ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Ounce of Prevention

Are Los Angeles-style riots possible in Orange County? Perhaps. One thing is for sure: A head-in-the-sand attitude cannot help when it comes to dealing with racial tension. That’s why a recent summit on race relations at Chapman University in Orange was so important.

About 50 community leaders gathered for the meeting, which was sponsored by the Interfaith Peace Ministry of Orange County and the Albert Schweitzer Institute of Chapman University. The county’s three major minority groups--Latinos, Asians and blacks--were represented. The accent was on how Orange County can be enriched--instead of torn apart--by its growing cultural and ethnic diversity.

Said one participant: “We should see differences as opportunities for growth--a chance to form some sort of tapestry.” Toward that end, there is a Race Unity Day Picnic planned for Aug. 8 at W. O. Hart Park in Orange.

But there also must be more concrete actions to bring people together and to address the problems that come with diversity. Msgr. Jaime Soto, episcopal vicar for the Latino community of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, outlined several major issues within the minority community, including the state’s labor and wage laws, the lack of affordable housing and how schools are dealing with an increasingly diverse student population.

The Chapman University gathering presented at least one way that communities can air their problems. It’s only too clear what can happen when racial tensions aren’t dealt with forthrightly.