Racial Incidents in Westminster Spur a Show of Harmony

A series of racial incidents that occurred in Westminster last summer have sparked a sense of camaraderie among residents of this ethnically diverse community. And next week, the residents plan to go public with their newly formed united front.

A grass-roots project, billed as the Harmony Festival, is the residents’ way of fighting back at the bigotry that they say has plagued their neighborhoods. The festival will highlight the culture and customs of the various ethnic groups and show the public that Westminster residents will not tolerate acts of hatred, organizers explained.

In recent months, a Latino youth was shot and killed by police, who said they were attacked by him and others at a neighborhood party. One black family had a cross burned on its front lawn, and other residents complain of swastikas appearing on a church and a synagogue.

The festival will be held from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Indian Village Park in Westminster.

“What we are trying to do is introduce each of ourselves to one another so that the Vietnamese will know something about the blacks, who will know something about the Jews, who will know about the Samoans, who will know about the Hispanics, so that wherever we are, we won’t be such strangers to one another,” Rabbi Henry Front of Temple Beth David declared.

“We live in California where the houses are jammed-packed up to one another, and we don’t know people beyond the next door. We’re trying to tear down fences and build fences of love around us to protect us against the sad souls who get their jollies out of trying to be nasty,” said Front, one of the 80 Westminster residents who organized the festival.

The festival was prompted by several incidents that residents claim were racially motivated. In August, a cross was burned on the lawn of Ted and Lillie Heisser. Gary A. Skillman, 23, who lives a block from the black family’s home, has been charged in that incident. Authorities have said that Skillman is a suspected neo-Nazi “skinhead.”

In July, members of the Latino community were outraged when a Westminster police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old Latino man during a birthday party at the family’s home. Police maintain that three officers were attacked by an angry mob and that Frank Martinez was shot when he charged an officer with a beer bottle. Family members disputed that account, contending that Martinez, who was unarmed, was shot trying to get up and flee.

Residents also said that swastikas have been painted on their property and on the doors of the Temple Beth David synagogue and the Westminster Lutheran Church.

Westminster is approximately 84% Caucasian, 13.8% Latino and 0.9% black, according to Donnelly Demographics.

Heisser, head of one of only a handful of black families in the middle-class Indian Village neighborhood, said his family may never get over the cross-burning incident. But he added that the support the community has shown has made it easier to cope.

“I think there is something good coming out of (the cross-burning incident). This festival will bring about better understanding of each other, and it is something that must be done to bring about harmony,” Heisser said. “This is a message that the city of Westminster is sending out--the mayor, the police chief, the entire community--that we will not tolerate this kind of intimidation.”

The festival is being funded by a $1,500 donation from the city of Westminster, a $1,000 donation from Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder’s office and a $500 donation from Anaheim Mayor Chuck Smith. Organizers include the Orange County Human Rights Commission; Manos Unidas, a Mexican-American neighborhood organization, and the Westminster Lutheran Church.

Entertainers will include Dennis Agajanian, the world’s fastest flat-pick guitar player; the Korean Professional Drum Dancers; the Cripple Creek Cloggers; the Nutones reggae band; a 16-member Vietnamese string musical group; mariachis; Jamaican steel drummers, the Orange County Black Actors Theater and others.

At least 30 organizations will have booths, where they will display ethnic artwork, clothing and other cultural artifacts. Ethnic foods also will be sold.