Loving Thy Neighbor Is Key to Future

My son became a man on the eve of the millennium. He turned 18 in October. By then, I should have been through shaping him for the century.

But I worried for Miguel to the very last minute. Right up to the stroke of 2000, I fretted about his safety, about his happiness, about his future.

The 21st century will belong to him and his generation. What kind of world will we leave for them? And how well did we prepare them to succeed--or survive--in it?

One recent morning I awoke to a sign that the future won’t be as Orwellian as Orwell predicted. (After all, 1984 wasn’t so scary.) The reassuring sign was a sound coming from my son’s room. It was music that didn’t have an ominous thump-thump-thump and wasn’t peppered with profanity, like the rap he usually plays.

This was music I recognized, with lyrics I could decipher and reprint in a family newspaper. It was Buffalo Springfield, the seminal ‘60s band, singing “For What It’s Worth,” that anthem of the counterculture.

Something’s happenin’ here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.

Yes, Miguel went retro. And though some people shiver at the thought of reliving the ‘60s, I was heartened to think he might be capturing the spirit of that era of causes, commitment and Coke commercials with a conscience. (“I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.”)

It’s not that the civil rights decade had all the right answers. But--as Mexican philosopher Octavio Paz said about Marxism after its 20th century collapse--at least it asked the right questions.

How can we come together in peace as a multiethnic society? How can we learn to appreciate rather than denigrate our differences? How can we create an encompassing culture that is both free and fair?

Come to think of it, these concerns echo those addressed two millenniums ago by a prophet whose birth marks the very start of our calendar.

Love thy neighbor. Sounds like a challenge as we turn the last page on the 1900s in Southern California, where neighbors increasingly don’t look, talk or act like us.

Immigration has radically changed the complexion of our society in a few short decades. But it’s going to change a whole lot more before the new century is even half over.

Our future depends on how we handle that seismic shift in demographics. And Southern California will continue to be the nation’s test lab for ethnic harmony in the new millennium.

By 2040, whites will no longer be the majority in this state. In fact, ethnic populations, especially Latinos and Asians, are expected to grow so fast we soon won’t be able to call them minorities any more.

In 20 years, Latinos are expected to become the state’s largest ethnic group, surging to 48% by 2040.

The erosion of white dominance in numbers will come first to Los Angeles County, where Latinos are expected to become a majority just 10 years from today.

Orange County will change more gradually, but it’s on the same track. By 2040, Orange County’s white population is expected to fall to 1.1 million, or about 27%, down from 59% today.

Historically, California will come full circle. We started as a Hispanic region and we’re heading that way again. Back to the future, so to speak.

So let’s not allow history to repeat itself. When this land was under the rule of New Spain, Native Americans became the exploited minority. And the Spanish colonizers are still being judged by how they treated their subjects. Junipero Serra might be a saint today if it weren’t for lingering allegations that Indians were beaten and abused under the mission system, the bedrock of our state’s civilization.

As Latinos become more numerous and powerful, they will come under increasing scrutiny for how they wield their newfound clout. They must heal old wounds, not take revenge on old adversaries. They must reach out to other groups, not cut them off.

Communicate, not alienate.

Still, some Latinos have a lot to learn in the school of ethnic tolerance. Too often, they use disparaging or belittling language in referring to African Americans, Asians and other racial groups. As the coming new majority, we need to overcome in ourselves the prejudices we condemned in others.

By the same token, last century’s majority must learn to make way for others without racial animosity and resentment. If whites keep fearing newcomers as foreign and threatening, white flight will continue to balkanize our large cities.

Those who feel bitter about the changes immigration has brought to their communities--and who write me insulting letters about it--must learn to acknowledge the positive contributions of other cultures.

To some degree, economics will force us to confront our inter-dependence. While whites are getting older, Latinos are overwhelmingly young. The maturing immigrant work force will someday hold Social Security on its shoulders.

Time is in our favor. Despite fears of division, immigrants have always found ways of blending in quickly. Latinos and Asians are learning English, becoming citizens, buying homes and intermarrying at astonishingly high rates, said a study by Gregory Rodriguez, a Pepperdine researcher.

They are embracing the American Way just like newcomers from Europe did at the turn of the last century, according to the census-based report. By the third generation, for example, one-third of Latinas had married non-Latinos. The rate of intermarriage was even higher, 41%, for Asian American women.

But we don’t need to wait generations to find signs of our convergence. The annual UC Irvine Survey of Orange County found in 1999 that Latinos and whites were almost equal in ranking their top concerns: earning a living and taking care of family.

Which brings me back to my son.

I also heard another ‘60s classic coming from his stereo that morning, this one by the Doors: “Break on through to the other side.”

On Thursday, I asked Miguel if he was concerned about any of these multicultural issues when he ponders the future.

“I don’t think about that kind of stuff,” he said.

Why not?

“It doesn’t bother me.”

Then I think we’re going to be OK.

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Agustin Gurza’s column appears Tuesday and Saturday. Readers can reach Gurza at (714) 966-7712 or agustin.gurza@latimes.com