Bridging the divide Tom Bradley and the politics of race

Streaming video - 2016

Thirty-five years before Barack Obama was elected President, the question of race and the possibility of bridging racial and ethnic barriers was put to a test in an overlooked and untold story in American politics: The 1973 election of Tom Bradley, the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city with an overwhelmingly white majority. Tom Bradley’s extraordinary multi-racial coalition redefined Los Angeles, transformed the national dialogue on race, and encouraged elections of minority candidates nationwide, including our nation’s first black president. The film brings into sharp focus issues of police brutality in minority communities and the challenges of police reform. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE is the story of the pressures which fac...e our cities, the politics of race and the complexities of coalitions in a changing America. more