The Voices of Students

Here is what six Orange County students say about ethnic tensions in their high schools:

Michelle Morales, 16, Latino, Sunny Hills High

“A Mexican girl said that she wanted to hit me over the head with a baseball bat because I was going out with an Oriental. I wanted to kill her for being so rude. I still hate her for that. I think it’s so stupid to think that way. They’re my friends and they are the same as anyone else.”

Eric Satterblom, 17, Anglo, Sunny Hills High

“A few days ago, a white guy walked up to me and said, ‘Why do you hang around all Orientals?’ Then he asked me if I had any white friends and made me feel like I shouldn’t be hanging around my friends.”

David Kang, 16, Korean, Sunny Hills High:

Kang said he was sitting among a group of Korean friends at lunch once last year when a group of white student athletes began throwing golf balls at them. Kang was hit in the nose and ended up being examined in the hospital. “I thought the whole thing was very racial. They tried to say that they weren’t aiming at us but they were throwing line drives.”

Andrew Sutherland, 17, Anglo, Corona del Mar High:

“We have about a 90% to 95% white population and the rest are Asian and we have maybe two or three black students in the whole school. So other than not having an adequate representation of many races, we don’t have a problem. We’re an affluent community and not much really goes on here.”

Steve Woodard, 18, Black, Irvine High

“People have called me names. But when it comes time to fight, they back off. I have white friends, Mexican friends and Oriental friends. I don’t like for people to be separated.”

Ken Lee, 16, Korean, Irvine High

“There isn’t too much racial tension here. However, you’ll hear a racial slur here or there because there is a wide diversity of racial groups here at Irvine. There aren’t as many Hispanics and blacks at our school but there are a lot of Asians and whites. There’s always some people who feel more comfortable with their own ethnic group, but there are some who mix.”

Times correspondents Greg Hernandez and Shannon Sands contributed to this story.