it's always had a problem from its inception from 1776 when they said all men were created equal and we had slavery it was striking to me that there was no direct statement to the African American population and there was completely missing any sense of a reality about how a national leader might move people towards reconciliation people have to see that they're gonna have to make their voices heard if they allow when they hear a politician to try to explain this away as being thugs and murderers things will not change this is going to be a people movement people can move politicians the community leads they don't follow politicians follow they don't lead and that's what we have to remember [Music] [Applause] vamos Estella cocky Latinos de Vere's quiere apoyo esta ciudad legitimate Reaganomics Cola which was granted it was Nene acetyl of a mini Park on the testicle in PR formula like you that yeah it's important to see the full scope the burning the looting and the cleaning up a personal opinion is just that you know everybody needs to work together and if this could just continue it would be wonderful but you know I don't think it will I think you know a few people say ok put in my time I helped clean and then I couldn't do anything [Music] [Music] today [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now mystery only power I believe that power poor people haven't power that people have in this country comes from our unruly behavior resistance to an order that would place it at the bottom of the totem [Applause] [Music] this is where it began this is where the fuse was lighted it began with the arrest by white officers of the California Highway Patrol of two young Negroes one on a charge of drunk driving there was an argument that was a scuffle history of police brutality quickly spread through the community up the street a block or so in that direction a church where a negro leaders pleaded for peace and were rejected found that way the busy intersection where cars were overturned and burned where other cars were stoned where a television technician was pulled from his wagon and almost beaten to death what has changed the only thing that was done was that massive forces were brought in to suppress the actual overt action the incident is not an isolated incident the difference this time is that we have the proof [Music] [Music] in a civilized society there can be no excuse for the murder pillage looting and arson have nothing to do with civil rights [Music] [Applause] [Music] I don't think it ever stop really I mean there may not be like this but it never stopped [Music] a crisis in our country says the McKown Commission so serious and explosive is the situation that unless it is checked the August riots may be only a curtain raiser - what could blow up one day in the future what shall it avail our nation if we can place a man on the moon but cannot cure the sickness in our cities this is bill stout for CBS reports in Los Angeles good night you [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] you [Music] you you've been good evening I'm Debra Adam Simmons executive editor for history and culture at national gates and moderator for this evening's event thank you so much for joining us for this important conversation for those in the screening room thank you for watching the film and for everyone joining us on YouTube if you haven't seen Ellie 92 yet and it's also streaming for free on YouTube as the tagline for Ellie 92 says the past is prologue and I think that sentiment has never been more true than what we've witnessed during the past two weeks Ellie 92 is a potent reminder of how little things have changed I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the conversation with a distinguished group of panelists when I call on you if you could tell us a bit about how the past couple weeks has resonated with you and where we go from here that would be great first I'd like to introduce award-winning filmmaker and writer dream Hampton dream Debra I mean what hasn't resonate I mean I'm actually feeling energized the demands from the protesters are super focused around defunding the police we just got breaking news about Minneapolis committing to dismantling the local PD so I'm actually energized in a way that I haven't been my whole life and I've been protester since I was 12 so um this moment is fraught and and mournful but also I feel more energized and I have probably in my entire life thank you for sharing that dream next we'd like to hear from Jamal Simmons host of hashtag this is FYI on Instagram and a CBS News political contributor Jamal I I guess thank you for having me first of all this is a pleasure to be back with TJ and Dan who've made such an incredible film this is you know this is a remarkable moment those of us who've been involved in politics sort of the electoral side of you move as politics for a long time the Trump presidency itself it's such a watershed moment but for me it's energized as dream just said about the people who taken to the streets the amount of protests taking place but also incredibly frightened and frightened for the future of the country by watching what Donald Trump did in this last week by literally putting military forces on the street and without provocation attacking domestic protestors I've been all over the world you know both Network for the White House when I worked for Bill Clinton and in private capacities and you know the United States goes around the world telling people how to behave and what the military should do and policing and watching what happens on our streets when peaceful protesters go out and they are attacked by armed forces it's just