Bradley Welcomes Jackson to City Hall

For months Mayor Tom Bradley insisted he would not be involved in the Democratic Party presidential tussle. But there he was Thursday, five days before the California primary, welcoming the Rev. Jesse Jackson into Los Angeles City Hall and posing for pictures.

The official story was that Bradley has met with any and all of the presidential contenders who have asked for an audience. But there was something deeper at play here, a nuance of racial politics, Los Angeles style, that will be recalled in a few months when Bradley himself hits the campaign circuit.

Jackson’s campaign across the nation has proven exceedingly popular among inner-city blacks, a group that Bradley wants to keep in his camp in next April’s mayoral election. But at the same time, Bradley has sought to avoid turning away white voters, especially the Westside Jewish voters who have staunchly supported him--but who are not keen on Jackson because of his views on Israel.

At Nickerson Gardens

On Thursday Jackson made the first move, beginning the day at the Nickerson Gardens housing complex in South-Central Los Angeles. Jackson met with residents of the horribly depressed area, and then with gang members who told him of buying machine guns on Long Beach Boulevard.

He then came downtown to meet with Bradley, trailing the national press corps. There Jackson won from the mayor a public pledge to become more involved with the social issues that plague the poorer black sections of the city.

“We’ve had a conversation about some things that were raised (today) . . . and I have promised him that I will take some action dealing with the matter of job training and . . . child-care facilities,” Bradley said at a later press conference.

Jackson proudly took the credit for pushing Bradley to act. “I hope that this is a first step and a major step toward taking on the challenge . . . . It establishes again that my leadership makes things happen,” Jackson said.

Despite the verbal slap, it was a chance for Bradley to instill in the minds of black voters in South Los Angeles that he not only cares about their situation, but also feels an emotional attachment to Jackson’s efforts to intercede.

‘Helped Give Message’

“You have helped lift the spirits and the hopes of many people who heretofore have felt dispossessed, out of the system, without power,” Bradley said of Jackson. “You have helped give them the message that they can be empowered.”

The mayor went on to praise Jackson for his campaign this year.

“I want to congratulate you on what has been a truly remarkable campaign,” Bradley said. “You have raised the level of awareness on the part of literally millions of young people. I believe that that’s a service to this entire country, and I am grateful to you for it.”

It seemed the sort of sentiment designed to win over blacks such as Gerald Logan, a 31-year-old Watts bartender who went to Nickerson Gardens earlier in the day to hear Jackson.

‘He’s Vanilla’

“He sits on the fence,” Logan said of Bradley. “He’s vanilla . . . he’s black but he’s white on the inside in a sense. He’s got to be more of a leader--like Jesse Jackson.”

But Bradley insisted that his praise of Jackson was no endorsement. “Jesse Jackson hasn’t needed anybody to endorse him to win or to make a great showing in this country. He has done it on his own, and I think that’s what we need to focus on.”

Staff writer Karen Tumulty contributed to this story.