Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
dustrialization (see Chapter 11). As plants closed and white
laborers left the neighborhoods, a Hispanic population
migrated into southeastern Los Angeles. A housing crunch
followed in the 1980s, as more and more Hispanic migrants
headed to southeastern Los Angeles. With a cheap labor
supply now readily available in the region again, companies
returned to southeastern Los Angeles, this time focusing on
smaller-scale production of textiles, pharmaceuticals, furni-
ture, and toys. In addition, the region attracted industrial
toxic-waste disposal and petrochemical refi ning facilities.
In his study of the region, Curtis records the changes to
the cultural landscape in the process. He uses the term
barri-
oization
(derived from the Spanish word for neighborhood,
barrio
) to describe a change that saw the Hispanic population
of a neighborhood jump from 4 percent in 1960 to over 90
percent in 2000. With the ethnic succession of the neighbor-
hood from white to Hispanic, the cultural landscape changed
to refl ect the culture of the new population. The structure
of the streets and the layout of the housing remained largely
the same, giving the Hispanic population access to desig-
nated parks, schools, libraries, and community centers built
by the previous residents and rarely found in other barrios
in Southern California. However, the buildings, signage, and
landscape changed as “traditional Hispanic housescape ele-
ments, including the placement of fences and yard shrines as
well as the use of bright house colors” diffused through the
barrios. Curtis explains that these elements were added to
existing structures, houses, and buildings originally built by
the white working class of southeastern Los Angeles.
The infl ux of new ethnic groups into a region, the
replacement of one ethnic group by another within neigh-
borhoods, changes to the cultural landscape, the per-
sistence of myths such as the “model minority” myth of
Asians, and an economic downturn can create a great deal
of volatility in a city.
On April 29-30, 1992, the City of Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia, became engulfed in one of the worst incidents of civil
unrest in United States history. During the two days of rioting
43 people died, 2383 people were injured, and 16,291 people
were arrested. Property damage was estimated at approxi-
mately $1 billion, and over 22,700 law enforcement personnel
were deployed to quell the unrest. According to the media,
the main catalyst for the mass upheaval was the announce-
ment of a “not guilty” verdict in the trial of four white Los
Angeles police offi cers accused of using excessive force in
the videotaped arrest of Rodney King, a black motorist. To
the general public, the Los Angeles riots became yet another
symbol for the sorry state of race relations between blacks
and whites in the United States. Yet, a geographic perspective
on the Los Angeles riots helps us understand that they were
not simply the product of localized reactions to police bru-
tality, but refl ected sweeping economic, political, and ethnic
changes unfolding at regional and even global scales.
The riots took place in South Central Los Angeles.
Like the region of southeast Los Angeles (described above),
the South Central area was once a thriving industrial region
Figure 5.18
Mumbai, India.
Arranged marriages were the norm not long
ago in India, and the family of the bride was expected to pro-
vide a dowry to the groom's family. Arranged marriages are still
widespread in parts of rural India, but in urban areas they are
rapidly giving way to love marriages follow romantic courtships.
Evidence of this cultural shift is not hard to fi nd on the streets of
India's major cities.
© Alexander B. Murphy.
demonstrating statistically the different levels of economic
success experienced by various Asian peoples, with most
success going to the fi rst wave of migrants and lower paying
jobs going to newer migrants. Both groups are burdened
with a myth that stereotypes them as the “model minority.”
Power Relations in Los Angeles
Over the last four decades, the greatest migration fl ow
into California and the southwestern United States has
come from Latin America and the Caribbean, especially
Mexico. The 2010 Census reported a 43 percent increase
in the Hispanic or Latino population of the country. The
City of Los Angeles had over 3.79 million people, 48.48
percent of whom were Hispanic. The Hispanic popula-
tion in the city grew from 39.32 percent of the population
in 1990 to 48.48 percent by 2010.
The area of southeastern Los Angeles County is today
“home to one of the largest and highest concentrations of
Latinos in Southern California,” according to a study by
geographer James Curtis. Four decades ago, this area of Los
Angeles was populated by working-class whites who were
segregated from the African American and Hispanic popu-
lations through discriminatory policies and practices. Until
the 1960s, southeastern Los Angeles was home to corpora-
tions such as General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, and Weiser
Lock. During the 1970s and 1980s, corporations began
to close as the United States went through a period of dein-
