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Stephanie Lizarraga
Dr. Namala
HIS 301
14 October 2013
Welcome to friendly El Monte
El Monte, California is a residential, commercial, and industrial city in the Los Angeles
County. It is located approximately ten miles east of the heart of Los Angeles. According to the
2010 Census the population totaled to 113,475, which was a decline of 2,490 from the data
gathered in the 2000 census. Formerly El Monte was home to many white settlers from the
1930s Dust Bowl migration. As stated by censusviewer.com in 2010 69.02% of the population
living in El Monte are of Hispanic of Latino origin, leaving 30.98% of the population persons not
of Hispanic or Latino origin. The breakdown of that percentage is 38.83% is white alone, ranking
second is Asian alone at 25.12%. This paper will discuss some issues of race and identity in El
Monte and why it is primarily dominated by Hispanics today.
Suburbs in Los Angeles, like El Monte, began to develop in the early 1900s. El Monte
was created as a working-class suburb. Industry, factory jobs and agricultural work were all
dominant in this town located in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley. The article, El Monte, An
American Town in Southern California, 1851-1866, by William F.King, describes how working
class suburb residents became victims of suburbanization. King argues, Traditional
interpretations, both scholarly and popular, have portrayed suburbia as the planned, residential
heaven of elite and middle-class whites seeking to nurture family life away from the corruption
of the city... (518). However this was not the case for El Monte, nor its neighboring cities. The

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pupils living in this city were workers, whom had to in some cases, work two to three jobs to be
able to sustain their families.
Unfortunately, the situation today is not much better, the median average annual income
is at about $30,000 per household. When compared to another neighboring suburban city, like
Arcadia, which is located approximately four miles north there is a drastic change, including, but
not limited to, race (who lives there), its annual income per household, unemployment rate, high
school graduation rates and crime rates to name a few. He goes back to state, In reality,
however, American suburbs have displayed marked class and racial diversity, calling into
question these interpretations (519-520). El Monte is populated by Hispanics, primarily
Mexican, either Mexican born or first generations, like myself, compared to Arcadia which is
populated primarily by Whites and middle class Asians. The majority of El Monte residents
currently in the work force are dedicated to professions that require the use of particular skill
rather than the knowledge one receives at a university.
Going back to El Monte in 1933, gives us a better insight on to how and why many
Mexicans lived and are living here. As previously stated El Monte was and is also a place for
agriculture, there are strawberry fields located along the 605 freeway. In May 1933 there was a
berry strike, the strikers were of Mexican descent working for Japanese growers. More than 500
workers attended a meeting organized by the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial
Union. The meeting was successful and the workers demanded wages that would guarantee a
minimum of 25 cents per hour. The article Race and Class in Rural California: The El Monte
Berry Strike of 1933, by Charles Wollenberg, described it as, one of the largest farm labor
disputes of the 1930s, that pitted Japanese growers against Mexican workers in a rivalry between

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two of the most important non-white groups in the history of Californias agricultural
development. This was approximately ten years before the Bracero Program but we can already
see how Mexican workers, primarily men, were a necessity and a supply of economical
agricultural work in California, regardless of who they were working for.
El Monte continues and will continue to be dominated by Hispanics because of the
employments that are available in the city as well as the neighboring cities. Most of the jobs do
not require a college education and degree. Statistically speaking only about 10 percent of El
Montes Unified High School District students go on to attend a four-year university after high
school. Fortunately I was one of them. Reflecting on my high school career I remember that
many of my classmates were just doing the minimum to get a passing grade, they were not
worried about their A-G requirements. I also remember how many Regional Occupational
Programs (ROP) were available for us, which are helpful but all they really do is teach students
an occupation rather than a profession. I used to ask myself, Why offer occupational classes to
high school students here, rather than classes focusing and gearing more on college and
university preparation?
Now I can answer my question, and I came to the realization that that is done because
students like myself, that went to high schools in lower income cities are more likely to go out
into the labor force right out of high school rather than college. Also, we need mechanics,
carpenters, and homemakers to name a couple skillful occupations and who better to fulfill those
jobs than minorities, like Hispanics? I partook in an ROP class, which did help me find a job
while I was in high school. It landed me in a retail job, which I still have today, I have received
two promotions while working there, to my current position as an Assistant Manager. However,

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like I previously stated it is just an occupation, I do not feel fully satisfied with myself, although
I know it is just temporary.
Doing research on my community has expanded my understanding on why most of my
neighbors are Hispanic, primarily Mexican, beyond the ignorant view of because its ghetto. If
I am given the opportunity to teach in the El Monte City School District I would do it in a heart
beat because I want to give back to my community and fight against students not reaching their
full potentials because of the lack of resources or know-hows. Many students in these schools,
like myself, are first generations born here to Mexican parents. Which I think it is safe to say that
the likelihood of them attending a university is drastically less than those with parents who
received an education beyond middle and high school. Thus, causing the cycle to keep repeating
itself.