History

Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race

Learn how Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, the first black mayor elected in a major U.S. city with a white majority, united a divided city through a unique multi-racial coalition, ushered in police reform and transformed American politics.

Full Episode

55m 40s

Thirty-five years before Barack Obama’s election as President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial barriers were put to the test in an overlooked story in American politics: Tom Bradley’s 1973 election as Mayor of Los Angeles: The first African American mayor of a major U.S. city elected with an overwhelmingly white majority.

Episodes

  • Full Episode: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Full Episode

    S1 E1 - 55m 40s

    Thirty-five years before Barack Obama’s election as President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial barriers were put to the test in an overlooked story in American politics: Tom Bradley’s 1973 election as Mayor of Los Angeles: The first African American mayor of a major U.S. city elected with an overwhelmingly white majority.

Extras + Features

  • Bradley’s Dramatic Battle for Los Angeles City Hall, 1969: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Bradley’s Dramatic Battle for Los Angeles City Hall, 1969

    3m 42s

    In 1969, four years after the Watts Riot, in a nation torn apart by political turmoil, in a conservative city with an overwhelmingly white population, African American Tom Bradley set out to do the impossible - run for mayor of Los Angeles. Incumbent Mayor Sam Yorty fights back with a campaign fueled by racism and redbaiting, in one of the meanest, roughest campaigns in modern American history.

  • Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Preview

    38s

    Thirty-five years before Barack Obama’s election as President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial barriers were put to the test in an overlooked story in American politics: Tom Bradley’s 1973 election as Mayor of Los Angeles: The first African American mayor of a major U.S. city elected with an overwhelmingly white majority.

  • Bradley’s LA Becomes Polarized and Erupts into Civil Unrest : asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Bradley’s LA Becomes Polarized and Erupts into Civil Unrest

    4m 3s

    While Mayor Bradley presides over a city polarized by race and class, anger over the beating of Rodney King, the murder of black teenager Latasha Harlins and the acquittal of LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King, fuels the 1992 civil unrest, one of the largest urban riots in U.S. history. Mayor Bradley tries to bring the LAPD under control and force LAPD Chief Daryl Gates to resign.

  • Mayor Bradley Brings Reform and Inclusion to Los Angeles: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Mayor Bradley Brings Reform and Inclusion to Los Angeles

    2m 34s

    Bradley transformed L.A. from a provincial town to one of the most important cities in the world. Under his leadership, city government was open, responsive, accountable. He opened up City Hall jobs and commissions to women and minorities. He held regular Open Houses, listening to people’s concerns and enlisting community involvement. Bradley’s L.A. became a model of race relations and reform.

  • Historic Election of 1st Black Mayor of Majority White City: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Historic Election of 1st Black Mayor of Majority White City

    3m 19s

    In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected mayor of Los Angeles, becoming the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city with an overwhelmingly white population. His multi-racial coalition of African Americans, Jews, white liberals, along with Mexican Americans and Asian Americans, united a divided city, and created a new model for race relations that reverberated across the nation.

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