You are on page 1of 7

Sosa 1

Adrian Sosa
Prof. Malvin
English 115
30 November 2015
Equalizing Society
L.A. has come so far when it comes to racial equality. However, it seems that no matter
how much we do to improve relations between people of different races and ethnic backgrounds,
society still reverts to its old ways of racial and social divisions and even oppression in some
areas. We must break these deeply seeded patterns that most of us have grown up with and felt
the effects of, so that we can grow as a community and ensure a truly unified future in which
everyone sees their neighbor as their equal. However, to this, we must all recognize why we have
these social and racial divisions before we can come up with solutions for them. The main points
to understand where these roots come from are basely found in L.A.s history along with the
pattern of the social hierarchy through the countys history. From here, one must then understand
the habits of the residents in Los Angeles. After understanding the causes of these negative roots,
we can begin to discuss a way to tackle them.
The first point to establish in why we have racial and social divisions, lies in Los
Angeles history back when L.A. was first established. In short, Los Angeles originally was
created by Spanish settlers in 1769 and was soon also populated by Mexicans. This explains the
very large Hispanic and Latino portion of the population that makes up Los Angeles we have
today. Along with this, the gold rush in 1848 caused L.A. and California all together, to see a
very large spike in the population which diversified the state even more with people from all
over the United States and other countries from around the world. This shows Los Angeles was

Sosa 2
never completely dominated by one race. Before this, California joined the United States as a
free state and offered citizenship to a wide variety of people but this changed when the gold rush
began. However, Californians began to resent the Chinese immigrants, could show that the
Chinese were the first to be oppressed and generally separated from society. As immigration
slowed down after the gold rush, L.A. as we see it through the 1900s began to take shape and
social and racial groups began to separate and divide themselves from one another. Wealthier
citizens lived further from the poor and different ethnicities adopted different parts of L.A. to
make their own communities. Before the second world war, thousands of Japanese had made
California their home, most of them being citizens. Generally, the Japanese were accepted by the
Americans. This changed after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor though, and America began to be
paranoid about the Japanese that lived in the country. Rumors of new attacks were formed and
the Japanese were forced into detainment camps. The author of The Guide to Twilight Los
Angeles says, There was no truth to these stories, but each took on a life of its own as it was
repeated, exaggerated, and told yet again (Smith). Despite this fact that the rumors of the attacks
on California never turned out to be true, Californians became very wary of the Japanese and
began to treat them differently and essentially, oppress them. This is likely where the racial
divisions in Los Angeles and in the rest of the state began to become prominent.
Today there are plenty of divisions and subdivisions within Los Angeles society.
Generally, we are born into our place in society and we strive to improve our lives. But it seems
that there are still ethnic or cultural groups who are marginalized from mainstream life in L.A.
Others simply never improve their lives and never climb the social ladder. This could happen
from several different reasons. Of course any one explanation for social divisions would be too
simple for the complicated subject. However, there are a few reasons that come to mind to

Sosa 3
explain the complex issue. One possible reason is that ethnic or cultural group doesnt have the
drive to improve their position in life. A more feasible explanation for the divisions in society
could be the caution that different groups show each other based off of stereotypes they learned
over time. Though much the of Los Angeles residential areas are very diverse, there are
communities that have dominant races. The caution for other races could keep the residents of
these one race communities from moving to more diverse places. It would be very easy for
someone to opt to continue living in a place they arent happy in because they are afraid of being
rejected by those living in places where they would rather live. Another possible explanation
could lie in how people treat each other. Perhaps their caution for each other makes people treat
one another differently in the work place or in everyday life. If a child is constantly made to feel
inferior to another person, this child would grow up to believe they are inferior and that the only
place that they belong, is where they grew up, and for many, this could mean in an impoverished
area living a troubled life.
One of the most important points to be made regarding the reasons we see racial divisions
in todays society is how we treat children, who are the future generations of L.A. The kids are
going to reflect our teachings. More often than not, kids are learning their beliefs from their
parents and peers. If a child is taught the stereotypes of people who are different from them, then
nothing will change. If a child is taught to believe that he or she is superior or inferior to another
group, then that is how that child will grow up to teach their children. From here the cycle
continues again, and nothing changes. Because of these practices, kids learn at an early age
where and how society expects them to live their life. But planting these seeds in kids doesnt
only happen at home. Teachers at school are known to have favorites and treat other children
differently. There have even been cases in which a teacher turns the class on other students for

