Times Poll Shows Gap of Perception : Blacks, Jews Feel Bias in County, Survey Says

Blacks and Jews in Southern California say there is more discrimination against them in Orange County than anywhere else in the Southland.

Orange County residents, however, do not perceive a lot of prejudice in their community.

In fact, people who live in the county rank prejudice lowest on a list of problems facing the county, and most say conditions for blacks in Southern California are good today and bound to get better.

These are among the findings of a Los Angeles Times Poll that surveyed attitudes last month in Orange County and throughout Southern California as part of a special project on racial, ethnic and religious differences. (See Toward Equality, a special section in today’s Times.)

Crime, Drugs Ranked Highest

When asked to name the biggest problem facing Southern California today, Orange County residents ranked crime and drugs highest. Unemployment, moral decline, the economy, the budget deficit, AIDS and foreign trade were all mentioned more often than prejudice.

From a statistical standpoint, the responses of the 206 people polled in Orange County were not significantly different for the most part from the 1,116 Los Angeles County residents or from the 794 respondents who live in other parts of Southern California.

Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, said he thought the poll’s finding that blacks and Jews rate the county as highly prejudiced was based more on the area’s history than current reality.

“I think Orange County gets a bad rap,” said Kennedy, whose commission oversees race and ethnic relations. “I think there is an ancient history of Orange County that is different from today.”

The county no longer is a homogenized bedroom community but a “growingly diverse, urbanized area,” he said.

“The perception of old, that Orange County is an extremely bigoted place where racism thrives, is not an accurate picture of what exists today,” Kennedy said. “I don’t mean to downplay the fact that there is racism and bigotry, as there is in other places, but I don’t think it is any more here.”

The poll suggests that, like their Southern California neighbors, Orange County residents appear to be more prejudiced against blacks than any other minority group, followed by Latinos and Asians.

Anti-Semitism Discounted

Anti-Semitism is not a sizable problem in the county, according to the poll, despite the reputation Orange County apparently has among Southland Jews.

Asked which groups suffer the most bias, the majority named blacks first, followed closely by Latinos. Asians were mentioned as a distant third, and just 4% mentioned Jews.

Most discrimination occurs in housing, followed closely by work situations, dealings with police and social contacts, according to the poll.

Prejudice is something people are taught, the majority believes, and education was the most-mentioned remedy.

“I think younger people are not so concerned” with race and ethnic differences, said Carol Travis of Costa Mesa, who participated in the poll. “I think each generation is becoming more aware and less prejudiced.”

Kennedy said he believes that, as Anglos interact with more minorities, they see the diversity within each minority group, and prejudices and stereotypes break down.

Contact Reduces Fear, He Says

“There are right-wing, conservative blacks and liberal blacks, as there are conservative Hispanics and liberal Hispanics--the same as in the Asian community and the Anglo community,” he said. “Those minorities you have the most contact with, you have the least fear of.”

Like their Southern California neighbors, Orange County residents participating in the poll indicated that they do not believe blacks are intellectually inferior or that they prefer to be on welfare, and nearly three-quarters either approve of or do not care about interracial marriage.

Yet some responses from county residents suggest that either less discrimination occurs in the largely Anglo community here or that county residents are blind to their prejudices.

For example, 48% said they do not believe many people miss out on jobs or promotions because of discrimination--significantly differing from Los Angeles County and other regions, where only about a third of the people polled said they do not believe that prejudice in the workplace exists.

Understanding the Anger

And 44% of those surveyed in Orange County said they do not understand the anger of minority groups in Southern California.

“Either there is a lack of awareness, or there is a lack of anything to be aware of,” Los Angeles Times Poll director I. A. Lewis said of the county responses to the questions.

Kennedy suggested that the poll may have turned up more awareness of job discrimination in Los Angeles because the sampling there included more minorities. “Those who are not victims of job discrimination, namely Anglos, are usually not aware of it,” he said.

Mary, a county Latina who was questioned in the survey and agreed to be interviewed but did not want to be identified, said discrimination on the job certainly does exist here.

A savvy, articulate woman who is trying to start a business of her own, Mary said she was once an executive secretary and was repeatedly passed over for promotions despite her abilities.

Prejudice Seen in Subtle Acts

“It’s more subtle these days,” she said. “It’s a bit more sophisticated in how they use it (discrimination). They’re not breaking any laws. . . . It’s something that can’t be proven, but if they feel this isn’t where you belong, in certain positions, they’ll move others up . . . and usually they’re not Hispanic or Latino.”

She also once worked for an executive search firm, she said, where the resumes of people with Latino surnames rarely got attention.

There is subtle discrimination against Asians too, said J. J. Lee, a Chinese-American who lives in Irvine and participated in the poll.

Every once in a while he will see a bumper sticker depicting Asians as bad drivers, or hear of someone yelling at an Asian immigrant to go home, he said.

“My feeling is that they (Anglos) like Chinese food, but they are not ready to let their children marry Chinese people yet,” he said.

Too Much on Minority Rights

Of the county residents surveyed, 61% said they hear too much about the rights of minorities and not enough about the rights of the majority, significantly more than the 48% who expressed that view in Los Angeles County. And one out of four Orange County residents said government pays too much attention to the problems of minorities; one out of five took that view throughout Southern California.

Of county respondents, 60% said they believe there are too many immigrants in Southern California today.

But Mary said people should remember their origins before they say that.

“None of us came from the United States to begin with,” she said. “If you think back to 1776, the only people who were here first were the Indians.”

Still, one out of four in Orange County said the influence of immigrants has changed Southern California for the better.

Anglos Becoming the Minority

“Yes, I see an enrichment from immigrants,” said Peter Briscoe of Cypress, himself an immigrant who was surveyed in the poll. Briscoe, who is Caucasian, left Zimbabwe, formerly called Rhodesia, in 1983.