something that you know I never thought I'd never thought that I would see and I think it's something that all of us need to really take a step back and examine where we are and really what the future of the country is all that talk about autocratic rule I know but I'm gonna get into too much politics here but all that talk about autocratic rule I think we have to really want ask some deep questions about what are we willing to do to protect democracy even the imperfect democracy that people of color of experience to to keep some semblance of rule of law alive in the United States thank you for that Jamal and next we'd like to hear from Jelani Cobb a staff writer at The New Yorker and professor at Columbia University in Jelani could you also speak to the history of african-americans in law enforcement and how that manifest in this moment how much time do you have I mean is that fact there was a gentleman the beginning of the film who said it more succinctly than I could he said people are interacting with police forces that are the reason they left the South in the first place and so the idea of law and order strikes black people's here differently because it was perfectly egle to Jim Crow people and were you to violate those guidelines those laws you'd be suffer consequences from the police the police upheld that there was order but it was not justice and these police departments in the south you know had their origins in the slave patrols and you know when we look at in the north and the beginning of the police departments in many metropolitan areas they were tasked with things like strike breaking things that were not the interest of upholding the law but upholding the interests of particular money white people and so this has been the nature of this relationship as long as there's been a relationship if we I've been kind of saying this over and over again you know in the past week when we look at all of the major uprisings in the 20th century nearly all of them are brought about as a result of some sort of police use of excessive force that's what happened in Harlem in 1935 is what happened in Harlem again in 1942 it's what happened in watts in 1965 is what happened in Newark in 1967 in Detroit 1967 Minneapolis in 1967 Los Angeles in 1992 we Ferguson in 2014 like we kind of go through these entire specters entire spectrum and it's a drama that plays itself out over and over again fundamentally rooted in the nature of policing in the United States and what its original design was for thank you for that Jelani next I'd like to introduce Jane Elliott Jane you point out that you've been doing this work as a long time as an anti-racist educator yet that history has repeated itself over and over again why are we still here why are we still having this conversation you see it's what you're talking about when this happened before it's what happened in 1933 in Europe it's what happened when Adolf Hitler came to power I'm enough to remember that the rest of you aren't you don't remember how things went then and so you can't really relate to what's happening now the only way we're going to solve this is to refuse to listen to a leader who believes in the political beliefs of Adolf Hitler and this person does now I know you're going to think now she's way off base this woman's hysterical no I'm not read the book read the book when at times the mob is swayed and you'll find out that what's happening today is a direct result of a fool being selected by four states because they didn't understand what the Electoral College was for to lead the United States into a an absolutely unbelievable situation hi where right now I'm watching what's happening on the streets in the United States of America what happened in my classroom in 1968 when I put my students through an exercise in discrimination based on their eye color I divided and conquered my students the way this leader is dividing and conquering people in the United States today that's the name of this game divide and conquer you've got to realize what's happening or we'll never put a stop to it thank you Jane next we'd like to call on tjmartin director of LA 92 TJ can you talk about the inspiration for the film and how it's resonating with you to see this happening again yeah probably should clarify that when Jane was dividing and conquering her students it was in the spirit of Education just want to throw that out there and Brady doesn't seem for work before yeah 92 was initially conceived by the production company lightbox and they had set it up with National Geographic because the 25 year anniversary was what is coming up and when the producers that lightbox came to us they had cut a little we call it a sizzle reel to kind of give you a little bit of insight of what the potential of film could be and in that reel there was a moment but if from that's actually featured in the film from a gentleman named art Washington and he is who is at the peak of day two and the looting is happening he's kind of surrounded by a group of individuals and he's kind of screaming at the top of his lungs that I come from the ghetto - why burn my house why burn my truck I burn my business and then that in that little moment it was crystal clear for us that the only way to approach this was to do it through the lens of those that experienced it but those that experienced it in that time and not to create a kind of didactic you know talking ahead documentary that creates a distance between the experience of the audience and and the experience of those that were living through that we're living in Los Angeles at the time and so the film ended up taking on this kind of twofold one very experiential