The number of reported hate crimes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties has risen sharply in recent years, fueled in part by dramatic demographic changes that experts say are bringing more minorities into a region that has long been home to pockets of white supremacists. Other growing Southland suburbs -- among them Santa Clarita, Lancaster and Simi Valley -- have also had high- profile racially motivated crimes and incidents in recent years.

"Any kind of major demographic change has the potential to spark racial turbulence and hate crimes," said Mark Potok, who monitors hate crimes nationally for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, Ala. "Very often, hate crimes are someone acting out in response to some kind of real pressure, including sprawl and economic pressures."

The suits allege that on Aug. 20, 2003, a black student was violently fouled by a white student during a basketball game, prompting another white student to yell racial slurs. Later that day, the suits allege, two of the white students confronted one of the black students outside the principal's office and barked out more racial slurs. When the black student tried to walk away, he was knocked to the ground and severely beaten.