Not just the divide created by artists versus institutions but the divide created by politics, the economy, ethnicity. I think erasing tension is a mistake. I know there are problems all around. I don't want to disregard them. The worst thing is when there isn't tension, when there's politeness.
Politeness is very dangerous.
I learned one really fundamental thing during the riots that I should have known already. Without economic development, you can't have cultural development. People in L.A. are starting to feel good about their position in the world and everybody else's position in the world, and that opens things up for culture, for people being open to other people. But you can bring people together who otherwise would not meet. One of the things that brings people together is taking pride in the culture they have and joining the cultural forces around the city.