Transcript Part 2: Race Relations

"Say to yourself that each week now I'm going to reach out to someone that I really didn't care for or a race or religion that you didn't care for that you always felt like you went for lunch with this person here, but you never want to go to lunch with this one." Read full transcript after the jump.

GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Speech Writing Session

March 7, 2006

GOV: (IA) but during the traveling around for the President's Council on Fitness, I

was trying to promote in the schools to keep the gymnasiums open and to

keep the sports fields open in the afternoon so that the kids can stay there

and exercise, because they didn't get enough during the day.

>>>: Right.

GOV: But that one thing led to the next. I heard more and more teachers and

school principals when I met at those different schools talk about, why is

this -- this is great that you're here to talk about that, because we tried to get

money from the Government so we can keep our doors open and have the

kids just stay here anyway in the afternoon, because so many kids have

nowhere to go. I mean, look at this at 3:00, he says, I let them out and they

hang around the schools, they hang around the streets, they get involved in

trouble, and they have nowhere to go because the parents are working.

So the one thing led to -- what is it now again? Because you always walk by

me and you they act like you're constipated.

CHRIS: The funeral is Saturday at 10:00. I'll work on that look.

GOV: Okay. (Laughter). I love that. That was a good line. I have to hand it to

you, Chris, you're always frisky.

>>>: So you just kind of got into it as (SS).

GOV: So I just always said through the whole thing, you know, I said to myself,

there is a need here. And I remember Bush talked to me to make sure to go

to those inner city schools, because remember, that's where they need the

most help, and don't just go -- because my intention always was to go to the

best schools. I always would find out in the records which school is really

doing well in this particular state or in this Capitol, because I always went to

those fitness summits, and in the fitness summit we met with the Governor,

and then with the health leaders and with the head of education, and all

those people. And I said, where is a great school in that town so we could go

visit a school or two schools.

And so that's what we did. But he would remind me sometimes at working

lunches, go to the inner city schools and go to those that really have a

problem. It's good to go to schools that have failed, because they maybe

(IA). So we did that, and that's where I actually learned, actually, much more

so than in the other successful schools.

And then when I came home, one time, back to Los Angeles from one of

those trips, I got an invitation from Daniel Hernandez who was now having

this program, Inner City Games. And so I asked him to meet with me, and

we met, and he told me all about the program. And he told me about After

School Programs and how important it is to have After School Programs, and

those kids are coming over so they won't be out in the streets. I teach them

how to box and to do this and that and to do basketball, there's basketball

courts, and they're all under supervision. And now, he said, they don't get

involved in gangs because they see how this will help them become great

athletes, professional athletes. Remember, he says, there's a lot of

professional athletes who came out of our gymnasium. And also it helps

them with the education, because we have also homework assistants and

tutors. And I said to myself (IA), I says, well, that's great. He wanted to give

me an award.

>>>: So you didn't know him? You didn't know him before that?

GOV: No. It was 1990 or 1991.

>>>: He knew you were involved in the President's Council so he wanted --

GOV: He knew that I was on the President's council, and he knew that I was really

into promoting fitness, and that's what his After School Program was mainly

about was just sports and fitness. That's why he called it Inner City Games.

We have kids in the summer months when they are off out of school to have

games throughout the whole two months that lead up to a finale of Inner City

Games like the Olympics. And it keeps them busy and training for something

because they can get a medal. It really worked well.

So he wanted to honor me at this luncheon. And I got the honor and then I

said to myself, I don't want to just get this honor, I want to really help him. So

I started getting involved with this thing and we started raising money

together and we started building out the whole community center, adding

another 3,000 square feet and adding a gymnasium. I got the equipment for

him. Adding a computer room, I got the equipment, the computers for him.

So then it led -- I saw the work that was done there, and that really got me

excited. And I said, Danny, we should go to another city. So we called

Evander Holyfield in Atlanta and we started working on the Inner City Games

in Atlanta, then we went in touch with Miami -- what was that high jumper or

that long jumper in Miami?

