THE STORM OF THE EYE

Wanda Coleman’s “The Evil Eye” (On the Town, Aug. 14) is a timely column that shows the prejudice and hatred that interracial couples face daily. I am a Japanese American who has been in a serious relationship with a Mexican American for nearly two years. We are constantly being scrutinized by people of all races.

Whether we’re dining in Little Tokyo or nosing around the shops on Whittier Boulevard, we get stares of disapproval from both Japanese and Mexicans, along with the requisite whispering and finger-pointing. Even in predominantly mixed areas, we’re gawked at when we’re holding hands.

Things have improved, but there are still walls to come down.

JUN HONDA

Monterey Park

I am a 45-year-old white male married to a 33-year-old Chinese woman. We have both experienced our share of prejudice hell.

Two months before our wedding, my wife’s parents offered her $35,000 to marry a Chinese man--any Chinese man--instead. If we’re in Chinatown, we get stares; when we’re in my Wisconsin hometown, we get even more stares.

Nevertheless, something in Coleman’s column bothered me. Why go back to a store to line the pockets of a perceived racist? I’d have driven miles out of my way to avoid doing so. And perhaps Wanda’s husband would have been better off apologizing for cutting someone off and offering to let that person go ahead instead of resorting to expletives. In dodgy 1994 Los Angeles, that might be both the morally correct and the wise thing to do.

R. J. SCHUCH

Los Angeles

An African-American woman has access to space in The Times and uses that space to bemoan racism she encountered in the Glendale Galleria? A travesty. Why not instead call for youth jobs, homes for poor-but-working families, hospice care for African-American AIDS victims, tutorial and educational support for children in “the Downs” and “the Gardens” or continued financial support for Crips-Bloods truce employment projects?

Use your access to print media to help those you left behind, not to cry in your caffe latte and invite us to your pity party because we don’t celebrate your defection. We got bigger fish to fry.

GABRIELLE PELTIER

Riverside

I was shocked by Coleman’s reference to “the ugly glare of the Semitic-looking owner.” At best, it was inappropriate; at worst, vicious. Such references encourage violence against minorities.

HARRY SCHWARTZBAUM

Los Angeles

Did Coleman’s observation about the store owner mean that she thought he was not only white but Jewish or Middle Eastern and perhaps, therefore, a double enemy?

WENDY CHANDLER

Culver City

I married a black man in the 1960s, eventually was divorced and successfully raised our son alone. Somewhere along the line I realized I was gay, and I now have a partner who is both black and female. All this, mind you, in strife-torn L.A.

Coleman’s litany of recent aggravations probably exceed mine for the last quarter-century. Anticipating trouble often means finding it. But Coleman shouldn’t worry. In a few short years, no one--from the sophisticated cafes to the wild and crazy streets--will give a damn who you’re with or even notice you at all.

SALLY CALLAHAN

Lynwood