After Cheryl Green, a black teenager, was gunned down, allegedly by Latino gang members, near her house after school, her mother was approached by several African Americans offering to retaliate violently for her daughter's death.
Earlier this week, Charlene Lovett recalled the moment, looking back on how tense relations between blacks and Latinos had become in the section of Harbor Gateway known as "The Strip."
That was in December 2006, at a time when blacks said they feared Latino gangs were trying to push them out of the neighborhood. Lovett said retaliation, however, was not the answer.
"That would not have accomplished anything," she said. "Anything is capable of changing, and that's the goal we're sticking to."
Lovett, who moved out of the area after her daughter died, returned this week to help L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn open the Boys & Girls Club of Harbor Gateway/Torrance: Cheryl Green Community Youth Center at Del Amo Boulevard and Denker Avenue.
She returned to an area where racial tensions have definitely calmed since the months before and after her daughter's slaying.
But the unease remains below the surface, and some black residents say they still often fear the Latino gang.
The youth center is badly needed in a densely populated area that has few places for young people to hang out. Until now, one gathering spot was the Del Amo Market, a convenience store that was once the chief outpost of the 204th Street Latino gang and off-limits to the neighborhood's black population, most of whom didn't dare venture north of 206th Street.
City leaders and gang-intervention workers say those boundaries, the racial strife that made the area infamous, and violent crime have been dissipating since Green's death. They see signs of progress in new community partnerships, more police patrols, a permanent gang injunction and the new youth center.
"Cheryl's death was the tipping point for L.A.," Hahn said, adding that crime in the neighborhood has dropped.
After Green's death, Hahn's office called for a heavier police presence and the installation of stop signs to slow traffic. She is now trying to acquire land for a neighborhood park and said the youth center will also provide adult education classes, a computer lab and a base for gang-intervention efforts.
The center is offering hope for residents, but the reality is never far from view.
