The Los Angeles Times has their annual Festival of Books. This year, of course, the discussion panels are being held online. That's my favorite part of the book festival. This was the 3rd panel discussion I watched. This panel discussion was called, "Roots to Routes: Immigration and Race in L.A." Per YouTube, here's the introduction to the discussion:
Roots to Routes: Immigration and Race in L.A. – This first half of a two-part panel on Los Angeles will explore issues of race and immigration in Southern California, both historically and today. Topics include how shifting racial demographics have changed the economy, and California’s impact on politics and immigration nationally. Featuring USC Professors Juan De Lara, Manuel Pastor, and Associate Professor Sarah Gualtieri moderated by Professor William Deverell.
Here are my notes from what the three panelists said:
Juan De Lara - Professor American Studies and Ethnicity at USC
He's a trained geographer. His book tells the story of Southern California in the 1980s. He looks at the massive movement of individuals into Southern California through the lens of migration. He looks at how the area became a Latino plurality, a racial shift. Also, how there was economic change that also transformed the landscape. There was a de-industrialization via the decline of aerospace and other manufacturing. The region transformed economically from one that manufactured to one that received goods via importing.
He focused mainly on Riverside and San Bernardino counties as these areas are largely ignored by other researchers.
There is a challenge in immigrant families where the 2nd and 3rd generations have difficulties making connections with the parents who immigrated.
When it comes to health care, there is cultural competency problems: just because you speak Spanish doesn't make you competent in the language. There is an inability even if you're talking to a Spanish speaking healthcare worker to properly explain your situation.
Where you work and live is tied to language. There is a need for social movement organizing. Politics are apartheid-ized. Political leaders don't reflect the ethnic make-up. A social movement needs to bring in other people that better represents the population.
Thoughts: This sounds like an interesting book about how demographics shift over time. I lived in Montebello for a handful of years. I was told that the city that is now largely Latino used to have a community of Armenians and Japanese.
Sarah Gualtieri - Associated Professor American Studies and Ethnicity, History, and Middle East Studies at USC
She studied the migration of Syrians from the Middle East to America. Syrians immigrated to Southern California. She wanted a more contained subject matter than her first project. As she learned about the subject via oral history from the children of these immigrants, she realized there was a complex web of history. Syrians had first arrived in Mexico and then moved to Los Angeles. Sometimes they moved back to Mexico. So her subject matter shifted to a hemisphere movement.
She compiled documents, letters, diaries and photos. As an historian, she was taught to do archival research in libraries. She learned that gathering info from people's homes was important.
She learned that many of these immigrants learned Spanish before learning English. She learned that many doctors have the ability to speak in both Arabic and Spanish.
How can social movements be effective against power? Corporations like Zoom are shutting down academic freedom. Zoom will label things as controversial. Corporate power infiltrating academic spaces, infringing on academic freedom.
Thoughts: Not sure this is a book I would read, but it was an interesting topic.
Manuel Pastor - Professor of Sociology at USC
His book is inspired by the 2016 elections. In the 1990s, California was very xenophobic as can be seen from Proposition 187. The recession during that time resulted in half of all job losses occurring in California. It was a time of demographic, economic and political anxiety.
Since then, California has shifted to being a progressive state. It leads on minimum wages and climate change. It has decided to protect immigrants. This transformation is what might happen in the United States post-President Trump. We should remember that California went from a state with political leaders such as Presidents Reagan and Nixon and has since shifted away.
Immigration into Los Angeles has actually declined. It has turned into a region where immigrants have been in the area for 10 years or longer. Family sizes are becoming aligned with American norms. What immigration there is comes largely from Indians and other South Asian populations.
Language acquisition is very important to increase earnings.
In California, 61% of COVID-19 cases are Latino. The City of Bell has 4x the cases as Manhattan Beach even though they have similar populations. This is due to the essential work that they do in Bell compared to Manhattan Beach, having close contact with a lot of people. When it comes to deaths, Blacks are 2x more likely to die than Whites. Latinos are 3x and Pacific Islanders are 4x.
There is less migration in the Trump era, but this is just part of a long-term trend. In Mexico, fertility rates and a better economy is the driver. We need to focus on integration, not assimilation.
Thoughts: it will be interesting to see how well California exits the pandemic compared to other states who aren't as progressive on economic policy.
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