right the intent is to be immersive and visceral and also kind of an essay film once we dove into the film and we realized the very like particulars in that like the how specific that particular so particulars were in 65 to 92 that made us realize it was also kind of there's a solidified the thesis for us in terms of this idea of like we're in this kind of ground hogs day cyclical nature of things and so the combination of those is how we ended up kind of thinking about the approach of the film as far as what's going on now and to be quite honest I'm still kind of processing and you know Dan and I as members of some form of media or the creative community and we work in optics and I don't have that much hope to be quite frank because part of what I feel like I'm witnessing is you know in the world where everyone's a brand I don't realize hey I can't get a sense of where people's true allegiances and their own understanding of what the conflict is because if you just post a black lives matter sign that kind like that alleviates you of any understanding or any ability to empathize with the true pain that's going on so I feel like I'm still kind of processing the optics of it all and I'm a little it's I'm a little disillusioned by it to be a hundred percent thank you for that and finally we have a director Dan Lindsay Dan yeah I mean I mean I directed the film with TJ and I think he pretty well the yeah in terms of how I'm processing what's happening right now I guess somewhat similar to TJ I think of myself kind of as us like a hopeful cynic if that's even a thing I'm somewhat yeah the optics are are hopeful it's a it's good to see the amount of people that are out in the streets and the diversity of those people but you know as our film shows there was a lot of a lot of that in 92 a lot of goodwill a lot of people coming down to South LA to help clean up and a lot of initiatives started you know the rebuild la stuff that came out of Watson 65 and the same plan that came out in 92 they they both fell apart in fact when we were researching the film we tried to find the actual post report from watts and 65 and you can't even find a physical copy of it anymore there wasn't even one in the city archives just as a great kind of metaphor for what happened so yeah I guess I take the long view and I'm hopeful but the cynical side of me wants to wants to see things in action Thank You Daniel so I want to swing to you Jamal and ask you how can we influence policymakers to bring about lasting you know I wrestled with this question a lot because I listen to one of them I one of the people who I cheered the most in politics it's rock Obama and he says you know go out and vote you know I'm somebody who spent most of my adult life trying to convince people to go out and vote and I got are you I think I think voting is the first step on the path of change yeah maybe vote is the second stop the first stop is organizing and getting people out in the street to sort of make your case the second stop is voting the third stop to me has got to be making change in people's real lives you know all these corporations I've had three or four phone calls from people who advise corporations asking me what should those companies do the first thing I say to them is tend to their own gardens right like these companies have to look inside and say do we have African Americans on the board what are what does our African American leadership what does our leadership team look like other African Americans here and when they're here do we listen to them when they speak the last thing you want to do is go out and talk about how woke you are and the first call people make is to an employee and employees like they don't care about this you know they never it's just lip service so we don't change the economic position of black people in the United States to the power structure I think we're gonna keep going back and forth through this cycle because I'm not confident that just changing people's kind of social impact about how they think about African Americans is gonna work African Americans need the ability to if you have black businesses they will hire black workers if you have people who live in communities who are who have economic power in those communities they will be able to go to tables of power and say here's what we want and then there will be an impact or a result a negative result if the African American community doesn't get what it wants so I think at some point there's got to be both politicians who have receptive ears they've got to be people who are organizing and staying on those politicians asses to make sure they do what it is that they promised and there's got to be an economic change so that black people can take care of themselves and advocate for their community and the board we're real decisions get made in America thank you for that and Jelani I would ask you the same question where do we go from here that's hard to say the reason why it's hard to say is that you know traditionally the cycle has been that we have an uprising of this sort they put together a Blue Ribbon Commission the Blue Ribbon Commission tells them something remarkably similar to what all the previous blue-ribbon Commission's have said if you read the current Commission report read the report out of Baltimore after the riots after King's death read the newark report which i've done is the ten-volume report in the rutgers library and read the Harlem report from thirty five they all say the same things they say that policing is the spark but merely the spark but none of these uprisings happened because of policing if they happen because of the whole complex of