SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Tension Mediator

Just as trouble begets trouble, perhaps the mediated settlement between the Korean-American owners of the Fam-Mart Discount Store in San Diego and the African American Organizing Project can nurture cultural harmony.

The bitter tensions in San Diego grew out of a scuffle between a Korean-American merchant and a black customer and resulted in a six-month boycott. But the bitterness never erupted into fatal violence, as it has in Los Angeles.

San Diego city officials are to be congratulated for calling in an experienced mediator, Thomas Fentiman, who believes that language and cultural differences are not barriers. What’s needed, he says, is for each side to discuss its goals and to allow the discussions to follow different cultural time clocks. To their credit, the representatives of both ethnic groups were cooperative.

The settlement guarantees that Fam-Mart owners will advertise the availability of booths and reserve half of them for 30 days for black shop owners. Right now, only one of 54 merchants is black. The swap meet owners will also donate booth space to nonprofit community groups. In addition, a bi-cultural committee will be formed to help settle future disputes.

That’s wise. This agreement is best viewed as a beginning. Los Angeles settled disputes in the past with mediation, but distrust and hostility continued to deepen. Perhaps San Diego can learn from its success and Los Angeles’ failures how to sustain the good will. Meanwhile, Los Angeles and other cities should examine what worked in San Diego.