Latinos have long been a fixture of the local news, dutifully assimilated types who fold themselves into a circus industry of news-o-tainment, genially denying their heritage -- any accent airbrushed -- in the interest of career in a gringo world.
Monday, though, they were thrust into the maelstrom of what was, at heart, a Latino pride day, and the tension this produced made local news something it rarely is: a window into the immediate experience of living here.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday May 10, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 80 words Type of Material: Correction
Immigrant marches: An article May 3 in Calendar about local news coverage of the Day Without Immigrants marches on May 1 reported that John Kobylt of "The John and Ken Show" on KFI-AM (640) had said, "Are you seriously saying L.A. has been shut down today?" It was his partner, Ken Chiampou, who made the comment, which, according to the station, was actually, "Are you guys trying to say that L.A.'s been shut down today? Are you seriously saying that?"
There were echoes, throughout, of the way in which Hurricane Katrina turned otherwise objective cable news bobble heads into compassionate eyewitnesses of history. Speaking of CNN's Anderson Cooper, he was in L.A. too, wearing his on-the-ground-with-the-people cargo shirt.
But this "Day Without Immigrants" wasn't going to be owned by the Coops of the news business. No, to get at the heart of the matter you needed to be watching Fox News Channel 11's coverage (the best and most contextual of the experience), where reporter Tony Valdez, enveloped in the masses at MacArthur Park, got into a history lesson-cum-shouting match with KFI radio's "John and Ken."
"John and Ken" -- both of whom sound like they've taken classes at the Adam Carolla Center for the Advancement of the Sarcastic Angry White Guy -- had urged their listeners Monday to hold a counter "Great American Spend-a-Lot" to show that, hey, white people can hunt and gather for food and clothing without anybody's help.
Kudos to Fox 11 for throwing them on the air as part of the coverage, for it got at one of the more uncomfortable subtexts of the day: White people scared and/or peeved that all these illegals were taking the day off to demand rights.
"Are you seriously saying L.A. has been shut down today?" John guffawed.
What began as dialogue quickly arrived at the rage beneath the surface, with Valdez, patched in from MacArthur Park, endeavoring to give the radio guys a history lesson about manifest destiny and who exactly had been in this country first. In another context, substitute Israelis and Palestinians.
"There's a statute of limitations on old history," John shouted. "It's very convenient for you to do that, I say with respect," Valdez shot back, "but nevertheless you took this country, you killed people in order to take this country for yourself."