Population data shows that Anglos will soon be in the minority in Southern California. About a third of the people surveyed said they are bothered a lot or some by that prediction, while 66% said it disturbs them only a little or not at all.

One in five county residents said they would be upset some or a lot if a large number of blacks moved into their neighborhoods. But when the question was asked another way--whether their neighbors would be upset if blacks moved in--a much larger segment, 53%, said they would.

The responses to the second question suggest that residents may share those beliefs themselves and not want to admit it, poll director Lewis said.

When the same questions were asked about other minority groups, the gaps narrowed. In the county, 26% said they would be upset if Asians moved in, and 38% said their neighbors would be. Asked about Latinos moving in, 23% said they would be upset, and 27% said their neighbors would be. Asked about Jews, 11% said they would be upset, and 11% said their neighbors would be.

Would Upset the Neighbors

Briscoe said he would not personally be upset if large numbers of minorities moved into his area but has sensed that his neighbors would be. “There’s a concern for property values and a concern about gangs and drugs” associated with minorities, he said, “and generally a lowering of standards.”

On the subject of race and intelligence, 95% of those surveyed in Orange County said blacks are as intelligent as whites, a response significantly higher than the 88% who took that view in Los Angeles County and the 90% for Southern California as a whole.

In Orange County, 74% said they do not believe blacks prefer welfare; the figure was 66% in Los Angeles. And 22% of those surveyed in Orange County said they approve of interracial marriage, while 49% said they did not care.

Asked about anti-Semitism, 59% of those surveyed in Orange County disagreed with the statement that Jews have brought prejudice on themselves, while 26%--slightly lower than in Los Angeles--said they agreed.

Extra Attention Needed

Travis, who used to teach at an all-black school in Los Angeles, said that for conditions--housing, social acceptance, education and job opportunities--to improve, minority children need additional attention.

If they come from impoverished homes, their parents may not be able to give them the push they need, she said.

“Blacks don’t have that many opportunities,” she said. “I saw it there (in school). . . . They needed extra help. They weren’t nurtured. I had a lot of students whose parents didn’t care. But they didn’t know how to care.”

The same goes for Latinos, according to Mary, the former executive secretary.

“There are a lot of opportunities, but as far as being encouraged (to take advantage of them), they need to be pushed more, perhaps because they have been pushed back,” she said.

Latinos ‘Fall Into a Rut’

“It seems like they (Latino children) fall into a certain rut. . . . We are only now looking at ourselves as professionals, that we are just as capable and we don’t have to bow our heads.”

When it comes to language, county residents do not welcome efforts to cater to immigrants. Just 11% said stores should display signs in foreign languages, 47% were opposed to such signs and 41% had no opinion.

“The basic language should be English,” Mary said. “I don’t care for those signs. It makes it confusing for a Mexican kid to be seeing a Chinese sign, going to an English-speaking school and speaking Spanish at home.”

“When they come to America, they should learn to speak English,” Briscoe said.

Having lived in countries where more than one language is recognized, he is aware of the costs, he said: “If you cater to every group, it becomes prohibitively expensive.”

More--46%--favored foreign-language books in public libraries, although one in five were opposed.

TIMES POLL ON DISCRIMINATION ORANGE COUNTY RESPONSES Status of Minorities “This question is about *(minorities) in Orange County and their ability to get adequate housing and education and job opportunities and social acceptance by whites, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think conditions for (minorities) in Southern California are good or bad?”

“Thinking of 10 years ago, would you say conditions for (minorities) were good or bad?”

“And what do you think conditions for (minorities) in Orange County will be 10 years from now--good or bad?”

* Question asked of blacks, Latinos and Asians.

Good Bad Don’t Know Today Black 62% 27% 11% Latino 59 33 8 Asian 78 10 12 10 Years Ago Black 32 46 22 Latino 31 51 18 Asian 50 27 23 10 Years From Now Black 73 13 14 Latino 74 14 12 Asian 83 4 13

Who Do They Like Least? “Some people feel favorably toward one group and at the same time not so favorably toward another group. Generally speaking, do you think *Anglos feel least favorably toward Asians, or blacks, or Catholics, or Jews, or Latinos in Orange County ?”

**Everyone surveyed was asked who do Anglos feel least favorably toward, who do Asians feel least favorably toward, who do blacks feel least favorably toward, etc.

Group Anglos Asians Blacks Catholics Jews Latinos No particular group 10% 13% 6% 18 9 6 Anglos -- 11 37 4 2 26 Asians 34 -- 14 6 10 20 Blacks 42 21 -- 10 18 33 Catholics 1 1 1 -- 11 0 Jews 5 2 3 15 -- 8 Latinos 39 16 32 3 9 -- Don’t Know 17 50 36 53 55 35

Moving Into Your Neighborhood “If there was a substantial increase in the number of *(minorities) moving into your neighborhood, do you think that would upset you personally at lot, or some, or only a little, or do you think a substantial increase in the number of (minorities) moving into your neighborhood wouldn’t upset you at all?”

“Well, what about your neighbors? If there was a substantial increase in the number of (minorities) moving into your neighborhood, do you think that would upset your neighbors at lot, or some, or only a little, or do you think a substantial increase in the number of (minorities) moving into your neighborhood wouldn’t upset your neighbors at all?”

* Question asked about blacks, Asians, Jews and Latinos.

WOULD UPSET YOU WOULD UPSET YOUR NEIGHBORS A Lot A Little Don’t A Lot A Little Don’t or Some or None Know or Some or None Know Blacks 21% 74% 5% 53% 31% 16% Latinos 23 75 2 27 49 24 Asians 26 73 1 38 40 22 Jews 11 87 2 11 60 29