Two Sonoma Counties

Rollie Atkinson
Over the past several decades, Sonoma County’s population has
slowly shifted from an older pattern of agrarian European
descendents to a current mosaic of brown, white and yellow faces
with very mixed heritages.
The new 2010 U.S. Census Report suggests that we, the people of
Sonoma County, have become more diverse and more and more
influenced by many different cultures.
As recent as 1990, only one in 10 county residents was of
Hispanic heritage. Today one of every four residents is Hispanic
and Sonoma County’s majority white population is just 67 percent of
the total (472,102.)
The Census statistics and demographic charts show a picture of
increased diversity and a rich, multi-cultural society. But we
don’t live in a chart; we live where our ethnic races are separated
into our own neighborhoods — places where our cultural diversity is
not often shared.
We live in two Sonoma Counties. One is mostly Hispanic, younger
and growing in numbers, where more families are falling into
poverty. The other has a shrinking majority that is rapidly growing
older. And, it is much more affluent than the other Sonoma
County.
We are not saying that Sonoma County has become an apartheid
state or a society full of prejudice. We may not live under
“separate but equal” cultures but there’s no denying there is an
expanding divide between generations, incomes and many of our
neighborhoods.
Putting the recent Census Report aside for a moment, Sonoma
County has always been enriched with the people, customs, colors
and flavors of Mexican and Latin American immigrants and
descendents. Maria Carrillo, mother-in-law to both Healdsburg’s
Capt. Henry Fitch and Sonoma’s Gen. Mariano G. Vallejo, is called
the “mother of Santa Rosa,” our county’s seat of government. Our
rich agricultural heritage was born on the vast holdings of
original Mexican Land Grants. Our town plazas and many of our
prominent buildings imitate original Spanish and Mexican
designs.
Today, there are many private businesses and community programs
that promote multi-cultural teachings and contributions. Most of
these are centered around our schools where the growing need for
bringing English and Spanish languages together is most
recognized.
Schools are also the place where we see a growing divide between
income levels. As many as 40 percent of the county’s school-age
children today are eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch
program. One-third of the county’s 71,000 K-12 students is Hispanic
and one-fourth of all students are English Language Learners. (Just
12 years ago, the county’s student population was only 20 percent
Hispanic. In some K-5 schools, such as Healdsburg and Windsor,
Hispanic students are already the majority.)
It is predicted that Hispanics will become Sonoma County’s
majority population by the year 2030.
In the two Sonoma Counties of today, our future needs are
growing apart and may soon clash. With almost half (41 percent) of
all Hispanics under the age of 18, more and more educational
programs and school funding will be needed. But, with an aging
white population where only 18 percent of us are below the age of
18, more healthcare and retirement costs and elderly care programs
will be demanded.
To be more than just a statistic, “diversity” must be cultivated
and purposely shared. Many of the great moments and traditions in
Sonoma County are where we find both multi-cultural and
multi-generational involvement, and where our two languages are
being shared.
The new Census Report tells us we have new challenges and
potential obstacles to over come if we want to continue to
celebrate and be enriched by this growing diversity.
Separating our two Sonoma Counties is a widening inequity of
affordable housing, available jobs and educational opportunities.
This is not diversity; this is division.
Our political diversity is also shrinking and maybe our “open
minds” are not as open as we’d like to think. We have a chance to
find out about this.
We can all live in just one — and not two Sonoma Counties by
opening our minds, hands and hearts and working together to
eliminate the economic, educational and ethnic barriers that we
know exists — and threatens to continue to divide us.
— Rollie Atkinson