MAKING A PLACE FOR THEMSELVES IN L.A.; NOT WAITING FOR BLACK OUTREACH, LATINOS, ASIANS' PRESENCE GROWS.

Byline: EARL O. HUTCHINSON

THOUSANDS cheered as floats with Mariachi musicians and young women in colorful dance skirts, rappers and Asians performing tai chi chuan exercises passed along the streets. The occasion was the 10th annual Watts-Willowbrook Christmas parade this past December. A week later at the headquarters of the Congress of Racial Equality, local black and Korean leaders held a press conference to demand that the Seoul government release a jailed Korean newsman.

The parade and press conference are dramatic examples of the changing ethnic face of South Central Los Angeles. A number of black community groups and organizations such as the California Association of Black Real Estate Brokers now conduct Spanish classes for their members. Some black churches offer services in Spanish. A group of black and Korean businessmen regularly meet to discuss community problems. Many high and junior high schools in South Central Los Angeles celebrate Asian pride week, Cinco de Mayo and Black History Month. At several housing projects, black and Cambodian residents have formed tenant associations to fight crime, drugs and demand better city services. Last month, black leaders in California urged the Senate to confirm Clinton nominee Bill Lann Lee, a Chinese-American, as head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

The mass influx of immigration of Latino and Asian immigrants into what were once exclusively black neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and the tenuous efforts to reach out to them by some blacks, reflect what many Latinos and Asians have said and what blacks have ignored. In another decade, Latinos will displace blacks as the largest nonwhite minority in America. And Asians will nearly double their present numbers.

Latino and Asian groups demand that race and class issues in America no longer be framed solely in black and white. The bitterness and conflict that this has engendered has been sharpest in Los Angeles County. It has forced blacks, Asians and Latinos to confront these critical issues.

Jobs: Many recent Latino and Asian immigrants work at low pay, nonunion jobs. In years past, many of these jobs were done by unskilled or semiskilled black workers. Many blacks contend that employers exploit immigrants as cheap labor and refuse to hire black workers. Latinos and Asians say that blacks, like other native-born Americans, won't take these jobs.

The clash is not just over low-end jobs.

Latino employee organizations claim that blacks in county-run facilities in Los Angeles use the civil service system to deliberately exclude them from county jobs and deny them promotions. Blacks contend that Latinos are trying to oust them from their jobs. A substantial number of blacks out of anger, frustration and misinformation voted for the anti-immigration Proposition 187 initiative. Their vote angered many Latino leaders. Some black and Latino leaders see the answer as increased government and corporate funding for more job and training programs.

Politics: With the huge surge in Latino voting in recent California state and local elections, Latino leaders demand more political offices, appointments and positions. In several once predominantly black cities in Los Angeles County, Latinos have replaced blacks as mayors, as the majority on city councils, and in key administrative positions. With the continuing browning of Los Angeles, the three black members on the Los Angeles City Council almost certainly will face strong challenges in future elections from Latino candidates.

Many blacks fear that this will erode the fragile political gains and power that they won through decades of struggle. They are fighting a holding action to preserve their positions.

But as the number of Latino voters increase and as more blacks flee these neighborhoods, the fate of many black elected officials will depend on their ability to forge political alliances with Latino groups.

The problem is different with Asian political groups.

The majority of blacks are Democrats, and a near majority of Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese in California voted for Republican candidates and the anti-affirmative initiative, Proposition 209 in 1996. Still the fight for the Lee nomination indicate the possibility of agreement between black and Asian groups on some political issues.

Bilingual education: Many African-Americans are openly hostile to it. They claim that bilingual programs shortchange black students by draining cash-strapped inner-city school districts of resources that could be better spent on teacher training, quality materials, and programs. Many blacks say they will back conservative businessman Ron Unz's English-only initiative on the June ballot in California. Latinos counter that bilingual education is crucial for non-English-speaking children to advance educationally and professionally. Black support of the initiative will probably anger many Latino leaders.

Business: Nearly 200 lots that still stand empty in 1998 were once Korean stores torched during the L.A. Riots in 1992. They are grim reminders of the bitter feelings that many blacks felt toward Korean merchants. They claimed that the merchants were disrespectful, sold shoddy goods, and refused to hire them. Koreans said they were not anti-black, blamed the ill feeling on differences in culture and customs, and insist that as small merchants they are forced to charge higher prices, and employ family members.

What has not changed is that most of the Korean- and increasingly Vietnamese-owned stores in these neighborhoods are still the mom-and-pop variety. What has changed is that more merchants have made sincere efforts to build better relations with their customers and participate in community improvement projects. As a result, most blacks accept the merchants as a fact of life in their neighborhood and black leaders have dropped their inflammatory rhetoric that blamed Korean merchants for black ills.

While these issues have led to conflict, there are issues that can promote cooperation. The majority of Latinos, blacks and Asians in California's inner cities are still plagued by poverty and discrimination. They can and have formed Neighborhood Watches and community councils to combat drugs, gang violence, and to demand more funding for jobs, skills training programs, recreation facilities, housing development, improved city services, quality education, and better health care.

Blacks, Latinos and Asians in California are undergoing a painful period of adjustment. They are discovering that the struggle for empowerment is long and difficult. On some issues they will be allies, on others they won't. But as some are discovering, they don't have to be enemies on any issues.