An Exchange of Views on Ethnic Friction

Southern California may be half a world away from bloody ethnic clashes in Armenia and bitter racial conflicts in South Africa, but the region shares many of the problems of race and ethnicity dividing countries around the globe.

That was the consensus of young government and business leaders from Southern California and a dozen foreign countries who met Wednesday for a round-table discussion in downtown Los Angeles.

“The tendency to support minorities and support your roots, in my view, has more of an effect of segregation rather than integration,” said Miroslav Kerous, an official with the Czechoslovakian Central Bank.

“I disagree,” responded Yvette Herrera, a senior planner for United Way in Los Angeles. “It seems the more people are comfortable with their ethnic identity, the more likely they are to be able to interact comfortably with people of other ethnicity.”

Kerous was one of 20 foreigners, mostly from Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics, visiting Los Angeles for three days as part of the Pew Economic Freedom Fellows Program. The program, sponsored by Georgetown University, helps emerging leaders from overseas guide their countries toward free market economies.

The Pew fellows met with Herrera and other members of Town Hall of California’s associate program, a group of young government and business leaders--all 35 years old or younger--interested in public policy.

The Town Hall discussion focused on delicate questions of race and ethnic relations and how best to maintain harmony among competing and sometimes hostile groups in new and established democracies, including the United States.

Ismail Momoniat, a senior researcher for the African National Congress in South Africa, touched upon problems in his own country, but expressed shock at the level of anti-Japanese sentiment among Americans during the current presidential campaign. Momoniat also was disappointed to discover the many segregated neighborhoods upon his arrival in Washington.

“To some extent I felt at home,” Momoniat said. “At another level, I found that Johannesburg is much more integrated. That has been a bit strange to see.”

Marina Kaas, director of international programs for the Estonian Small Business Assn., said there are differences between so-called mono-ethnic countries--those with one main ethnic group, such as Estonia--and the multiethnic United States.

Estonians had to struggle to maintain their ethnic identity during years of Russian dominance, she said, and that sometimes translated into “very ugly forms” of nationalism. By contrast, she argued, all immigrant groups in the United States are essentially newcomers to a foreign land, putting them on more equal footing.

Since Estonia has gained its independence, she said, ethnic relations between Estonians and Russians have largely improved. “Things are settling down, people are communicating a lot more,” said Kaas, who is Russian.

Albert S. Tavadyan, whose native Armenia is locked in a bitter territorial dispute with Azerbaijan, said he opposes the creation of single-nationality countries in what was once the Soviet Union, comparing the new nation-states to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. He said he preferred the multiethnic U.S. model, however imperfect.

“I am afraid about what (the single-nationality countries) will lead to,” said Tavadyan, special assistant to the Armenian deputy prime minister.

The Pew fellows’ visit in Los Angeles, which ends today, was scheduled to include a meeting with former President Ronald Reagan, a session with Koreatown merchants, a movie studio tour and a City Hall discussion about how the free market contributes to gang problems. The weeklong tour also included stops in Chicago and San Francisco.