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Life & Times Transcript
02/22/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Terrorists targeted Los Angeles's tallest building for an attack. The plot fell apart, but does it mean we're safe? Jack Weiss>> Los Angeles is going to be attacked by terrorists. It's only a matter of time and are we safe? Well, we're safer than we were, but, no, the federal government hasn't done nearly enough to protect us in Los Angeles. Val Zavala>> And then, first it was comedy, then it became taboo. So why are two young men reviving blackface? These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> So how worried should we really be about a terrorist attack here in southern California? Well, we can't be too complacent. In fact, we got a reminder recently when it was revealed that the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles, in California for that matter, had been a target for terrorists. So are we more prepared than we were four years ago? Anne McDermott tells us that we can learn a lot from our fears, both present and past. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> This was the fear of fifty years ago, but you couldn't worry about it all the time. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> And it's not so different today with terror. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> No, people will never forget this. But for those not directly touched by the terror, the horror has a way of fading. Example: seventy percent of Californians are not prepared for a terrorist attack. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> Oh, sure. Local governments hold numerous disaster drills and have other plans in place, but individuals, it seems, aren't looking out for themselves and that's something that may have hit home for a lot of people here earlier this month when President Bush released new details of an aborted post-9/11 attack against this Los Angeles landmark. This is the U.S. Bank Tower, formerly known as the Library Tower, the tallest building in the city, the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Its very silhouette is a symbol of the city and it's where Eric Bender goes to work each day. The view from his 56th floor office is splendid, as splendid perhaps as the views from the World Trade Towers once were, but Bender is not particularly worried about his building being a potential target. Yet he's not naïve either. Eric Bender>> You know, I don't think that it's any more likely than an attack somewhere. I think it's somewhat inevitable that the terrorists, whether it's Osama bin Laden's terrorists or some other terrorists. I mean, look at Oklahoma City. That was a domestic terrorism thing. That was a terrible thing. But there's going to be other, I believe, terrorist incidents happening here and I think that would happen regardless of, you know, who was doing what. I think you can't prevent that, but my feeling is that you can't hide in your bedroom in your closet all day because you're afraid that something may happen. You wouldn't live your life and then the terrorists win without doing anything. Anne McDermott>> Over in Santa Monica at the Rand Corporation, terror expert, Jack Riley, says we must be vigilant, but -- Jack Riley>> But I think the important thing for viewers to understand is that the core group that is committed to conducting these large acts of terrorism such as we witnessed on September 11 is very small and, therefore, this really comes down to a game of odds and, in some very important sense, the odds are in Los Angeles's favor. There aren't that many people that are committed to conducting those kinds of attacks and they have other communities throughout the United States that they can choose from. So one of the things you're banking on is the percentages. Anne McDermott>> Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, is trying to better the odds by trying to get more money from the federal government to help fund anti-terrorism measures and he recently announced that he's forming a forty-one member committee to help advise him on disaster preparedness. City Councilman, Jack Weiss, says we have to be ready. Jack Weiss>> Los Angeles is going to be attacked by terrorists. It's only a matter of time and are we safe? Well, we're safer than we were, but, no, the federal government hasn't done nearly enough to protect us in Los Angeles. Anne McDermott>> But the Rand Corporation's Riley says you can spend all the money in the world and still get attacked. Jack Riley>> No. I mean, the notion of a hundred percent preparedness in terms of prevention is just not possible. There are too many different ways that people can seek to disrupt and conduct attacks and too many potential targets. Anne McDermott>> One would think Eric Bender in the U.S. Bank tower would find that somewhat disturbing news, but not really. Do you feel fearful? Eric Bender>> No, not really. I think I'm probably more concerned about what an earthquake would be like in this building and think that's a lot more likely than planes flying into the building. Anne McDermott>> Earthquakes. Nature's terror. Another horror that comes without warning, something Californians have been dealing with generation after generation and largely ignored when enough time passes between tremors. You see, seventy percent of Californians aren't prepared for terror or the big one or all those fires, any disaster. And California's First Lady wants to change that. Maria Shriver>> "When one does happen, do you know what to do? Does your family have a plan? Be