Hate Crimes--the Unleashed Demons : It’s time to renew our stand against prejudice

Hate crimes--motivated by prejudice against race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation--are on the rise in the region, the state and, possibly, the nation. A dramatic local increase prompted the Los Angeles County Human Rights Commission to issue a special report and a warning that tensions are only expected to get worse.

Changing demographics are to blame in part for the violence and vandalism directed against African-Americans, Asians, Jews, Latinos, other ethnic minorities and homosexuals. Competition over jobs and resentment over something as simple as a newcomer with a fancy car also breed the ugly sentiments.

As the indexes of hate increase, civil rights leaders are also quick to blame the Reagan Administration, which attacked civil rights laws and, they say, encouraged a decidedly anti-minority bias. Whatever the reasons, recent news reports illustrate that the incidents are becoming tragically common.

In Orange County last month, a 15-year-old black girl was called a racial epithet and beaten with a baseball bat. Her face was slashed severely with a shard of glass during an altercation among black, white and Latino youngsters. Although the circumstances of the dispute are not altogether clear, it is clear that Amber Jefferson, the only African-American girl involved, was the only youngster who required hospitalization. Her face still carries the long scar of the attack.

Hate crimes tend to be surprisingly vicious, according to a researcher at Northeastern University. Victims of racial assaults are three times more likely to require hospital treatment than victims of other assaults.

Tensions also appear to be rising between entrenched minorities and immigrants. In South-Central Los Angeles last week, a Latino man who was backing his car out of a parking space accidently hit a black child. A group of upset black men gathered; at least one made derogatory remarks, giving the confrontation some racial overtones. Before the confrontation had ended, two children had been struck by the car, and the driver, Guillermo Alvarado, had been beaten and hospitalized.

As more Latinos move into what were once predominantly black neighborhoods, and more Asians into predominantly Latino neighborhoods, the tensions are expected to worsen; they must not go unchecked.

In Agoura, two weeks ago, a black couple returned home to their predominantly white neighborhood to find their house broken into, vandalized, furnishings smashed and defaced--for the second time.

Szebelski and Matilda Freeman are refusing to move--again. They are to be admired for their courage and perseverance.

But not all the news in local ethnic relations is bad. The Freemans’ neighbors stood up with them against racial intolerance.

The county Human Relations Commission has sounded the alarm. Now it’s up to the majority of Californians who abhor prejudice to take a stand, like the Freemans and their neighbors.