socio-economic subjugation of all the failing institutions when I went to Ferguson people talk to me about schools they talked about Michael Brown but I also talked about schools they talked about housing they talked about unemployment they talked about the entire slate of ways in which the state was failing and failing their communities in particular and so that's the traditional way that this has played itself out I have some hope however that that might not be and if there's a moment where you can make some change of some difference perhaps this is it I don't want to be cynical or skeptical unduly skeptical and I think one of the things that's heartening is that much of the heavy lifting and this has been done by white people I saw you know mass turnout in Minneapolis a place that has a black community but not a huge one it's not a place that you think of when you think of the major metropolitan areas with with black populations and something happening a mininet Minneapolis and there were people in the streets furious in Salt Lake City Salt Lake City really Oh I'm looking around to see like what else is happening here and so I think that there has been perhaps because of the particularly brutal nature and I have to say this really quickly and the risk of going on we've seen lots of black people die on film on video we've seen lots of black people die at the hands of the police you saw a falando Casteel we saw Eric garner and in each of those instances there was some way that people were able to convince themselves to give plausible deniability to what we all knew what had happened and to say that lots of white people know this was a mistake or this is not representing something systemic or there's some more to the story and to give yourself the kind of comfort to not know that there was a kind of abject corruption and brutality operating within these police departments but not now for almost nine minutes each moment when someone could have made a decision to do something different that would have saved mr. Floyd's life they opted not to and that's commitment and it took nine minutes for this man to die and people have to just sit with that there's no excusing it there's no talking around it and so we're looking at this and saying your eyes are wide open your pupils are dilated welcome to the reality that we've been living living with since we were sensing it as black people thank you for that Jelani dream I'd like to shift to you and talk about how can we support the protesters who are out there particularly the young people who have taken up this cause yeah I just want to lift up you know a wonderful set of demands that I've seen that I had myself in alignment with and they really are built on the work of critical resistance and those first you know kind of women quite frankly black queer women Ruthie Gilmore Angela Davis Kathy Cohen who began to articulate the need to self-identify as abolitionists in this moment you know just like the word radical that became somehow a word that you know maybe we shouldn't use as if Frederick Douglass wasn't an abolitionist I'm one of those demands we hear again and again on the streets and that's to defund the police the other is to demilitarized communities what we know that we've seen post 9/11 is a DoD budget that can't respect by cities the large cities that they were met for like Los Angeles and New York cities that were supposed to be possible terror targets and so we see in a trickle-down kind of budget spending where this money it we already have bloated police budgets for more than 50% of many city budgets or Center spent on policing but we also have this separate federal fund that still exists in the from Homeland Security so when st. Louis you know back to Ferguson was Jelani Justin vote rolls out tanks on his people by the way so did Oakland during the Oscar Grant um you know uprising the pro the protest against Oscar Grant's killing when they when their police officers are in Kevlar vests and you have army veterans I can remember this clearly in 2014 tweeting that they didn't have that equipment you're talking about the militarization of our police and so there's calling for the demilitarization of police they're calling for removed police from schools LAUSD just did a successful campaign student-led campaign to get police out of their schools LAUSD had police in their schools because in 1992 a kid brought a gun in his backpack I know this because if we did an episode on this and my series finding justice the gun fell out went off hit no one and ever since then no students have been treated like they're going through TSA every morning that they come to school including random searches which weren't at all random free people from prisons and jails a some lifelong work of mine repeal laws criminalizing survival and that has to do with all kinds of street survival work invests in community self-governance provide safe housing for everyone and invest in care not cops so I think that we have a new generation you know that you know learned is a can talk to that racism's ultimate logic is genocide and I think that we understand we have always understood that that is what's at stake you know that's why we take to the streets that's why we organize because we're fighting a genocide 'el culture you know that would starve us and we see that in divestment and neoliberal divestment I mean what happens after certain the riots particularly the late 60s the rebellions and uprisings is that we often got you know black leaders who performed another kind of you know who just were stand-ins and in a racial capitalist project that you know didn't work quite frankly you're talking to me