To Promote Understanding

Supervisor Leon Williams hopes to win approval early this year for the establishment of a county human relations commission that would be charged with promoting respect and understanding among different groups in the community.

San Diego is the only urban county in California without such a body and it’s time we had one. During the 1970s, the county and several cities jointly funded a similar agency that investigated complaints of discrimination in housing and other areas. That agency was disbanded in 1978 and some of its duties are now handled by other city or county departments.

As currently envisioned by Williams, the new 15-member human relations commission would not adjudicate individual claims of discrimination or abuse but would study their root causes as they relate to various ethnic or minority groups.

The commission might, for example, look at the Indochinese community and then disseminate information about patterns of discrimination against its members. It could stimulate discussion about ways these new residents can make their culture understood by others.

With the large--and growing--number of ethnic groups living in San Diego County, a human relations commission is needed to provide a catalyst for better understanding and also to blow the whistle publicly when patterns of discrimination are identified.