Years ago, there was once a small town called Chaves Ravine within Los Angeles, California and this town was a poor rural community that was always full of life. Two hundred families, mostly Chicano families, were living here quite peacefully until the Housing Act of 1949 was passed. The Federal Housing Act of 1949 granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects for the low income. Los Angeles was one of the first cities to receive the funds for project. Unfortunately, Chavez Ravine was one of the sites chosen for the housing project, so, to prepare for the construction work of the low-income apartments, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles had to convince the people of the ravine to leave, or forcibly oust them from their property. Since Chavez Ravine was to be used for public use, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles was able seize and buy Chavez Ravine from the property owners and evict whoever stayed behind with the help of Eminent Domain. The LA Housing Authority had told the inhabitants that low-income housing was to be built on the land, but, because of a sequence of events, the public housing project was never built there and instead Dodgers Stadium was built on Chavez Ravine. Although Chavez Ravine public housing project was the result of the goodwill and intent of the government, rather than helping the people Chavez Ravine with their promise of low-income housing, the project ended up destroying many of their lives because of those in opposition of the public housing project and government mismanagement. Chavez Ravine was a self-sufficient and tight-knit community, a rare example of small town life within a large urban metropolis, but no matter how much the inhabitants loved thei... ... middle of paper ... ...ce. For instance, Native Americans, who were the original inhabitants of the U.S., were only allowed to become citizens of the United States after the 1910s. Chavez Ravine could be best described as a Mexican-American tragedy and a low-income tragedy because most of the population of Chavez Ravine were poor Chicanos or poor people of color. Works Cited Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story. Dir. Jordan Mechner. 2004 DVD. BullFrog Films, 2005. Cooder, Ry. Interviewed by Warren Olney. Which Way LA? 20 June 2005. Cooder, Ry. "Don't Call Me Red." Chávez Ravine. Nonsuch Records, 2005 Cuff, Dana. The Provisional City: Los Angeles Stories of Architecture and Urbanism. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000. Independent Lens. "Chávez Ravine." 15 February 2007. Normark, Don. Chávez Ravine, 1949: A Los Angeles Story. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC, 1999.
San Miguelito... It has what you like is officially founded April 14, 1597 by a group of tarascan Indians and Mexicans from the village of Tlaxcalilla, commanded by the Mexican Francisco Jocquinque. In the application of Foundation, approved by Luis Valderrama Saavedra, Mayor of San Luis Potosí, settled at the new town, you were granted 2 thousand 500 rods of land in table, measured from the orchard of the convent of San Francisco more or less in the present street of Pascual M. Hernandez. Quickly named a Government for the Administration and good order of the new settlement, initially consisting of a regular Mayor, one more Deputy and one or two topiles. Like other peoples of Indians and Spaniards in the territory of San Luis Potosí, San Miguelito was subject to the greater mayorship of San Luis Potosí, civil and ecclesiastical to the Franciscan order. Over time is avecindaron in the new town families of Otomi, mulattos, mestizos and blacks, which caused some friction. In the early years of the 17TH century settled in the place other two villages: San Francisco - also appointed in diminutive - and the Holy Trinity, and in the last decades of the century is also mentioned as part of its jurisdiction, San Juan de Guadalupe. These villages, until the beginning of the 19th century, were usually identified as part of the territory of the town of San Miguel. It is worth clarifying that since the 17TH century and until the beginning of the 19th the people as a whole was interchangeably known as San Miguel or the Holy Trinity, but from 1821 and until now has been preponderado the name of San Miguel, although expressed in diminutive: San Miguelito.
Through visiting La Plaza De Culturas Y Artes, I have learned a lot more interesting, yet, surprising new information about the Chicano history in California. For example, in the 1910’s and on the high immigration of Mexicans and other Chicanos, into coal mines and farms by major corporations, made California one of the richest states in the US. I also learned that most of California 's economy was heavily reliant on immigrants. Immigrants were the preferred worker for major corporations because they didn 't have American rights and were given the harder jobs for less pay.
