Today’s Topics

The honors bestowed on Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” at last week’s Academy Awards focused worldwide attention on the intractable, generations-old problem of ending religious and racial intolerance.

That problem is particularly acute in Southern California, with its myriad communities. Hate crimes locally are at an all-time high, fueled by a sour economy, immigration and fear of the unknown, says Rick Eaton, who tracks white supremacy groups for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Ending racial intolerance here is certainly a priority in the schools, the workplace and on the streets. Programs targeting the ignorance that leads to prejudice are active throughout the region.

In today’s Testimony, Larry Aubry, who recently retired from the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, discusses some of the inequities he saw during his tenure.

And psychologist Michael Yachnik points out in a Community Essay that prejudices often are taught to children by the very people they are supposed to love and respect--their parents.

Yachnik believes the way to change these attitudes is through education and shared experiences with people from different cultures.

That view is supported by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, where youngsters from different backgrounds are routinely brought together to share their experiences.

“People do transmit their prejudices to their youngsters,” says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the center and museum. “That’s why the focus has to be with youngsters. When you’re a teen-ager, you’re most likely to evaluate the baggage you’ve been given and off-load what you don’t want.”

Cooper says there is “no magic wand” to end racial prejudice. But, he believes “the real way of breaking the cycle is to get people to get to know each other, get them to step outside of themselves and try to feel and empathize with other peoples’ pain.”

But other experts say it is economic inequity and the lack of political power for certain minority groups that foments bigotry.

Larry Bobo, professor of sociology at UCLA, believes the current political climate also has created a lightning rod for racial tension.

“The assault we see taking place on the welfare state is a bad sign,” he says. “The recent bashing of immigration and immigrants has unequivocal racial overtones, even if there are some legitimate concerns. One can say the same thing about the crime issue, where keeping crime down becomes the issue rather than dealing with the problems that foster crime.”

Marta Samano, director of the South Central Leadership Program for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, deplores the tensions between the African American and Latino communities and sees a solution in political empowerment.

“We need to develop a sense of unity between the two communities,” she says. “They are both minorities and they shouldn’t be fighting over the little that they have. For the community to develop at every level, they need to work together and they need to understand each other.”