prepared to take care of yourself, your loved ones and your community. To find out how, visit the Governor's Office of Emergency Services at www.oes.ca.gov and thanks, California, for bearing responsibility for our state." Anne McDermott>> Preparing for natural disasters is not all that different from preparing for terror, but the experts say we must create a California culture of being prepared. Step one? Get the message to the kids. Matt Bettenhausen>> "So you really are the key to the future for not only Los Angeles, but California and the nation, in driving a culture of preparedness." Anne McDermott>> Kind of a scary message? Well, some would say that's only sensible. If one of your constituents said to you, "I'm scared of terrorists", what would you tell him? Jack Weiss>> I'd tell him that they're right. They should be scared. The terrorists are going to hit this country again. It may be a catastrophic attack as we saw four years ago or it may be the sort of attack that we saw in London over the summer. But radical Islamist Jihadist terrorists have America in their sights and they will for many, many years to come. Los Angeles, I'm sorry to say, I think is one of their top targets. Anne McDermott>> But the news isn't all bad. Jack Riley>> I think we're doing a better job of keeping the extreme radicals out of the country. We have better intelligence on who they are. We have better pre-flight and better border control that helps keep them out. We've disrupted some of the groups so we've affected their operational capabilities. We have better surveillance and better deterrence methods in place against some key targets here in the country. I think all of those things add up and help explain why there's been no other major terrorist incident inside this country since 9/11. Anne McDermott>> Still, we wouldn't buy a house without insurance, so preparedness is simple common sense. After all, no one can predict a sneak attack from above or below and we must ask ourselves, "Are we ready for anything?" I'm Anne McDermott for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> No doubt you've heard about the feud over what to call the Anaheim Angels. Its owner wanted to change the name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and he won his case in court, but that's not the end of this name game. Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, talked with Los Angeles Times columnist and baseball fan, Dana Parsons. Roger Cooper>> Dana Parsons, Los Angeles Times, you're as keen an observer of Orange County as there is. What do you make of this name dispute, the Angels of Anaheim, and the owner? Dana Parsons>> I heard a lot of comedy going in. I think everybody down here thought Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was a joke in a sense. But as things wore on, it seems obvious to me that Arte probably had the legal support or the legal foundation for his case and that's what the jury found out, what the jury decided. Roger Cooper>> And apparently enough jurors believed the owner and they went with him. Dana Parsons>> Yeah, I thought the city had a plausible case in that, when they negotiated the lease, they certainly were never imagining Los Angeles of Anaheim. They thought it might be Angels of Anaheim, so they thought, all right, we can have a little loose language in the lease, but we're never going to be called Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. But if you've got a hometown jury, which this was, and nine of the twelve deciding that Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim did not violate the lease, that tells me that the city probably had some bad legal advice on how strong their case was and that Arte Moreno had good legal advice on how solid his case was. Roger Cooper>> You've written that you can kind of see it from Arte Moreno's, the owner's, point of view as well. Dana Parsons>> Yeah. I think the first column I wrote, I had to go back and look it up because I've sort of been on both sides to an extent. My first take, and it's still my thought, is that he paid a hundred eighty million dollars for the team. He's got a right to name the team. I've said that I think from the start that he kind of pulled a fast one on the city and found a loophole for changing the name. The name doesn't make a lot of sense down here, but he did put the money up and he's been a very good owner, I think, by any standards. He's been a great owner for the city and obviously for the team. I kind of think it's a bad idea to go after him and run the risk of maybe losing him, but I don't know that that's a given. He's got a great situation down here. I mean, he's got thirty thousand season ticket holders. He's going to draw three million again. He made money last year, something Disney couldn't do. I think he's sitting on a pretty good spot right here. Roger Cooper>> Dana, what is it you think that gets Orange County people so riled up when Los Angeles enters the equation here? Dana Parsons>> I know you know the answer to that. I think everybody in Orange County knows we're part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, whatever that is, but it's been a long time down here since people have thought of Orange County as part of Los Angeles. That is really, I think, at the heart of this. Anaheim wouldn't care if the team were called the Orange County Angels of Anaheim. They could live with that, but that Los Angeles of Anaheim, that kind of stuck the knife in them a little bit. Roger Cooper>> You got to go to court and watch all this unfold over a month or so. What was it like to be in