Busting O.C. Stereotypes

Who is Orange County?

Is today’s typical resident a white, Christian, right-wing Republican, ultraconservative in political and social beliefs? That’s the stereotype held by many, if not most, nonresidents--and even by some living here.

Or is today’s typical Orange Countian a Latino, who migrated here from Mexico or some other Spanish-speaking country, possibly even illegally, and speaks little or no English? That’s another false stereotype held by some.

And when we talk about minorities, whom do we mean? If you’re in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Tustin or any of the other seven county cities where the population of non-Latino whites is less than 50%, you must mean white residents.

The point is, as the federal census figures show, we live in a growing, changing county made up of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. And, as a recent poll by Chapman University indicates, that’s just fine with most residents.

To gauge changing attitudes, the Chapman poll asked the same questions about diversity of the same number of people as UC Irvine’s Annual Survey of Orange County in 1994. Today, 56% of residents believe ethnic groups are getting along well. Only 33% believed so seven years ago. And nearly half of those just polled think those relations will improve in the next five to 10 years--a much more positive outlook than earlier.

That doesn’t mean discrimination doesn’t still exist in the county. It does. But the positive change in outlook from UCI’s poll seven years ago seems to indicate that many residents’ real-life experience has shown that their initial fears of racial conflict and deteriorating local economy and quality of life were unfounded. They found they could live harmoniously in a diverse community and thrive in it. Pollsters, however, say they can’t draw conclusions because they can’t really tell whether the more positive results are an indication that residents are changing their minds about diversity or because the composition of the county’s population has changed.

The cause for the change is important. But whatever the reason, what is encouraging is the result that finds residents believing ethnic groups are getting along well--and that they expect to get along even better in the future.