>>>: Karl Lewis?

GOV: No, not Karl Lewis. Be --

>>>: Oh, Beamon?

GOV: Beamon, yeah, Beamon was the guy. Beamon, yeah. We got in touch with

him. We got in touch with people that were like leaders in the inner city and

kind of like community leaders.

>>>: Right.

GOV: So he helped us getting started with the thing. And then we went to Detroit

and Chicago. We started going all over to 50 different cities all over. And

then promoted (IA) in California schools and eventually led to over a period

of time to the Prop 49.

>>>: So that's a great way to tell us your personal story.

GOV: So I'm just giving you the background so when you write you can cut all that

down into just two sentences. But it's good to do kind of like, show then what

it took, that I saw, and we had a tremendous frustration because wherever

we went, no matter where it was in the country, it was always the same story,

we don't have the money. We have the students. They always said, Arnold,

look, we have 200 students here that are with us in the afternoons. And

that's all the money we have. There's 500 students that want to participate.

We only have money for 200. So, of course, they've got to get that money

from private sources and through partnerships, public-private partnerships,

matching funds in Sacramento. But there was little money.

And so all these organizations, very few had like a Carla Sanger that had the

balls to go out there. She's so aggressive, Carla Sanger. I mean, it's like

unbelievable that she will be out there and she will be hunting down these

corporate guys and she will get the funds, and the Mayor and the Governor,

and she will be a real go-getter, and then became kind of like Mayor

Bradley's, and then later on Dick Riordan's favorite project was the After

School Program. LA's Best.

>>>: LA's Best. Okay.

GOV: It's amazing. Each one of those mayor's, just wrote them in, and that was

the project for them. So any time they did a charity event, they would say it

goes to LA's Best. It was even difficult to come up with our own After School

Program in the middle schools. Because she only does elementary schools.

That's all she does. Because that's what you have to do, because it's a big

(IA) and be good in that rather than being all over the place. So she and I

worked out that I should actually go and do middle schools, which is very

challenging. So we did that.

But that's what led me to go to the initiatives, because I saw that there was

just never enough money. But it was absolutely crucial. Why was it crucial?

Because most people did not understand that the money that -- at that point

they did not know how it would pencil out -- but they knew that it's common

sense that if you talk about kids getting arrested all the time, going to jail and

getting involved in teenage pregnancy and getting off with gangs and all this,

that that in the end is much more expensive than spending $7.50 per student

a day. I think that's what it approximately is. And so -- and check those

numbers with (IA), maybe it's gone up. But I think it was $7.50. Some did it

for $5.00 a day, some for $7.50 a day. And, let's see, $7.50, you have 200

students, that's $1500. And for that you can keep the teachers there and the

cleaning crew and the lights on and all. So that's the idea, to have enough

money so you can pay for all that and for the coach and all that.

But the bottom line was that there was never enough money, so eventually it

got so bad that I saw the need all over, but the state -- and the way it was

was they even kept some of the money, Sacramento. Even though they had

$130 some million available, they only spent like 80 and the rest they kept.

They just could never figure out (IA). No one had enough interest, really, in it

to distribute the money and all of those things. So out of that came the

initiative. So it was not like you go around, what should I do next? How

about an initiative for After School Program? It was not that.

>>>: I always knew that.

GOV: It was like, because that's what sometimes people do. What can I do that is

different? What charity should I do? Like when you become a star in

movies, the first thing that your manager comes to you and says,

>>>: Are you interested in?

GOV: We have to hook you up with some kind of a foundation. It's very important.

You do a press conference, you talk about that, the press goes, it's real

interesting, he's interested in cancer research, he's come to fundraisers for

that, he's working with this U.C.L.A. professor. We can hook you up. That's

how it worked in the movie business, because you always have to show that

side when you start making your first million dollars.