Sosa 4
being different. At this rate students, feel afraid of being judged or discriminated against in the
class room, a place where they should feel safe and accepted for who they are. A prime example
of this, is Luis Rodriguez when he recounts a childhood memory in his novel Always Running,
when he was being put into a new school. He talks about how the teacher didnt know how to get
him involved with the class and just had him sit at the back of the class because he didnt speak
English. Rodriguez says It forced me to be more withdrawn. It got so bad, I didnt even tall
anybody when I had to go the bathroom I did it in my pants (Rodriguez 26). This in todays
standards would be unacceptable. The school Rodriguez went to clearly was not meant to have
any students who spoke different languages. Fortunately, most schools now have staff who aid in
teaching students who speak different languages. However, kids still treat these non-English
speaking differently. This could be that parents are raising their kids to be warry of people who
are different from themselves.
For us to evolve as a society from our darker habits, we need to focus on our kids. To do
this, we would have to look at the stereotypes we unintentionally feed our younger generations.
Unfortunately, we dont seem to do this enough. Mike Davis comments on this lack of
communication in Anna Deavere Smiths book Twilight Los Angeles. Davis says this is a
city at war with its own children, and refuses to talk to those children (Smith 29). A city that
metaphorically neglects its younger generations to maintain old ways, will never evolve and
eventually will fail to properly function. The reason the focus is on the future generations of L.A.
is put well by Mike Barber of the Huffington Post when he says The young students can't be
blamed for their naivet because they're not being given the tools needed in order to critically
think about racism (Barber). This means we cant blame the youth for making the same
mistakes older generations have made because thats all they were taught.

Sosa 5
The procedure to take in changing the way we teach our younger generations lies in the
class rooms and in recreational settings. Barber also comments on this call to action. Barber says
If we're going to be serious about ending racism, we have to get serious about educating young
minds about what racism is, how it manifests and from where it comes (Barber). However, this
should be done indirectly through changing the way children are taught. In their early years,
children in the class room should be intergraded diversely to make them learn for themselves that
they are all equal and the same. When it comes to recreational activities, the same thing must be
done. The kids would need to be closely monitored to prevent racial barriers from forming. This
way, when future generations take over Los Angeles, they can change the county for the better
and allow the county to evolve.
One might argue that the childrens parents have a greater influence on their lives.
However, this would be underestimating the power of peers in a childs life. Almost every choice
someone makes is influenced by their peers, even at the earliest of ages. Parents influence these
decisions by showing which are right and wrong, but ultimately, the choice is made with peers in
mind. Some may even argue that this would teach kids to defy their parents, but gradually
breaking the racial barriers in society is much more subtle than specifically teaching kids to
question their parents opinions. Allowing kids to interact with kids of other races and ethnicities
will only alter they treat and feel about other people.
The racial barriers between people will ultimately stop us from evolving. Changing the
way we teach our kids to interact is a monumental task when it comes to a nationwide
movement, but for Los Angeles to begin the change would be a good step. The greatest
achievement for parents is for their kids to grow up to be better than their parents. With the
conscience shaped by years of social coaching, kids could actually end racial barriers and the

Sosa 6
oppression that comes with them, thus showing previous generations that evolving is a
possibility and that living hand in hand with people of all walks of life is a tangible goal.

Sosa 7
Work Cited
Barber, Mike. "Ending Racism Starts with Educating Youth." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Rodriguez, Luis J. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. Willimantic, CT:
Curbstone, 1993. Print.
Smith, Anna Deavere. "Twilight, Los Angeles Study Guide." Facing History and Ourselves.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Smith, Anna Deavere. "Surfer's Desert." Twilight--Los Angeles, 1992. New York, NY:
Dramatists Play Service, 2003. 28-29. Print.

You might also like