High-Desert Warning

For only the second time in Los Angeles County, prosecutors are bringing charges of racially motivated murder, accusing two white supremacists in the 1995 beating death of a black man outside a Lancaster restaurant. The special charge--making the two men subject to life in prison without parole--sends a strong message that hate crimes will not be tolerated in a region where strength lies in diversity.

Hate crimes rose 25% in Los Angeles County as a whole last year, and few communities have seen more hate violence than the Antelope Valley. In addition to the fatal beating of Milton Walker Jr. in 1995, the Antelope Valley has witnessed the bombing of a gay pub, the stabbing of a black high school student, the beating of a Latino by skinheads and shots fired at a car carrying four African Americans--one of them a baby. The violence put the area on the county’s list of “hate crime clusters.”

The Antelope Valley is a fast-growing high-desert suburb that offers affordable homes, good schools and open spaces. Between 1990 and 1994, the population of Lancaster jumped 22.5% and Palmdale swelled by 47.2%. The percentages of African American and Latino residents nearly doubled between 1980 and 1990. Adding to the social stresses of change, the area was hard-hit by cuts in the aerospace industry.

Although slow to recognize the hate crime problem, Antelope Valley officials have now taken decisive steps. They worked with county and federal officials to create the Antelope Valley Hate Crimes Task Force, which investigated Walker’s murder. Aggressive enforcement is a persuasive stick, but more carrots are needed. A county human relations committee recommended more open discussions about race in schools, churches and community meetings. That’s a good idea. Only when residents recognize how much they share the same dreams--of peace, quiet and prosperity--can those dreams come true.