court on a question like this of name importance? Dana Parsons>> I wasn't there every day, but I went for the opening arguments and I went for Arte Moreno's testimony which, I think, was really what the trial was all about. I predicted a day or so before the verdict that the jury would decide in Arte's behalf and I think a big part of that was, even though they said that they didn't think he violated the lease, I think they just thought, "We're not going to sock this guy with tens of million dollars in damages." He came across as a nice guy, a good guy, kind of affable, joked a little bit, and I think the jurors bought into it. Again, this is a hometown jury that you would think would be, you know, very loath to let him rename the team to Los Angeles, but he just comes across as a pretty cool guy. Roger Cooper>> Dana, do you remember any of those gag moments? Dana Parsons>> One comes to mind because I think the city attorney lifted it from a column I'd written which was, "If this is a Los Angeles team and if the Angels win the World Series, where would the parade be?" He asked Arte that, clearly wanting him to say Orange County, and Arte said, "Well, I think we'd probably keep it around the stadium." Then he sort of said as an aside, "Or maybe somebody else would invite us", the implication being that Los Angeles would invite us to come downtown and have one. But I think the point was made that, if the Angels win the Series, this is an Orange County team and an Orange County event rather than downtown Los Angeles. It's hard to picture the city of Los Angeles having a parade for the Angels. Roger Cooper>> Personally, how did you come down on this issue? Dana Parsons>> I didn't see it from a parochial standpoint in that I live here and therefore I just can't accept Los Angeles. My overriding interest was as a baseball fan and how it would play out in court. As a baseball fan, I said from the start that Los Angeles of Anaheim just doesn't sound right to me for the name of a baseball team. It doesn't really fit this team. It doesn't really conform to any other team name in Major League Baseball. But if I'd been on the jury, I would have had to have ruled for Arte like nine of the twelve Orange County jurors did. That's why this case is so interesting to me. It was half legal, half kind of common sense and baseball tradition, but in the end, obviously, the legal arguments had to hold sway. I'm not going to lose a minute of sleep over the team being called Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because I'm sure they'll drop the Anaheim, but to me, it's just a misnomer. It's a misnomer for the team. I can live with it. Maybe like calling the Dodgers the Los Angeles Dodgers of Carson. Roger Cooper>> Dana, what do you think Gene Autry would have thought about this? Dana Parsons>> Good question. He had his run-ins with the city. That predates my time here, but obviously, the team was known as the California Angels. If I remember my history, I don't think Autry wanted Anaheim as the team name. I don't know. He was a businessman and a huge baseball fan and an Orange County guy. My guess is that he'd probably, from the baseball standpoint, think it was a bad name for the team. But the businessman in him would probably say let the guy do what he wants. He paid a hundred eighty million bucks for the team. Let him put a funny name on it if he wants to. Roger Cooper>> Like some teams, the Angels over there have a famous curse. Do you think that curse figures in this in any way? Dana Parsons>> (Laughter) Well, I hadn't thought about that. That may be a good column. If they hadn't won the World Series in 2002, I think we might have something there. But I think the Angels, like the Red Sox, have pretty much shaken their curses. A few high-priced ball players tend to do that. Roger Cooper>> Are you one to believe in curses? Dana Parsons>> Yes, I am. I've been a baseball fan all my life. I'm a Pirates fan. They've been cursed for the last twelve or thirteen years. Yeah, I do believe in baseball curses, but I don't think the Angels can claim one. I mean, they're making money, they're drawing three million fans and they're a perennial World Series contender now, I think. Roger Cooper>> If that's a curse, bring it on. Dana Parsons>> Bring it on. We could use more curses like that. The Dodgers should be so cursed. Roger Cooper>> Having been through this one month, couple of million dollars among friends, what do you think is going to happen? Where does it go? Dana Parsons>> That's a good question. I suggested that the two sides try to make up. Some people said why should Arte make up? He won. He was sued. He made it clear afterwards that he didn't like the fact that he was being sued, but it doesn't really help either party to be fighting. It certainly doesn't help the city and I hope they kind of just accept the defeat. No need to appeal it that I can see. They need to keep Arte Moreno happy. As I said before, good owners don't come around every day. I think he's a very good owner. I think the city needs to really make peace with Arte. Right now, he's probably feeling not very gracious and it's hard to blame him, but I think they both need each other. Roger Cooper>> Well, Dana Parsons, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Pirates fan, Angels fan -- Dana Parsons>> -- anguish. Roger Cooper>> Anguish. Thanks for sharing your insights into this amazing competition. Dana Parsons>> I enjoyed it. Thanks. Go Pirates. Roger Cooper>> Thank you. Val Zavala>> Angels owner, Arte Moreno, did in fact win the right to add Los Angeles to the team's name. The city of Anaheim, however, asked the judge to block that action. The judge is scheduled to make a decision March 2. