HOUSING POLICIES AND STRUGGLES FOR INEQUALITY

 BY HS

Throughout the last few decades, how has the metropolitan city of Los Angeles changed in means of housing policies and inequality offered to Latinos from the 1930’s pre- emancipation period to the 1960’s post Chicano movement? This is a deep somewhat hard question to clearly answer. Some will look at this and realize that there have been many beneficial changes to the Latino community and are satisfied with the outcome. Whereas other will dwell on the fact that throughout Los Angeles there are still factors of oppression and inequality. In this blogpost I am suggesting that Latino immigrants have come a long way as far as equality and reasonable housing policies throughout the city of Los Angeles. After decades of oppression and several failed attempts, Latino immigrants have gained their own voice in society.   

As Mexican and other Latino immigrants became incorporated into Los Angeles, they took with them some aspects of their Latino culture. As a result, this clash in metropolitan culture, left Latino immigrants feeling and seen as an outgroup. This gave reasoning behind some of the racism that continued. For example, in Los Angles 1942, a week long riot broke out known as the Zoo Suit Riot, which steamed from racism towards young Mexicans. A zoot suit was known as a popular outfit worn by young African American and Mexican American men in the 1940s. There was a fight that broke out in central Los Angeles between a group of zoot-suite wearing teenagers and sailors on leave. This fight lead to continuous tensions between the two groups and quickly escalated into a brawl were some sailors began roaming the streets of Los Angeles, beating any Mexican American men and boys they could find.[1]  The continuation of high tensions between Latino immigrants and citizens of Los Angeles fuels segregation between the two groups, and thus the formation of Barrios.

The author George Sanchez focuses on the struggles faced by Mexican and Latino immigrants moving into the metropolitan Los Angeles area. One of the well-known Mexican barrios in Los Angeles is called Lincoln Heights.[2] Many Latino barrios at the time were home to many poor immigrants who as a result of low paying jobs, could not afford to live on their own. It was common in these barrios to have multiple families living together in one house. Sanchez states that, “poor housing options and unhealthy living conditions were much a part of Mexican life in the city, as other unfavorable conditions”.[3] Lots of the time, these substandard housing and overcrowded conditions, bred disease and general poor health. Studies showed that, “although the Mexican immigrant population was comprised of no more than 10% of the total population, they constituted more than one fourth of the total number of patients diagnosed with Tuberculosis”.[4]   Other health hazards what came with these poor living conditions included, “lead poisoning, rat bites, fires, and respiratory disorders”.[5]  Thus as one can see there were little to no housing policy regulation at the time which lead to the spread of disease, causing outbreaks in many of these barrios.

It was not until 1944 that a real initiative was taken towards improving the housing polices for immigrants. Senator Dennis Chávez of New Mexico first introduced the Fair Employment Practices Bill, “which prohibits discrimination because of race, creed or national origin. The bill failed, but was an important predecessor for the 1964 Civil Rights Act”.^[6] In 1949 the Housing act was initiated, in efforts to protect some of the housing rights for immigrants.  This act addressed public housing and urban redevelopment, or urban renewal. The way this Act was originally presented made it seem as if the government wanted to better the Latino immigrant living conditions by getting rid of all slums and replacing them with adequate homes.^[7] However, this Act worked as a way to begin gentrifying the Latino immigrants in this particular part of Los Angeles. Another example of inequality and poor housing policies for immigrants was confronting the California’s Ellis Act. This act, “provided a mechanism whereby property owners can evict rent-controlled tenants, demolish homes and rebuild the properties as upmarket homes”.^[8] This gentrification only increased the crowded housing situation, only making matters worse for these Latino immigrants.

By the year 1960, Mexican Latinos had become the largest minority group in Los Angeles. Although Latino immigrants still faced housing oppression and inequality, they now had power in numbers, which sparked a turning point known as the Chicano Movement. Moving into the 1970's, the growing complexity of the Chicano movement was based primarily on the, “transformation of Mexican communities as a result of large scale immigration from Mexico and Central America”.^[9] The Chicano movement not only embraced and incorporated Latino culture into Los Angeles, but this movement also worked to eliminate Latino inequality and better housing policies. During this time, many aspiring Latino students took it upon their selves to get involved. In 1968, “over 30,000 students from five local high schools in Los Angeles, walked out in protest of the conditions of their campuses and the status of their education”, and this was just one of the many ways in which Latinos worked to change equality status.^[10] Several other post war Mexican organizations arose such as, the “League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)”.^[11] These organizations have proven themselves over the years, and now colleges all over the country are mandated to offer cultural studies as part of the curriculum.

From the time Latino immigrants first started coming to Los Angeles in the 1930’s they experienced exploitation in both housing and their jobs. These immigrants faced the struggles that came with low wage paying jobs and high housing costs. Among many issues, this forced many immigrant families into poor crowded living conditions. However, as years passes and progress was made, the Chicano movement eventually evolved. This movement lead to the liberation of Latino immigrants as a whole, not just throughout Los Angeles.

Bibliography

Abramsky, Sasha. "Los Angeles … and the State: Caught in Affordable Housing Crisis." CityWatch Los Angeles. February 23, 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016

Bender, Steven. Tierra Y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2010. (pg.5)

Benitez, Thomas. "East L.A.: Past and Present." PBS. 2004. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/americanfamily/eastla.html.

"City of Los Angeles Seal El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historical Monument City of Los Angeles Flag." Mexicans : El Pueblo De Los Angeles : The City of Los Angeles. 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016.

"Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to 2006." Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to 2006. 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.tolerance.org/latino-civil-rights-timeline.

"Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. Accessed April 12, 2016. https://www.loc.gov.

Sanchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Von Hoffman, Alexander. "A study in contradictions: The origins and legacy of the Housing Act of 1949." Housing policy debate 11, no. 2 (2000): 299-326.

---

[1] "Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. Accessed April 12, 2016. https://www.loc.gov.

[2] Sanchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. (pg. 63)

[3] Sanchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. (pg. 65)

[4] Sanchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. (pg. 82)

[5] Bender, Steven. Tierra Y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2010. (pg.5)

[6] "Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to 2006." Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to 2006. 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.tolerance.org/latino-civil-rights-timeline.

[7] Von Hoffman, Alexander. "A study in contradictions: The origins and legacy of the Housing Act of 1949." Housing policy debate 11, no. 2 (2000): 299-326.

[8] Abramsky, Sasha. "Los Angeles … and the State: Caught in Affordable Housing Crisis." CityWatch Los Angeles. February 23, 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016

[9] "City of Los Angeles Seal El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historical Monument City of Los Angeles Flag." Mexicans : El Pueblo De Los Angeles : The City of Los Angeles. 2016. Accessed April 10, 2016.

[10] Benitez, Thomas. "East L.A.: Past and Present." PBS. 2004. Accessed April 10, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/americanfamily/eastla.html.

[11] "Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Mexican - Moving to the Cities - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. Accessed April 12, 2016. https://www.loc.gov.