As I drive around Los Angeles going to work or out somewhere to hang out. I’ve always paid attention to the severe differences found in various neighborhoods that make up Los Angeles (city & county).
Just yesterday I was telling my wife on how terrible it is to see the streets of Bell, CA. in comparison to the not to far away city of Downey, CA., there only 15 minutes apart or 1 city in between.
I mentioned how the various neighborhoods where people of color live tend to have degraded development in both residential & business infrastructure. But I then started thinking about those neighborhoods that don’t have the decrepit structures and know that they do have diverse populations (African, Mexican, Anglo, & Asian – American) living there side by side each other. So I immediately told her that I’m being very biased because I’m looking at only Los Angeles proper. If I were to travel across the various US cities I would very likely find Anglo in tough situations similar or worse to those surrounding LA.
Therefore I started to speculate that the underlying layer of racism, which there is even if the above is corrected since the number of people of color is not in the same percentage majority as those of the Anglo demographic in the US, is economic. That is, Class or Income is the underlying factor that produces the poor conditions I see around Los Angeles.
Today I heard this on the radio & started to make me think further of these economic pressures as being deliberate.
http://www.radiorootz.org/radicaldays/2008/07/11
On this day, July 11, in 1954
- produced by Arturo Contreras
The first known chapter of the White Citizens Council was founded in Indianola, Mississippi, and within a few months had spread to the rest of the Deep South. The White Citizens Council had white supremacist beliefs similar to that of the KKK, but they used economic pressure and political tactics rather than direct violence in order to oppress people of color. The Council was often referred to as an “uptown Klan,” as many members were in positions of power. Its successor organization, the Council of Conservative Citizens, is still actively promoting many of the same racist principles today. And some people argue America’s racist legacy is in the past!
Sure a majority of the poor are Anglo in this country but to see so many poor communities in Los Angeles filled with people of color also cries of a deceitful intent on a systematic level.
I need more data & an equally extensive system to further analyze this with some grain true integrity because so far everything I’ve said is nothing but speculation. But a speculation that has been turning in mind for quite a long time.