In 1938, the Chavez family lost their farm due to the Great Depression. They were forced to relocate to California and become migrant workers. Chavez was distressed by the poor treatment that migrant farmworkers endured on a daily basis. His powerful religious convictions, dedication to change, and a skill at non violent organizing cultivated the establishment of the United Farmworkers (UFW). It was also referred to as “La Causa” by supporters and eventually became a vital movement for self-determination in the lives of California's farmworkers. The astounding nationwide lettuce and grape boycotts along with public support revealed the atrocities of California agribusiness and resulted in the first union hiring halls and collective bargaining for migrant workers. The details of the childhood of Cesar Chavez and how they would later shape his actions are a vital aspect of this book and the establishment of the farm workers movement.
Rothstein (2014) states “long before the shooting of Michael Brown, official racial-isolation policies primed Ferguson for this summer’s events” (p. 1). Rothstein writes how African-Americans were denied access to better jobs, housing, education, and were placed into areas that eventually became slums. Blacks were relocated several times, which eventually “converted towns like Ferguson into new segregated enclaves” (Rothstein, 2014, p. 9). Government policies were a catalyst that caused what is known as white flight, or the movement of white residents to more private residential, upscale areas, in which blacks could not afford or were not permitted to reside. Some neighborhoods used eminent domain laws to keep blacks from moving into white developments. Blacks were targeted with unethical lending rates by banks. Deceptive real estate practices were the norm when it came to selling houses to African American families. Before 1980, laws allowed boundary and redevelopment policies to keep blacks from white neighborhoods. However, in 1980, the federal courts ordered all forms of government to create plans on school and housing integration. Rothstein (2014) adds “public officials ignored the order” and only “devised a busing plan to integrate schools” (p. 4). The housing market collapse, along with exploding interest rates, left the black neighborhoods devastated, as stated by Rosenbaum (2014, p. 9). Ferguson was less that 1% black in 1970, however by the time Michael Brown was killed in 2014, the community was nearly 70% black, with its schools nearly 90% black. In review, Hannah-Jones (2014) relays how the white flight from St. Louis caused businesses and jobs to leave along with the residents. With their departure, the schools also suffered. Schools
Housing segregation is as the taken for granted to any feature of urban life in the United States (Squires, Friedman, & Siadat, 2001). It is the application of denying minority groups, especially African Americans, equal access to housing through misinterpretation, which denies people of color finance services and opportunities to afford decent housing. Caucasians usually live in areas that are mostly white communities. However, African Americans are most likely lives in areas that are racially combines with African Americans and Hispanics. A miscommunication of property owners not giving African American groups gives an accurate description of available housing for a decent area. This book focuses on various concepts that relates to housing segregation and minority groups living apart for the majority group.
She then goes into her case study of the city of New Orleans. In the eyes of Gonzalez-Perez, even in New Orleans, public housing was hindered by political war. After the assassination of Senator Huey Long, Gonzalez-Perez brings us to the end of the political war between the Louisiana State Government and the federal government, and New Orleans receives funds for slum clearance and public housing. Gonzalez-Perez argues that this was the turning point for the New Orleanian public’s view of public housing, stating that public housing proceeded with little opposition (455). However, even with little opposition, Gonzalez-Perez implies that public housing still could not escape the grasp of political hinderance. She acknowledges the fact that although New Orleans had historically mixed residences, public housing increased the racial segregation in the city, due to there being separate projects for whites and blacks. Gonzalez-Perez notes that the white projects maintained higher vacancy rates than the black projects, and through her research, feels this was due to white residents having better employment opportunities as well as white projects having a more desirable location. Overall, Gonzalez-Perez concludes that due to the
It was truly upsetting and heartbreaking to see that the South Central Los Angeles garden was to be tear down by bulldozer. During our discussion, my sister was shocked and angry at Ralph Horowitz, the owner of the land. Horowitz said that he would sell his land for approximately 15 million dollars, which the farmers and supporters were able to fundraise that money but he declined to sell it. What made my sister frustrated was the idea that he originally got the land for 5 million dollars, but he wanted way more money than he originally got. In addition, Horowitz sees the garden as “no good cause nor good conduct for it,” my sister opposed to his thinking about the garden because it was for a great cause. The garden served as a purpose to the local Latino residents of Los Angeles, they were able to grow crops to feed their families. Furthermore, the garden is a great idea because the crops are organic and does not damage the environment. In the documentary, the land Ralph Horowitz owned in 1986 was sold for 5 million dollars to the city to build a trash burning site, yet was not taken into action. Rufina Juarez, who is a South Central Farmer leader, discussed about how after the land was sold, it became an eminent domain. What my cousin and I was shock about was how the property was once a city owned land then become a property owned land without the farmers being informed about it. Jan Perry did a
In this article, the author writes about the Urban Renewal Plan and what it did to a community in Oakland, California. The West Oakland community was found in 1852 and had a diverse population living there. That article says that upper-class people would be living next door to working class people. After the World Wars that changed because lower income families started moving to the area looking for jobs. The jobs they had were created because of the war. When the war ended these people lost their jobs. At the same time, the Urban Renewal Plan was put into place. This plan set out to remove slums in urban places. This plan would relocated families, demolish houses and create low-income housing. When a family was relocated they received little
On the other side, the Southland around Los Angeles (Angel City) is run by a group of wealthy white men and large corporations called the Stewards. They practice a fundamentalist Christian religion, repression of women, and racial segregation and apartheid. It is basically a militaristic and fascist state with a huge underclass controlled by drugs and genetics that t...