from Detroit you know and while I love Mayor Coleman Young I can tell you that in many ways that was a failed project and when it wasn't inside corruption it was a boycott like the state would boycott these black cities so you know this is about narrative and I know that later we'll come back and talk about that but you know I'd also like to offer Jane I know you were there you know to witness that fascism rising up in Germany and we see it all over the globe in this moment with the u.s. being the epicenter but Germany learned it's particular they got their playbook from us you know that you know and they knew you know that they needed film and narrative because DW Griffith had been so and Hollywood itself had been so good at putting out these narratives that supported their genocidal projects so you know I hope me so we could talk about some of these police shows and procedurals but I'm gonna let someone else be in Jane while we're talking about schools in this conversation talk about how you think race and racism should be taught particularly in elementary schools well the first thing we have to do is educate the educators I'm not a teacher I'm an educator teachers provide facts and figures to get kids right for the end of year testing and the word educator comes from the Duck Goose which means lead the prefix e which means out the suffix a te which means the active and the suffix colar which means one does I'm an educator it is my job to lead my students out of the ignorance of racism we have been conditioned through the idea of three or four different races there aren't three or four different races of people on the face of the earth there's only one we are all members of the same race the human race which started between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago in sub-saharan Africa and those bril and they were black and those brilliant black people managed to travel all over the earth and populate every landmass on the face of the earth we have seemed to have forgotten that because we're in the power of people who have faded always folks who call themselves white are lying I do not appreciate being called white I'm not white I am faded but if I trace my DNA back far enough I will find DNA from a country in Africa so get over it folks there are no white people we have used because they used black and white as opposites in the in the 15th and 16th century we're still doing that today if you want to use 15 and 16th century vocabulary then you have to use 15th and 16th century transportation communication education and socialization either go for all of it or drop the one that is most damaging which is the belief in more than one race every person on this panel is my 30th to 50th cousin that's a fact now you might not want me for your cousin you're stuck with me and if we can't do anything else in the schools the least we could do is freeze em as national geographic send copies of this magazine to every school in the United States of America you see those two children they are twins you need to realize that if you just look at this copy April 20 18 of the National Geographic magazine you can solve a whole lot of educational problems in this country but first you have to educate the educators I know that may not be what you wanted to hear but I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear I'm here to tell you that there's a way out of this there's a way out of this any of this education is leading people out of ignorance and every time I hear somebody on television say well this is a group of many races that pool needs to be educated it isn't a group many races it's a group of people all who descended from the black race make no mistake about this these differences are only the result our bodies adaptation to the natural environment get over it I'm sorry little incensed about this discussion Thank You Jane Jelani I want to come back I just said like for the record I'm perfectly fine with having Jane as my cousin one of the things that seems different about this particular moment is the sort of diversity of the coalition of people who have gathered what's your sense of what needs to happen or what should happen or what the possibilities are to keep that momentum going and where do you think it leads so I mean I think there are a few things there one is you know to Jamal's point there is an election in November there's one very clear thing that people can do because there's one person in this country who authorized the use of military against peaceful American protesters net person is Donald Trump I think that's the first thing oh I don't think that voting get you everywhere that you need to be but that's one of them the other is I think the kind of grinding grunt work that it will take on the state and local level most of these problems are not federal they're state and local issues is it and so when we talk about the deep defunding of police it is on the local level that people know specifically like what that is and the work of pushing to have a kind of alternate set of relationships between police and communities brought into existence and so one of the things I think you know is notable about this and people talk about defunding the police when you talk with people is with which is I've done this you know I did a documentary on police reform in Newark or we spent ten months riding around you know on on ride-alongs with police and seeing what exactly the police in the city were doing when you talk with people if they're honest they're even law enforcement officers who are saying the same thing with the defund the police people are saying saying that there are things and responsibilities