Description

One of CIC's primary activities was to hold biweekly meetings called "community dialogues" to discuss broad issues such as racism, police sensitivity, education, and employment discrimination within the city of San Diego. The number of attendees at any given meeting was usually quite high--perhaps as many as 30 or more persons--representing an extremely wide variety of backgrounds, including city officials, educators, administrators, religious leaders, law enforcement, journalists, and minority community spokespersons. This meeting dealt with problems in the schools, and a particular incident that took place at Lincoln High School. The details of the incident are not clearly stated, although an editorial shared at the meeting from the local news alleged that it involved violence and illegal activities. Reactions to the incident and the editorial were strong. Several expressed disapproval of the School Board's absence from the dialogues, and subsequent silence about what took place. Judge Lindsley suggested that constitutional protections existed that gave the students and parents the right to a redress of grievances, and while he could not legally advise anyone specifically, he encouraged them to fight back. Parents spoke with growing anger about the schools, and the notion that only community action would effect changes was endorsed by most members at the meeting. Urban League representative George Stevens spoke of what he called an inevitable African-American revolution in the schools and elsewhere, stating that for himself and most African Americans, there was nothing to lose. The meetings were moderated by CIC Executive Director Carroll Waymon, and his voice is often the first one heard in the audio recordings of the meetings.