Latinos, Asians Fuel Growth in O.C. Population

Nearly all of Orange County’s population growth in the first seven years of this decade is the result of increases in the Asian and Latino communities, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released this month.

While the number of whites has remained steady over the decade, the county has seen some of the biggest increases in the nation in the numbers of Asian and Latino residents. Orange County now has the third-largest population of Asians in the country and the fifth-highest number of Latinos.

Asians and Pacific Islanders are estimated to make up about 13% of Orange County’s population, growing by more than 91,000 since 1990. At the same time, the Latino population has grown by nearly 200,000, now representing 28% of the county, and the white majority in Orange County has shrunk from 65% in 1990 to 57% in 1997.

The growing minority population has chipped away at a once solidly white majority, though few seem to have noticed--even among those who live here.

“The perception of Orange County is way behind the reality,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the county’s Human Relations Commission. “There is no question people in most of the country and even people here locally think of Orange County as a white conservative bastion, but that reputation is eroding.”

Increasing political power is a priority for Asian and Latino leaders. Key to achieving that goal, they say, is strength in numbers.

“The numbers make a population more visible,” said John Liu, an associate professor of Asian studies at UC Irvine. “It gives it more clout in terms of voting and in terms of donations to political campaigns.”

But such political change is not occurring as rapidly as the numbers might indicate--in part, Kennedy said, because much of the minority population is not of voting age. The Latino community in particular has grown largely because of high birthrates.

While they’re encouraged by census projections, activists in both communities say Asians and Latinos have historically been undercounted. That’s a problem community groups are already working to correct for the 200O census.

“There’s so much at stake--resources for education, health, welfare--that come into the community based on these numbers,” said Rafael Gonzalez, director of civic education for the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

Next week, the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance will participate in a Census 2000 Conference at Cal State Los Angeles, where the focus will be on making sure they are fully counted.

Similar efforts are underway in the Latino community. But even as the work continues, some longtime Orange County residents emphasize how far the county has come.

“I think Orange County has changed economically and politically because of the Latino growth,” said Ralph Pugo, president-elect of Orange County’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “We have more people that are outspoken, saying, ‘Hey, look at us.’ ”

Bonnie Tang, staff attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, said Asian Americans in Southern California are still several strides behind Latinos in terms of political power.

“I think we have a long way to go,” Tang said. “We are a newly enfranchised population. A lot of new immigrants are coming in. They often don’t speak English, they are facing a new system of government. It is never ending.”

But demographers say Asians and Latinos in Orange County have already changed the social and cultural landscape.

“Just the fact that there are a lot of people from other places has opened up markets to serve those people,” said Bill Gayk, director of the Center for Demographic Research at Cal State Fullerton. “If you look at the types of stores that have opened here, the types of restaurants, you get a sense of the change.”

Orange County, however, is far less diverse than Los Angeles County, which ranks first in the nation in both Asian and Latino populations; the minority population there makes up a 66% majority.

From a percentage standpoint, Orange County’s minority population can’t compete with some other regions. San Francisco County, for example, has nearly 100,000 fewer Asians, but those make up 35% of the population. Asians in Honolulu County, second in raw numbers, make up 64% of the residents.

Still, Orange County is not the enclave it was in 1980 when the population was nearly 80% white.

“Once you get a reputation, it’s always hard to get rid of it,” said UC Irvine’s Liu.

“People have held to those ideas even while the county has become much more urban and much more diverse,” said Kennedy, who’s worked for the county for 22 years. “But we are still in the midst of change, not at the end of it.”

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Asian Share

Asians have accounted for at least one-fifth of Orange County’s population increase every year during the 1990s. Asians as a percentage of total population growth:

1990-91: 40.5%

1991-92: 33.9%

1992-93: 40.8%

1993-94: 40.3%

1994-95: 40.0%

1995-96: 32.1%

1996-97: 21.1%

Source: U.S. Census