ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Committing an Omission

One need go no further than the 1990 U.S. Census to see that Orange County, once nearly all-white, is now a community with dramatic diversity. In several cities, including Anaheim, Garden Grove and Westminster, barely half the population is Anglo; the rest is Latino or Asian. Change in Santa Ana’s population is even more remarkable: two-thirds Latino, a quarter Anglo and the rest mostly Asian. Even middle-class communities like Costa Mesa, Brea, Dana Point, Irvine, Placentia and Tustin now have substantial ethnic diversity.

Adapting to this historic change hasn’t been easy for all, nor does it promise to be in the future. Cross burnings, racial slurs, verbal and physical assaults on minorities--all have happened recently in Orange County. The county Human Relations Commission responds in such cases, and it works with police, schools and community groups to prevent racial hostilities.

But now, when the need is greatest, the Human Relations Commission is threatened with extinction. The county administrative office, faced with a $67.7-million shortfall in the proposed $3.5-billion budget for 1991-92, has earmarked the commission as one of the services that could go. Also on the chopping block is the Commission on the Status of Women, which provides referral services for battered women and mothers in need of child care. The Board of Supervisors will make final budget decisions on Aug. 27.

The withdrawal of county funding to either commission would mark a major step backward in the county’s commitment to racial harmony and women’s rights. The Human Relations Commission has worked with schools, for example, to educate students about cultural differences. It has also developed police training videos to improve relations in the Latino, Vietnamese and disabled communities. It has never been needed more.

It is possible that the two commissions, which cost about $430,000 a year, could be combined. That’s preferable to disassembling either, or both. The Human Relations Commission could be rescued, if need be, through a public/private partnership. Its long and honored service is worth maintaining.