that have been assigned to police at a far far outside of their skill set and she'd never have been brought into their purview and so it's kind of like we look at the twentieth century of the history of Education that's where your century school started out just being in charge of teaching people to read write and count and then they became institutions that were supposed to Americanize immigrant children and then they became the place where immunization happened and then it became a place where you could ensure that people had met a particular nutritional standard so they began kind of with the lunches being you know set up to make children have at least some sort of balanced meal in their lives then it became the place that people voted you know your polling places in your school so the schools have vastly expanded their responsibilities over the course of a century same thing has happened with police except they have guns and they're put in charge of answering problems that don't revolt with resolve well with firearms and so I think that that's one of the things the people are talking about what's going to happen on the state and local level the other the last thing I'll say about this is that reform tends to have this kind of backsliding cycle and so when people say that they want to completely abolish police department it is precisely because you can go to many of these places that have had these problems and they've had cyclical kind of situation they blow up and then they say that they're going to reform and then you wind up right back at square one and so I think that you have to think outside the box and have a kind of radical mindset to do something completely different if you don't want to wind up back here in five years in gemalto so um you know I've been thinking about this question of reform and I've been talking and interviewing some people who've been working on these issues for this is FYI and one of the things there are a couple things that I found that tend to go across a lot of conversations one is what dream talked about earlier we got to remove the military equipment from a lot of these police off this police precincts police forces we saw when Barack Obama was in office 2015 he put he's put an executive order in to get rid of this transfer at least install it Donald Trump got rid of that look that 70 and then now we see in Congress people are looking at trying to make that a law so that's something I think that we could do you know I heard was shot Robinson who dream is I think working with on some of her color change work I heard him talking the other day about how the low number of people who are actually committing violent crime every single day and so but we send police out as if they are preparing to fight a war when they show up at anybody's house people with mental health or domestic you know domestic family problems and you all of a sudden you've got a cop who shows up with you know they're armed and they may be wearing you know military equipment why not have a peace officer that shows up who's not armed you look you can keep an armed officer in the car if you feel like you're worried about the police safety and if they need them make a radio for them to come into the house and help help manage it but do you need to send an armed officer in every time so I think some of these some of these questions restorative justice Paul Butler talks about that's a lot you know are though we have to send everybody to jail every time they commit a crime sometimes we may be able to have some other ways to deal with these criminals other than just sending people to jail to learn how to become better criminals so I think if we if we reimagine people talk about defunding police I will use a phrase like let's reimagine policing right let's let's think about what we really want the outcomes to be for people and then let's reimagine what we can we can do with all the money that we're spending and we can take some money away from cops but we could also spend money in ways that actually are gonna be moving official including the last thing I'll say which is mental health services for officers because these guys have women have gotta be suffering from PTSD there's got to be some way maybe and certainly there's some some bias in place there's got to be some way we can take care of them if you're concerned about cops you concerned about systemic racism you say I was listening to someone say today that the systemic racism problem is impugning all police officers I have the exact opposite impression I think we talk about systemic racism it's the system that's the problem and these individuals are operating inside the sisters that's how you end up with black officers who are committing crimes against black people because they're in a system as a problem with black people so we've got to figure out a way to reimagine that systems so that it takes care of people and creates peace for people and not just punishes them thank you for that dream you're actually involved in quite a bit of work that is reimagining police's policing at the community level can you talk about some of the work that you're doing across communities and that you're familiar with in this moment I would just you know like can you hear me yes organizations like black visions reclaim the block MPD one but we just got this announcement that the city plans to dismantle the police department I mean we've had a generations-long attack on labor you know again I'm we need universal health care about Latasha Harlan's you know back to your film Daniel and you know family is in the elevator and her I believe is her father some man and her family that came