And when they did it to me, the only thing is, look, (IA) I've been involved

since 1977 in Special Olympics. I said, I learned from my mother-in-law, only

get involved with one issue. Don't be all over the place and go to this and

this and this, because that looks stupid. Be involved in one issue and then

just go all out on that. So that's what I did.

But this was really something that I felt very strongly about. And I knew Bob

White, and I got in touch with him, because I knew him from the Wilson days

when I was the chairman for the California Council on Fitness. And so I

called him and I said, hey, I need some help with this. How do you do

something like that? So he got --

>>>: We can write that up.

GOV: Pardon me?

>>>: We can write that up for you real easy.

GOV: Yeah. So, I mean, that's the background. So I think the reason why this is

important is that we really fought for that, and there was a need for it, and we

saw the kids floating around out there without parents, without supervision,

getting into trouble, and there was a real need for it. Now all of a sudden, we

should go and abandon all this?

>>>: And you're dead-set against that.

GOV: (SS) feel like even though we got an unexpected $2 billion more in revenues

in here, they still think -- and I think it will be good to say that story. It's

interesting that last October they say that when Proposition 49 comes

through, you know that we couldn't afford it. Then there was a billion dollars

extra coming in unexpected, then they say we still can't afford it. Then there

was another billion coming in and they still say we can't afford it. So I said,

wait a minute. Is it just that they want to just spend money on whatever they

want to spend it on and go against the will of the people?

I said, isn't it interesting that every single ballot initiative passes, immediately

the legislators jump on it -- or I should say Sacramento so I don't get kind of

like -- don't feel like I'm insulting them. But Sacramento right away jumps on

it and tries to undo it, or change it, and always go against the will of the

people. I mean, it was clear that -- we should mention some of those. It was

clear when people voted for Proposition 13, they said we don't want the state

to overcharge us with property taxes.

>>>: And what are they trying to do, they're trying to change it.

GOV: And it was, oh, people never really understood. And said it's okay, we all try

to do that, but I said let's not forget. I have to be careful because I was trying

to undo Proposition 98 last year with the budget. So we have to make sure

that we don't go overboard with that complaint. You know what I'm saying?

>>>: We'll do that for sure.

>>>: We have Stump to do.

>>>: I think you have to go. Do have to go? Do you have time? We have Stump

and also the hydrogen thing. That's Monday. And we wanted to use that as

a broader --

GOV: Did you write down the four things that I'm going to mention over there?

>>>: Maybe we can meet later on hydrogen. It's just too much at once.

>>>: Let's see if we can talk quickly about hydrogen and then we can talk about

the Stump at a later time. So let's go over that quickly first, and then this we

can do later.

GOV: This we can do later.

>>>: The stump? So let's talk about hydrogen, about the speech for Monday that

we have and your thoughts on that before we leave so we can get that one

going.

>>>: I think I have a pretty good feel of where you want to go on that. I mean,

that's the Natural Hydrogen Association. You want to make all the things

you're doing on hydrogen, a broader look at all the environment, tout your

environmental record that we talked about the other day.

GOV: Did you look at the previous speeches that we held about hydrogen highway

and the gas pumps?

>>>: Yeah, the B.P., we can include, where you went there. The hydrogen

highway we can include. We can include all of those things that we've done

in previous speeches. But is there anything new, anything unique in this

one?

GOV: The only one that would know is Jerry (IA).

>>>: We've got Jerry's help on it, because I think (SS)

GOV: Jerry (SS).

>>>: Jerry is right next door (SS).

GOV: (SS) more information on this stuff. And I think the key thing is just that we

add it's the future. We have to think innovative, we have to be creative here.

And it's like even though some people think it's way out there, they're talking

about why can't we go this route, and why not this. This is a whole new

approach. It's kind of like, imagine if the whole world right now would run on

hydrogen fuel.

>>>: And it's good for the economy. I mean, there's jobs.

