`BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS'; CLINTON CALLS FOR `HONEST DIALOGUE' ON RACE RELATIONS.

Byline: Sonya Ross Associated Press 

President Clinton opened a yearlong campaign against racism Saturday with a defense of affirmative action and a plea for Americans to confront and erase their most deeply held prejudices. ``Emotions may be rubbed raw, but we must begin,'' he said.

Declaring ``we must not resegregate higher education,'' Clinton made a vigorous defense of racial preferences in a place where they have been rolled back.

Clinton told graduates of the University of California, San Diego, that Americans should engage in ``a candid conversation on the state of race relations today'' to prepare for the day when the United States will have no single racial or ethnic majority.

``If, 10 years from now, people can look back and see that this year of honest dialogue and concerted action helped to lift the heavy burden of race from our children's future, we will have given a precious gift to America,'' Clinton said.

``We have torn down the barriers in our laws. Now we must break down the barriers in our lives, our minds and our hearts,'' Clinton said. ``I have seen what Americans can do when they let down their guards and reach out their hands.''

He called on the country to do this now, ``when we are not driven to it by some emergency or social cataclysm.''

``Honest dialogue will not be easy at first,'' Clinton said. ``We'll all have to get past defensiveness and fear and political correctness and other barriers to honesty. Emotions may be rubbed raw, but we must begin.''

Later, in a speech at the San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Clinton asked his critics to give the dialogue a chance to work. ``In the end, we have to be judged by whether what we do makes sense or not, and whether we achieve results,'' he said.

He said affirmative action programs, rejected by California voters in November, were essential without an effective alternative to assure equal opportunity. Clinton said the United States as a whole would be weakened if it fails to cultivate the potential of all its people.

``I know that many people in California voted to repeal affirmative action, and did so without ill motives, but the results are dramatic and devastating,'' Clinton said.

The administration of Republican Gov. Pete Wilson reacted harshly to the president's speech.

``It's shocking that the president would insult millions of Californians who voted against racial discrimination,'' said Sean Walsh, Wilson's press secretary. ``We find the president's comments to be hypocritical and misinformed.''

Directly addressing foes of affirmative action, Clinton said: ``I ask you to come up with an alternative. I would embrace it, if I can find a better way.'' To supporters, he urged a continued embrace and outreach ``to those who disagree or are uncertain.''

He asked Americans to reject the ``disturbing tendency'' to condemn entire racial or ethnic groups because of the actions of a few. Americans must accept that they now comprise a kaleidoscope of colors and ethnicities, Clinton said, and not allow the ``old, unfinished business between black and white Americans'' to evolve into a dilemma for other races.

``Can we define what it means to be an American not just in terms of the

hyphen showing our ethnic origins but in terms of our primary allegiance to the values America stands for?'' he asked. ``Our hearts long to answer yes, but our history reminds us that it will be hard.''

Using the history of American race relations and his Southern upbringing as a prism, Clinton described a three-pronged plan of action to spend the next year dealing with race. He will devote one presidential event a month to the topic, as his advisory board traverses the country gathering sentiments from Americans in a series of town hall meetings.

Clinton also is poised to try to neaten his own civil rights record by proposing legislative and other initiatives to address high unemployment among minorities, housing discrimination and huge backlogs at federal agencies that enforce civil rights laws.

Before Clinton uttered a word Saturday, his plan had been dismissed by skeptics as empty feel-goodism. House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas said blaming dropping minority enrollments on the end of affirmative action is a ``misdiagnosis.''

Some Republicans applauded Clinton's effort. Former vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp called it a ``wonderful'' speech.

Clinton chose to deliver this speech in California to underscore his opposition to Proposition 209, a 1996 ban on racial preferences. In 1995, the University of California system, including the campus he visited Saturday, ended affirmative action in admissions.

The American Civil Rights Institute, a California group chaired by Ward Connerly, who led the drive to eliminate affirmative action, expressed disappointment at Clinton's defense of the practice. But the Institute promised to work with a seven-member race advisory board Clinton is appointing.

``It is clear that he remains of the position that we must use race to get beyond race,'' said Executive Director Jennifer Nelson.

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Photo: (color) ``I know that many people in California voted to repeal affirmative action, and did so without ill motives, but the results are dramatic and devastating.''

- President Clinton