The Challenge of Learning to Get Along : * Community Needs to Pitch In to Stop Misunderstandings That Lead to Racial Tensions

The changes in the ethnic composition of Orange County that swept through the 1980s are proving so unsettling that half the residents believe race relations in the county are not good.

That response, in a telephone poll by The Times of nearly 1,000 Orange County residents, shows that much must be done to enable Anglos, Latinos, Asians and blacks to get along better here.

The poll also disclosed that one-third felt that discrimination in their own community was getting worse. That was the perception despite good work being done by community groups already alarmed by racial divisiveness and determined to counteract it.

Race relations have received increased scrutiny lately, due in large part to the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police, the riots that later erupted, and the assault on trucker Reginald Denny during the riots, and the just-ended trial of two men charged with beating Denny.

But there have been a disquieting number of racial incidents in Orange County, as well. A black woman was killed in La Habra last month, and three people were charged with racially motivated involuntary manslaughter. Three other county residents were arrested in connection with what police called a white-supremacist plot against blacks and Jews. A racial brawl on a high school campus in Fountain Valley included the stabbing of a student.

Once overwhelmingly white, Orange County changed in the past decade so that the 1990 census found that 23% of the county was Latino and 10% Asian. In some cities, the percentage of minorities is higher. That kind of change upsets some people; so does a recession that costs people jobs and increases the competition for the work that remains.

Race relations is one area where education is vital. Schools are right to expand classes and programs in multiculturalism. Cities are smart to host ethnic festivals. Churches must preach tolerance and reaching out to “others.” The business community is helping by its participation in Orange County Together, a communitywide group looking for solutions to racial problems.

Last year, the county Human Relations Commission reported 188 hate crimes in the county, an alarmingly high number. The number of hate crimes must be reduced, the tensions defused. The poll results suggest the challenge: County residents must learn to get along with their neighbors, regardless of their color or language.