GOV: No pollution and (SS).

>>>: And on and on and on.

CHRIS: Energy independence. There's a lot of concern about the war and our

dependence on oil, and so much so that President Bush did something about

it. So we --

(Interruption in recording)

GOV: (IA) I think it will be good to go when we go sometimes just to some of those

colleges in L.A. or Oakland or wherever, the Bay Area, and to talk to the kids,

you know, why that is not acceptable and how we can (IA) decide prejudice

and to promote tolerance and talk about how we are the same, you know,

why is it that we just feel different about the other person, why do we want to

do violence against them or something else, because they're different. And

with all these -- they call it hate crimes, right?

>>>: Yeah.

GOV: Yeah.

>>>: That is one color (IA)?

GOV: Maybe do something, something in there that makes it kind of a nice 3-,

4-minute talk about it. And again, I think when you have something written

down, then we can kind of massage it a little bit and talk about my own

experience. And I think put in there things that -- because I come from a

country that has had a history of that. You know the Holocaust all of those

things. And to talk about how it was always -- how I felt it was important that

I go by having the power of persuasion and having so many kids idolize me,

how you can use, actually, that power to talk to kids about don't do that. You

know, learn from the past, this is what they did, big mistake. You know, you

can go as a group, this generation can do better if you learn from the past.

And how that's why I got involved with the Simon Wiesenthal Center that

always talks about tolerance and I have gone around the country to promote

the Simon Wiesenthal Center and (IA) build another one in (IA) and in

Jerusalem and all those things.

So we should have more centers. I always said that we should have as

many Centers for Tolerance as we have gymnasiums, because in

gymnasiums you keep your body fit, and the more gymnasiums that appear

all over the country and all over the world, the more people have a chance to

work out, and the more we have centers that talk about tolerance and

inclusion -- because you can see museums and the shows, see the history of

what happens if you don't do that, what happens. You know, to have kids go

through those, like the schools, the amount of visitors at the Simon

Wiesenthal Center is extraordinary. I mean, schools after schools after

schools. But they participate and they act and they ask questions. They

participate and they play there, they act out the Munich -- not Munich, Berlin,

1936, '37, you know, when they were talking in a regular cafe about it how it

just snuck up, the prejudice.

So I think -- and then we use other examples of Africa, South Africa, and I

think Mandela. Mandela was such a great example. I mean, one thing that I

idolize about him was not only that he was a great leader, but that the whole

idea of forgiveness. Here is a guy that has been put away for 27 years, and

then he comes out and the first day he comes out he goes and takes for

lunch the wife that prosecuted him and put him in jail. (IA) when he died (IA)

but the first thing he did was take out for lunch or for dinner (IA).

>>>: I had not heard that story.

GOV: It's amazing, first thing he did. And you know, to think that he talks about

what he learned being in prison, how it made him a better man. (IA) spin on

it, the whole thing (IA). I'm a better man because I was in a prison cell right

there, the prison cell that he was (SS). Right in the prison. So when they lit

the candles of hope, he called it, because it was the Special Olympics, and

he said that people with mental disabilities are being -- people are prejudiced

against them just the way they were against Blacks in Africa. And he used

that as an analogy (IA). So this is a good example, also.

And also tolerance for people that are different, people that are mentally

handicapped, people that are physically handicapped, people of different

color, different religions, come from different places. I think there is some

(SS) and to do something that is kind of like -- can be one of those things that

is not read off, but that is out there and look at it, that it becomes part of me,

kind of, and so I can just maybe use a little bit of the script but...

>>>: You use both personal (SS) stories within it, too (SS).

>>>: I think it's great. Yeah (SS).

