peace. should people be frightened? people should wake up. it s 1991. we have talked at each other and about each other a long time. it is high time we started talking with each other. no justice, no peace. can t we all get along? in about 20 minutes from now, david dinkins is scheduled to take a public oath of office and become new york city s next mayor and the first african american mayor. i intend to be the mayor of all the people of new york. david being inaugurated on new year s day 1990 is an auspicious start to the decade. and the culmination of some of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s . people are seeing tangible benefits of that struggle. a grandson of slaves was worn? as the nation s first elected black governor. i was born in the 30s so you know i didn t think nothing like that was going to happen. after we saw hundreds of black elected officials, the reality set in that we made a step, but we had not gotten all the way to where we wante
hours to reach a verdict. would you stand and face the jury? most people can tell you where they were sitting when that verdict came down. we the jury find the defendant not guilty of the crime of murder. in violation of penal code section 187. upon nicole brown simpson. the question wasn t where oj was guilty or innocent. the question was whether the jury had been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the prosecution has sustained its burden. and in the end, they decided they had not. nobody is celebrating the fact that this horrific crime occurred. they are celebrating what feels like pay back for rodney king. for a system and conditions
step, but we had not gotten all the way to where we wanted. in last year s mayoral cam payne, dinkins ran as the candidate to heal deep divisions. a situation is becoming highly volatile. an angry crowd roamed through the crown heights section of brooklyn demanding justice after a motorist, a hasidic man hit and killed two black children. there was rioting. blacks attacking jews and i got the blame for that. we have to increase the peace. when mayor dinkins went to crown heights to ease the tensions, he was booed and forced to retreat. i think too often, many