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> It was a painful chapter in African-American history. Turn-of-the-century minstrel shows where whites in blackface would portray blacks in a less than positive light. Well, now two young playwrights are giving us a different take on these minstrel shows. Meet Aaron White and Jason White. They're not related, but they share an intense interest in how black stereotypes developed. [Film Clip] Jason White>> This piece is a satire. What this piece seeks to do is, it's a minstrel show that's teaching you the history of minstrelsy, but as a minstrel show. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> After several years of research, Jason wrote a play, a condensed history of blackface minstrelsy. Jason White>> We're actually cataloging a hundred fifty years of minstrelsy in one hour. [Film Clip] Aaron White>> You see dance a lot. You see dance in the scene and then it goes from the dance into the two characters, Sambo and Zipcoon. So you'll see an actual conversation with actual minstrel characters. [Film Clip] Aaron White>> At first, it was made just for white audiences to laugh at the imitation of black people. So we want that to come across. We want you to laugh. We want you to experience it like they experienced it in the 1800s. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> These two CalArts graduates realized that reviving a controversial form of entertainment may not sit well with some audiences. Aaron White>> Once again, we're doing a minstrel show which is how they did it in the 1800s and how it was done before when people put on burnt cork and actually performed, imitating black culture. So we're actually doing that, but we're teaching you about minstrelsy at the same time, meaning that's what makes it so interesting while I see people watching it because we want them to get a feel of how it was in the day. For us to do it as this, our faces now, it's sort of like you don't get the full impact of how it was then when it was just for white audiences. Jason White>> When you put on blackface, there's a lot that goes with that. It's something that is not to be played with. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> The play draws from actual minstrel show skits, but it goes further, drawing connections between turn-of-the-century stereotypes like The Mammy -- [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Uncle Tom -- [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Sambo -- [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> And makes connections, say, between the group then and today's black gangstas. [Film Clip] Jason White>> Now we see these. We see variations of this every single day, particularly within music and in entertainment and on television and even on billboards and in videogames and such. But once again, it's that connection. I believe that, somewhere along the line, we lost that connection of where that image has come from, so this piece, "The Dance", seeks to tell that story. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> So how have audiences, especially young people, reacted to these blackface characters? Aaron White>> It's a hilarious show. It is a funny show, but it's not funny at the end of the day. There's a point where the laughter stops and you hear it in the show which is amazing. It's a point where all the -- oh, wow. Val Zavala>> The title, "The Dance", refers to something much more than fancy footwork. It refers to something we must all ask ourselves. Aaron White>> It takes off the blackface makeup and it puts on what you wake up in the morning and put on. When you go to work, are you going to work for yourself or are you going to work because it's something you just have to do? At the end of the day, it brings up the question of who are you dancing for? You can go sixty years of your life dancing for someone else, meaning performing for someone else, meaning trying to impress someone else, but at the end of the day, who are you truly dancing for? [Film Clip] Jason White>> You walk away changed individually because you're able to see the truth behind the image and compare that to your own dance. Aaron White>> Own dance. Jason White>> My dance is not yours and my dance is not his. He has his own. You know what I mean? Aaron White>> That's right. Jason White>> So it's an awakening of what the dance is for you. [Film Clip] Aaron White>> If you don't know the past, it's one of those situations where you keep going around in a circle. I know, for the younger generations, we've seen these images. We've seen these images in certain cartoon shows and things like that in growing up. But you look at the youth today who have no idea that this even existed, so it's like bringing the old ghosts and old demons to the present and witnessing it for what it is. And through that, you just have an awareness. I'm not saying it is the answer. Blackface is not the answer to go back into that or anything. That is not the answer, but to be aware that it happened. Jason White>> That's right. Aaron White>> To accept that it has happened and to use that as a vehicle to push forward. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> "The Dance: A History of American Minstrelsy" is playing at the Cinefreestyle Theatre in Leimert Park. For more information, you can go to their website at inthacut.net. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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