GOV: And also what's always good about this is that you have people -- you always

make a mistake. We talk to people, but we don't give them a mission. And I

think it's important to give them a mission, to say, you know, maybe (IA) and

this is what I do. This is what you should do. Work on that. Say to yourself

that each week now I'm going to reach out to someone that I really didn't

care for or a race or religion that you didn't care for that you always felt like

you went for lunch with this person here, but you never want to go to lunch

with this one. Make a point to go and take for lunch someone that is totally

different than you. You know, bridge over and to start getting rid of that fear,

maybe, that you have of who is the other person, they're different and all this,

that separates us. Try to go and push through that.

>>>: You're a powerful messenger for this.

>>>: That's a great message, and it and it sounds like you're talking about more

than a radio address, you're talking about -- which we could do.

GOV: (SS) Now I'm talking about a lot of things. I'm just saying for a speech, but I

think radio address is something, because we are always trying to scramble

for what is the radio address. But I think we should do things that we are not

necessarily doing that week, like hyping After School Programs, that maybe

we do this week, but it could be -- that could be good, but I think this is a

universal thing (SS).

>>>: That's a great topic.

GOV: I think it could have a very great -- I mean, imagine, unexpected, go to one of

the schools and say, I'm going to go there to hype the After School Programs

or something, or all of the hype that we spend $54.3 billion, that's 4.3 billion

more than last year, and all that shit, but that's hype. That's good, because it

gets the message out, because who else is going to get it out.

But, I think that if you go there, and you say, you know, you probably think

I'm going to talk to you today about education, about learning and grades

and (IA). I'm here to talk about this. Because I'm sick and tired of picking up

the newspaper and to read about the young kids, 14 years old, shot in the

chest, somebody put a hood over his head just because he was different,

you know. And then they give some of the stories. You say, or in San

Diego, I know this one kid, 12 years old going down with a bicycle, he was

cornered by a car and (IA) or other kid was dragged from the thing or this

other kid -- just you mention -- why? What was that all about?

>>>: It's not, also, that they're different, but they are the same, because, you

know, Hispanics are killing Hispanics; it's just gang-related. Blacks are killing

Blacks; it's just gang-related. They are the same, but they're not looking at it

as the same, they're looking at it as you're different, different gang (SS).

GOV: Because we all know we are the same, but if you in your own mind think that

the other person is different, then that's what counts.-

>>>: Bu I'm saying it's not Black versus Hispanic.

GOV: No.

>>>: Or Chinese (SS)?

GOV: In Austria, when they hung the Jews in the state park. My mother told me

she walked out the next day and there were people hanging in the state park.

They were no different. Same color, but just because they're different

religion.

>>>: Mm-hmm. Whatever you choose to make different?

GOV: Exactly. I mean (IA) if one sees a tattoo, that person is different.

>>>: That's what I'm saying.

GOV: In Austria it was so bad that if you live outside on a farm, in the country.

>>>: Right. You're different.

GOV: They hated the people from the city, even 5 miles away. And the people

from the city hated the people from out there from the rural area. And with

the fights in schools that we had, always, because, you know, you were from

the country, you were from the city, and all (SS).

>>>: Ireland (SS) and on and on.

GOV: It's crazy.

>>>: I'd love to work on that. It's something that I care about, too, and I know you

do. And also it shows people the compassionate side of you that they don't

see all the time. You're talking about all this policy stuff.

>>>: And kids will listen to you, too. They get lectured to a lot by grandmotherly

types and people they see as weak or as so different from them they don't

understand their masculinity or their toughness and all that. So you're a

perfect (IA) and it coincides with your overall political -- your place in politics,

which is about bringing unexpected people together to work together.

GOV: Right, exactly.

>>>: Now, what if we want to do a radio address more on that one incident in

Santa Monica first, or do we want to work on this broader speech and then

find a place to deliver it?

GOV: No, I think that we can -- in the radios we don't have much time.

>>>: Right.

GOV: So I think the simpler we make it and the more personal, I think the better it

is.

>>>: Because this week the radio address is on law enforcement deaths, the

funeral you went to the other day. That's done. I saw it. Amelia did it. It's

good.

