Housing Secretary Jack Kemp on Saturday visited a neighborhood where bloody gunfights erupted during the city's riots and announced a program to bring jobs and home ownership to minorities.
The government will spend $137 million this year to modernize public housing, create jobs and make loans to launch minority-owned businesses, Kemp said."This time when we rebuild Los Angeles we need minority jobs, minority firms, and that's what we mean when we talk about empowerment," Kemp told about 200 residents of the Nickerson Gardens housing project in the Watts section of South Central Los Angeles.
Three men were killed in gun battles with police at Nickerson Gardens during three days of riots following the acquittal of white police officers charged with beating black motorist Rodney King.
Kemp didn't say how all of the $137 million would be spent. Parts of the program were in the works before the riots, officials have said.
Kemp's announcement was met by applause, but some residents said they were skeptical of how long the government's commitment to minorities would last.
"It will help temporarily," said Lionel Perkins, 36.
"You won't get a job unless it's who you know, or unless they have pity on you," said Perkins, who identified himself as an unemployed prison parolee.