Letter Still Sparking Passions, Positive as Well as Antagonistic

Three days after the City Council voted unanimously to condemn a public letter by Councilman Eddie Rose, who castigated the acquittal of O.J. Simpson in terms some have labeled racist, City Hall is still being flooded with phone calls and letters.

But the incident, which drew more than 150 people to the council meeting Monday, may have a more profound effect on the community than a brief flurry of calls and correspondence.

While many residents, in informal conversations around town, say they aren’t aware of the controversy, the issue has still stirred passions.

Local residents of many different ethnic backgrounds and religions are calling for public discussions of race relations. Some citizens, taking a political approach, have started a recall campaign to oust Rose from office. Others are optimistic, saying the episode has started a healthy dialogue that ultimately could improve race relations.

Officials, even those who criticize Rose, contend Laguna Niguel is no more plagued by bigotry than any other community.

“I think all of the South County area is struggling with race issues. They’re going through development stages, growing pains,” said Rusty Kennedy, head of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, which tracks race-related crimes and incidents.

“South County has been beleaguered,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s fair to say the [Rose] letter has left the community divided.”

That upbeat assessment doesn’t wash with some people, like Reginald Burgess, who is African American, and his fiancee, Carol Folk, who is white. Their house has been attacked three times.

The first time, vandals pelted the dwelling with eggs. The second time, it was strewn with toilet paper.

Then in July, the couple found a racial slur drawn on their garage in chocolate syrup. There was a white cross made of toilet paper on the gate. Three teen-agers have been arrested and charged for the crime and await trial.

So when the dispute arose last month over the Rose letter, written on official city stationery, it ripped open old emotional wounds for Folk and Burgess.

“It’s something we deal with on an almost daily basis,” said Folk, who plans to move by year’s end, in part because she fears for the safety of her family, which includes Burgess’ young sons. “The kids come home from school and talk about being called the N-word again.”

They’re not the only ones for whom the controversy is still fresh.

So far, a total of 218 calls have come in to City Hall, 162 defending Rose and 56 against him. The correspondence, though heavy, hasn’t been counted.

Although a solid majority of phone calls support Rose, most of the calls are from outside of Laguna Niguel. Calls from city residents indicate a slim majority against the councilman.

The whole thing started after a largely black jury found Simpson innocent of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Lyle Goldman.

Rose, who was presented with a recall petition at Monday’s meeting, has apologized for hurting anyone’s feelings with the letter that refers to Simpson’s “jive talking” defense attorney and accuses the jury of ignoring the evidence to set a “brother” free.

But Rose insists that he is wrongly being accused of racism and contends the controversy is being promoted by his political enemy, Mayor Mark Goodman.

Goodman said, “I know I’m going to do everything I can to speak out [against racism] as mayor and a resident.”

He intends to step up his public speaking engagements to address the race issue around the city and wants to organize community round-table discussions similar to the Day of Dialogue held in Los Angeles after the Simpson verdicts.

But Goodman, like many others, also believes racism is not a widespread problem in Laguna Niguel. The city of roughly 54,000 people is largely white, with only several hundred African Americans living within city limits, according to data from the city and the 1990 U.S. Census.

Racial incidents, while troubling and demanding action, are few, Goodman said.

“Most of the people who came to the night meeting were saying ‘We don’t agree with this letter,’ ” said Goodman, who believes the city’s image has been hurt by the incident. “That’s how the vast majority of people in this city feel.”

The topic is buzzing in the coffeehouses and shopping centers of Laguna Niguel, where many--but hardly all--residents voice strong opinions and seem about evenly split.

Sitting with her accountant at Starbuck’s Coffee, Cheryl Stahl said she was pleased to see a local official vent his frustration over the Simpson verdict.

“People are outraged” over the Simpson results, said Stahl, a local dentist. “I think it’s totally justifiable to have city officials speaking out.”

At the local Pik ‘N’ Pay, manager Dary Saremi said he didn’t even mind Rose’s opinion going out on official city stationery.

“He was doing the right thing, giving his opinions,” Saremi said. “To me, he was speaking the truth.”

But for the majority of people going through their day in Laguna Niguel, the Rose controversy could as well have been about flowers--something that especially troubles Folk and others.

Lois Wilson, out shopping with her children, just shook her head when asked about the tumultuous council meeting.

“Honestly, I don’t know anything about it,” she said. “We went home last night and did homework. It was just another night.”

Pam Lathan of Laguna Niguel, who helped form African American Parents and Concerned Citizens of South Orange County, said the lack of minorities in the area often makes racial issues invisible to the community at large.

“It’s like anything else, you don’t know it’s happening until it happens to you,” Lathan said. “You can look through the world with rose-colored lenses if you like. But just don’t deny me a degree of compassion. Open up your ears and listen to me.”

Incidents outside the city have contributed to the fear and worry about racism, she said.

She pointed to the 1995 attempted murder conviction for the beating and stabbing of an African American student at Santa Margarita High School that many considered racially motivated. In a separate incident earlier this year, more than 10 students were suspended from Aliso Viejo Middle School after a brawl with racial overtones.

Some African Americans also point to Rose’s history.

In January, he voted against a city observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day, saying the civil rights leader often was associated with communists. In May, Rose raised eyebrows when he interrupted a council proposal to recognize Day of the African Child to criticize UNICEF, the event sponsor.

“You have to look at all of this before you can understand how African Americans feel in Orange County,” Lathan said.

Still, she believes that African Americans in Orange County can be proud of the city’s condemnation of Rose’s missive.

“The system worked the way it was supposed to,” she said. “This recognized the 98% of non-African American, non-Hispanic, non-persons of color in the county. We’re hoping it’s a beginning.”