Seeking Ways to Welcome Future Cultural Diversity

“The world has come to Orange County” is the theme of an upcoming acculturation conference. It is a statement proclaimed with pride in corporate offices, chambers of commerce, financial institutions and halls of government when pointing to the county’s growing international contacts. But how open are county people to the world?

Some of us are concerned and disturbed when told by demographers that one out of eight immigrants to the United States make this region home and that by the year 2000 today’s minorities will be 50% of the population. Others are excited by the prospect of new neighbors who are culturally and ethnically different. Surely all hope that the transition from a homogenous to a heterogenous society--already happening in many county communities--will occur with grace and good will.

Things are happening in recent days that are both encouraging and discouraging. We read about tensions over police crackdowns of Latino day workers standing in large numbers on street corners, hoping for work. We hear about the rising incidents of racial, ethnic and religious hostilities surfacing in schools where slogans like, “White Pride” and “Anti-Mex” are spray-painted on walls. We read of synagogues and churches being vandalized and of bids to restrict Vietnamese businesses.

But we also know that there are many examples of accommodation and welcoming that are very encouraging. One example is Costa Mesa’s Human Relations Week. In a bid to manage the pain and tensions always present when dramatic change occurs, Costa Mesa has proclaimed the week of April 17 through 23 Human Relations Week. With the co-sponsorship of the Costa Mesa Service Organization Council, the Newport Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council, the Newport Mesa Unified School District and the Orange County Human Relations Commission, they are inviting the people of their city to participate in a “Living Room Dialogue.” They are asking themselves, “How will we respond to the dilemma, the challenge and the opportunities spawned by transition to a diverse community?”

About 10 people from different cultural, ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds will meet in each living room and learn more about each other. Already several hundred people have signed up to speak of their differences and realize their commonality.

Acknowledging that children will be the real creators and participants in this new and diverse county, organizers have planned similar dialogues at a selected middle school and high school, both at one time almost totally made up of white students. They now have a sizable minority enrollment. These discussions will be an opportunity for students to appreciate their cultural diversity and come to terms with aspects of diversity that are disturbing them.

All the suggestions, problems and solutions recorded during the Living Room Dialogues will be forwarded to Costa Mesa’s newly formed Human Relations Committee, which will study them carefully and recommend action.

This is a painstaking process that may not have immediate, measurable results. But even if it makes an impact only on those who participate, it will be worthwhile. And it has the potential of making an impact on what Costa Mesa will be like in the next 20 years.

It’s a heartwarming example of constructive action to be emulated by other cities that so many groups are spending so much effort assuring that Costa Mesa is a wonderful place to live--where differences and difficulties can be worked out by people of good will.