Decades of discrimination had forced the Mexican American community to turn inward. By the 1940s, Los Angles’ 250,000 Mexican American citizens lived in a series of tightened neighborhoods called barrios. The communities were traditional, conservative, and self-contained. The tensions that arose from the splitting of cultures resulted in children leaving or rebelling from their homes or barrios. Los Angeles was home to one of the largest Mexican American populations in the United States. At the time, Mexican Americans faced constant prejudice. During this new era, racist stereotypes held by many Americans represented Mexican American zoot suiters as the “ultimate criminals of Los Angeles” During the 40s, Mexican American youth started to
In contrast to popular assumption, discrimination in public housing is becoming more prevalent than ever before. Testing done by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston has found that today people of color are discriminated against in nearly half of their efforts to buy, sell, finance, or rent property (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination). The statistics are even worse when considering colored people who have families as the testing found that they are discriminated against approximately two thirds of the time (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination”) In addition to facing great difficulty in property affairs, people of color are less likely to be offered residence in desirable locations. 86 percent of revitalized
On the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, there is a shantytown called Villa Inflamable that is home to many people and a variety of large companies. This community and its relationships with its environment, local companies, and local governments are examined in the ethnography Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown by Javier Auyero and Débora Alejandra Swistun. Auyero, an American professor of sociology, and Swistun, an anthropologist and native of Flammable, used two and a half years of field work to compile a comprehensive view of the historical and current, polluted state of the community. Throughout the book, the authors examine the effects of high levels of pollution on the inhabitants of Flammable and their ability to act on their own behalf. Auyero and Swistun view the neighborhood as a “potential site of collective mobilization against environmental suffering” because the area is clearly polluted and companies in the area may be to blame. In reality, however, the inhabitants of Flammable are dominated by the structures around them. Although they display certain methods of agency, the structural domination dictates how they act and how they view their own surroundings and community.
The environment in California is hostile in the extreme: the camps are overcrowded and full of starving migrants, the locals are fearful and angry at the flood of newcomers, whom they derisively label “Oakies,” prices are skyrocketing and work is almost impossible to find; when there is work, it never pays enough to keep food on the table. The large landowners do everything in their power to keep the migrants as poor and dependent as they can.
The name of the arena I have created is called the Cinco Jefe Memorial Stadium. This is a made up arena that I have created. The Cinco Jefe Memorial Stadium was created in 1876 and is considered a historical structure. When created it held nearly ninety percent of the events containing more than ten thousand people in city of Jacksonville, FL. People would come from all over the sunshine state to admire the building and view the events taking place. This was the ideal place to hold events as it still is to this day because of the capacity and the beauty the arena has. The capacity is 860,000 which will most certainly hold more than enough people. This being said the arena often reaches the capacity limit 1 out of every 3 events. The revenue has been
The documentary film “The Garden” is about the events that take place in a community garden in a Los Angeles Neighborhood. The community garden is established after the LA riots that occurred in 1992. During the riots a large area of land is set on fire and is occupied to establish the community garden. A group of people known as the South Central Farmers are at the forefront of the community garden and use the garden to grow food. The land that was once useless now helps rebuild the community and also helps feed families in the neighborhood. Twelve years after the establishment of the garden a notice is sent to vacate the area. This documentary is the point of view of the gardeners and the struggles faced by the community members. The gardeners continuously look for justice in terms of there opinions. There is a bias in this documentary because it is an attempt to show the difficulties that the south central farmers faced.