The Orange County of my youth was a horribly racist place. The hatred wasn't directed at African Americans, simply because there weren't that many. My elementary school had only one black student and my high school had maybe six.
No, the hatred was all directed at... the Mexicans.
This was long before "Hispanic" or "Latino" entered the lexicon. Anyone with brown skin was simply a Mexican. From Brazil or Puerto Rico? In Orange County, you were still a Mexican. And you were despised. Unless, of course, you were mowing the lawn. I remember the politicians of the time (all Republican) railing about the coming invasion from the south, the brown horde massing at the border ready to swamp all the was good (and white) in a wave of tortillas and refried beans.
And it turns out, they were partially right.
There was an invasion.
Only it came from the east.
The most shocking thing to me, moving back after 30 years, is how huge the Asian population is here now. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I would say that the community where we live is easily 50% Asian. Same goes for the surrounding areas, including my hometown. There was a report on the news this morning about the building boom down in Irvine, but the houses being built are all designed for Asian clients, complete with separate wok kitchens and no unlucky "4"'s in any of the addresses.
I'm not sure how exactly it happened, but I think it all began back in the 70's. I remember a concerted effort at the time by the then new-ish Evangelical churches to "save" the Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon. They sponsored families by the boat full and congratulated each other on their good deeds and then were horrified when the Vietnamese did what most immigrants to this country do... prosper and multiply. Now, central Orange County is home to the largest Vietnamese population in the world outside of Vietnam. And the old timers continually bitch that the area has been dubbed "Little Saigon".
In the 80's, it was the Koreans. On my infrequent visits home, I noticed the Methodist church near my folks started offering a service in Korean. Within a few years, it was a Korean Methodist church, now offering one service still in English. Now that don't even bother with that. In fact, most of the churches in town appear to be fully Korean.
And then, in the 90's, the powers that be actively courted Asian companies to fill the huge void that was left with the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of all the aerospace and defense jobs.
So here we are, living in 奥兰治县.
Awhile back I read an article that happened to mention a rival high school in my hometown. It's located in the affluent part of town and was lily white when I was in school. In the article it casually mentioned that the school was "80% minority(Asian)". How anything that is 80% can be considered a minority is beyond me. I mentioned this to my rightwing sister over the holidays and it got her dander up. She and her husband marinate in Fox News and were still licking their wounds over the election.
"I know, it's awful" she said, lowering her voice.
She then went on to tell me tale of one of her (white) colleagues who lives in the school district.
"It's a nightmare" she said. "Her son can't compete. He has a 3.5 grade point average, which is at the bottom in that school. No matter what he does, he's beaten out academically. Can't get into advanced classes, can't get any scholarships. My friend had to take drastic action."
What did she do? I asked.
"She had to pull him from school. Enroll him in a school where he at least stood a chance. A school with more Mexicans."
Old habits die hard.
Me, personally, I think it's great. I think it's what's helped turn Orange County from a provincial backwater into something approaching cosmopolitan. The again, I come from multicultural L.A., where within a 10 mile drive I had Little Ethiopia, the Jewish Fairfax district, Little Armenia, Philipinotown, Tehrangeles, Koreatown and Japantown. And probably a dozen other neighborhoods I never explored. And in time I wouldn't be surprised if Orange County starts looking the same. It is, after all, the home of "It's a Small World".