>>>: We can get some specific (IA), too, if you want to. There's a program we're

just trying to get started in the Youth Authority now that takes some of the

hardest-core violent kids, and as part of their terms of release or continued

incarceration is they have to start working with other kids on violence

prevention stuff. It's an excellent program, first of its kind ever, and it goes

right at the heart of what you're talking about.

GOV: Right.

>>>: Start working on that.

GOV: I think it would be good, you know. And I just pick up those things from the

paper, from Monsignor Torres, he came to me the other day when he did the

Christening of (IA), and he was telling me about the killing of this young kid

and (IA) a few lines so I can read it (IA).

>>>: I read that story in the paper?

GOV: (IA) Torres and we should look at the letter, because he maybe can look at it

if he's going to send Chris some lines. Did you talk to him?

CHRIS: No, but I'll call him.

GOV: Why don't you call. Because his funeral, I think, is tomorrow or the next day.

So we can put it on our stationary and then we can read it. So we can put

something maybe eloquent together, first part about the kid and the family

and all this stuff, and then just a few sentences that you can read, which will

be good.

>>>: I think we should do -- talking about the Center for Tolerance and stuff,

maybe we should do something at the museum, too. Maybe that should be

part of the California History Museum that's dedicated to this idea.

GOV: Yeah, any way. I think it's just an issue, because we don't always support

really -- sometimes we are too close to those things because we only see the

things that we do, which is okay, but I think issues sometimes that we're not

directly dealing with but they're existing, at least they're back, you know, you

got to see the master shop -- in the movies we call it the master shop where

you can see the whole thing. And I think that's one that's into the master

shop, because it's out there.

>>>: Absolutely.

CHRIS: (Majority of comments inaudible).

GOV: We have to show first just the little things that we're talking about now so that

we can go big with it, because sort of like (IA) pick this up (IA) so we have to

make it organic. First be out there and let someone else discover it and then

make it statewide.

>>>: Well, unfortunately, you'll have another one of these incidents, and it won't be

too long before there is another one of these incidents. This one was

particularly bad, but you'll have another one, and we'll have something ready.

CHRIS: (IA) I'm sure we had stuff from years ago where he participated.

GOV: Find out also when the funeral is.

CHRIS: Okay. Did you know Christopher Reeve's wife passed?

GOV: She died?

>>>: She died, yeah.

GOV: She died? How?

>>>: From lung cancer.

GOV: What a tragedy for the family.

>>>: Yeah, those kids (IA).

CHRIS: Eleven-year-old boy. She had two older children from a previous marriage.

(IA).

>>>: That's something, too, if you could find out some way to reach out to that kid,

it could mean a lot to him. If there is a way to do that (IA). I saw President

Clinton do that once with somebody, a young father who died and he

reached out to the two sons, and it was one of the most beautiful things I

ever saw, because they will remember it forever.

GOV: Right.

>>>: She wasn't even a smoker, right? She didn't smoke.

>>>: I didn't know.

GOV: The most amazing thing about this lung cancer thing, because people -- it's

always been someone is smoking to get lung cancer, because you smoke.

But (IA) the fact is I have two people in my office that died of lung cancer.

>>>: And didn't smoke.

GOV: And didn't smoke.

>>>: Rhonda never smoked?

>>>: No, never. Rhonda never smoked and David Beck didn't smoke. Never

smoked.

>>>: Interesting. Amazing.

GOV: Right after when it happened, I had to go through the building and check if

there is some (SS) even though it's a new building, why are two people in the

building dying of lung cancer? And it was wild.

>>>: And then Kirby Puckett at 45, 44 died. He was a baseball star. Hall of

Famer. 44 (SS).

GOV: Let's talk about this speech to be ready.

>>>: I have my copy. I don't have your copy. You have your copy.

GOV: (SS).

>>>: A quick question. When you come back I've got a quick question.

GOV: Yeah.

(End of recording)

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