![]() ![]() than you would have.Ī sign for Compton Boulevard running through Compton. So, between the higher employment rate of Latinos and these family economic networks, I think you’re seeing a lot more dynamism economically in South L.A. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me but are perhaps more clear to labor economists, Latino males tend to have a higher rate of labor force participation and there’s probably also a fair amount of the kind of family economy that, in fact, Blacks used when they first moved here in the 1940s - large families living together and pooling their resources. There are some real implications beyond just the color of the skin of the residents. What are the implications of the new demographics? It went from being a mostly Black community to being a community whose neighborhoods were once exclusively Black and are now minority Black and majority Latino. What’s the best example of how South L.A. Those are the things that changed those outcomes, not a new name. Crime and homicides peaked in the early 1990s and continued to decline in California and elsewhere that has to do with other factors - sentencing, intervention, policing strategies. The decline in homicides that occurred after 2003 was part of the nationwide trend. The whole discussion about the declining crime rates has nothing to do with naming. The material changes are happening entirely on a separate track from that psychological benefit.Īny thoughts on the declining crime rate? But I cannot make the connection between the psychological benefits and the material changes. ![]() So, the psychological benefits that residents derived from that is not something anyone has measured, and I can only imagine that they’re fairly substantial. It meant that they had shed this stereotype of a community in endless violence, unemployment, poverty, dysfunctional families, drug abuse and all that. I take it on faith that there were many people for whom the name change meant something really important. What kind of effect do you think the name change had on residents? And these things are happening in other communities throughout the country. If you really want to understand what’s driving change in South L.A., it’s immigration, it’s investment, it’s regional economy. I tend to regard it as a pretty superficial moment in history - one for which I have great sympathy but not as a causal factor for anything. I don’t think you can tie much to the name change at all. But from a historical perspective they lost something that was important because we had prominent African Americans in Los Angeles talking about South Central Avenue back in 1908, 1909 - and talking about it with great pride.ĭid the name change have an effect on South L.A.? By getting the Central out of there, you take out the Black history part of it, although perhaps that makes some sense given the predominantly Latino community. Central Avenue was, of course, the heart of African American cultural life in the 1920s all the way through the 1960s, and a bit into the ‘70s. Taking out “Central” actually disconnects the name from the Black history from which it emanated. So it was not handed down from on high, but was rather a grassroots effort to rename a community which they accurately believed was maligned simply by the association of “South Central.” I am very sympathetic to their goal, to that group of mothers who had seen so much horror and so much tragedy in their communities and in their families.ĭoes the name “South L.A.” lose any historical connotations? In fact, the idea was brought to the Los Angeles City Council by a group of concerned mothers. Josh Sides: It wasn’t quite as political as you might think. Add your own in the comments section, or email us at South Central” page for other perspectives. City Limits: African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present” and the editor of the anthology, “ Post-Ghetto: Reimagining South Los Angeles.” Read on for our interview. Sides, who teaches at Cal State Northridge, is the author of “ L.A. Still, he believes names can carry great weight. History professor Josh Sides saw the name change as a “superficial moment in history,” he told Intersections. We are asking residents, politicians, community leaders and others: What do the names mean to you? And how has South L.A. ![]() Ten years after city officials changed the name “South Central” to “South Los Angeles” in hopes of alleviating the neighborhood’s negative stigma, Intersections is gauging current opinion. Some people say “South Central.” Others prefer “South L.A.” And still others use both names to describe the neighborhoods south of the 10 Freeway that run alongside the 110 – historically one of the most poor and violent areas of Los Angeles. ![]()
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