Karen Huff of Mount Helix made her fortune in the detergent business, but the African-American said she still experiences racism in East County. That makes East County not very attractive for minorities. Huff said most black organizations are based in San Diego, further decreasing interest by African-Americans in moving to East County. But she said that as a lifelong resident of the area, she's gotten used to living with racism. It's not very blatant.
East County is improving, many residents say.
Clara Harris, a consultant with the Heartland commission, said the agency's first test of real estate agents and landlords 27 years ago showed that 74 percent of the African-American applicants were treated in a discriminatory manner. That had gone down to 24 percent in the most recent test, she said. We're still working on it. Ellis said that East County youth have been particularly active in programs to counter racism and are among the first to protest when a racist incident occurs.