Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mexico and Spain, and historically most of the state's growth has come from immigration,
legal or otherwise.
Most Californians see their state as a laid-back, open-minded multicultural society that
gives everyone a chance to live the American dream. No one is expected to give up their
cultural or personal identity to become Californian: Chicano pride, Black Power and gay
pride all built political bases here. But historically, California's Chinatowns, Japantowns
and other ethnic enclaves were often the result of segregationist sentiment, not created by
choice. While equal opportunity may be a shared goal, in practice it's very much a work in
progress. Even racially integrated areas can be quite segregated by ethnicity in terms of in-
come, language, education and, perhaps most surprisingly, internet access (never mind that
this is the home of Silicon Valley).
Californian culture reflects the composite identity of the state. California's Latino and
Asian populations are steadily increasing. Over one third of the nation's Asian American
population lives in California, while Latinos became the state's majority ethnic group in
2014. Latino culture is deeply enmeshed with Californian culture, from J.Lo and Tejano
tunes to burritos and margaritas and ex-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's catchphrase in
Terminator II:
'Hasta la vista, baby.' Despite being just over 6% of the population, and re-
latively late arrivals during the WWII shipping boom, African Americans have also
defined West Coast popular culture, from jazz and hip-hop to fashion and beyond.
The bond holding the Golden State together isn't a shared ethnic background or com-
mon language: it's choosing to be Californian. Despite high-profile media exposure given
to race-related incidents (such as LA's 20th-century riots), day-to-day civility between
races is the norm, and interracial couples and families barely raise an eyebrow.
Likewise, religious tolerance is usually the rule. Although Californians are less church-
going than the American mainstream, and one in five professes no religion at all, Califor-
nia is one of the most religiously diverse US states. About a third of residents are Catholic,
in part due to a large Latino population, while another third are Protestants. There are al-
most two million Muslims and four million Hindus statewide. LA has one of the 10
biggest Jewish communities in the nation, and California has the largest number of
Buddhists anywhere outside Asia. Controversially, the state has long been a breeding
ground for radical offshoots of mainstream religions and religious cults, especially in
SoCal.
