DECEMBER 02, 14:16 EST

Example of Divide in the Desert

By DIANNE FINCH
Associated Press Writer

 

 


Students wait for ride
AP/Damian Dovarganes [18K]


 

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — In the desert hills a couple of hours' drive east of Los Angeles sits Moreno Valley, on paper one of America's most integrated cities.

But that doesn't mean all the residents believe race relations are perfect on the ground.

A review by The Associated Press of 2000 census data from communities with more than 100,000 people found that blacks and whites live in closer proximity to each other in Moreno Valley than anywhere else in the country.

The city was also among the top 20 most integrated places for Hispanics and Asians, the review found.

 


Moreno Valley, Calif.
AP/Damian Dovarganes [27K]


 

How did it get that way? One reason is affordable housing. Looking for a break from high California real estate prices, people of all races discovered relatively cheap housing in Moreno Valley in the 1980s and '90s and rushed there. The population grew nearly 20 percent in the last decade alone.

Yet racial tension in the city of 142,000 is ``alive and well,'' according to Bernadette Burks, a black resident who has served on the board of the Moreno Valley Unified School District.

Burks and others have complained that, despite the city's diversity, minorities do not have a strong enough role in government, education or law enforcement.

Whites make up less than a third of the total population but are in the majority on the police force, on city council, on the school board and among teachers, according to figures provided by local authorities.

Burks also said there is lingering bad feeling over the fatal shooting this year of an unarmed black man in a vacant apartment by a white police officer. The officer told investigators he mistook a glove on the man's hand for a gun. Criminal charges were not pressed against him.

Richard Coz, the city's Hispanic police chief, called the shooting an unintended tragedy. He said he also believes a more diverse police force is important, and noted his department wants to hire more bilingual officers.

But Mayor Bonnie Flickinger, who is white, says overall race relations in her city are good.

``We live in harmony,'' she said. ``Moreno Valley is a very special place and there is no focus on ethnicity.''

Even if that's the case, some still wonder how long all the races will live side-by-side. Some people have noticed that new, hillside homes with great views — and prices as much as five times the local average of $163,000 — are selling more to whites than others.

``A red line is being drawn between the north and south, and most blacks and Hispanics are staying south of that line,'' said Darnell Cunningham, a black real estate agent.