AMERICAN ALBUM

Gu ided by their father's vision, the
Ziolkowskis are nearinga milestone
in thei r efforts to sculpt a mountain
. into the image of Crazy Horse.
By STEPI-IEN BRAUN
lI"" ES 5 TM'I' "" IT(M
LACK HIL LS, S.D.- For so long, il was a
B simple mountaintop. But there is no
mista king the human fig ure now sUring out
fro m the peak of Thunderhe:ld Mountain. It is
th e gran ite taee of the Siowl warTfor Crny
Ho rse , (jnany emerging atter almost a half-
ce ntu ry' s wor k by a long-dead sculpto r and
th e persis tent fam ily who survived him,
Nine storles ta ll and large enou gh to
contain all four of th e pres iden tial heads
looming from l1C!ighboring ML Rushmore. the
nea rly completed race of em)' Hot'Se is the
fin t milest ol1C! in a pro;ec t expecte<lto dwa rf
every other sc ulpture on Earth and tak e more
than a lifetime to co mple te.
Wh en it is done, the 563- fool- hig h carv-
ing_talle r t han either th e Was hing to n
Monument or the Greal Pyramid of Giza-
will . how lM Ind ian war -
rior ch ief as tn dt' a rnam -
moth stallion. arm ex tended
out towa rd th e Black Hil ls. gag
cate ca lcul ations necessary ( 0 direc t the
explosiolll and drilling wllh pinpoint aecu-
ra cy. Anoth er, Ann, runs the gift shop,
J adw iga Zio lko ws ki is the ope ration's
busiflftl manag ", and a lJlird silt"" Dawn,
handles mailings. Brolher Muk builds roads
and mana ges timbe r, while brother Adam
ta kes care of the monument property and
nearby farm,
Th ey are aided by :l cre w of 13 workers. woo
are paid by:l fund · raising errort tNt is nearing
S6 million. but lUll ......ells and diminishes each
year. Delplle several offers. Koraak Ziolk~~
ki re fiJ5ed any government :lid. :I deo»on his
f:lmily has stlJCk to during years when dwin-
dling funds rceeed temporary suspension of
, work. Working when th e money comes In, the
crew s have bJ:asted nc.trly 8.5 million lOns of
gra nite off me top al thc mounlai n.
The l1lOfIumen t was :I 5UCCessful loomt
a u raction even when the peak of T hunder·
head Mountain yie lded only a vision of pocked
pink gra nite. But the emergence of CralY
, Horse's Iace In recent years has he lped boost
attendance into the range of a million visiton
a ye ar, the Ziolkows kiSsay ,
MI carne-here 12 yean ago and the differ·
eree is astonish ing," said
1lO88 Dl:W.lU.
J ef f Baines, 5 1, a visiting
Omaha con tractor who took Vrsitors examine the nine-story-tall face of
tur ns with his wire and two
sons gaozing into a teteseoce
Crazy HOfSe at Thunderhead Mount ain,

W Ith ~ far io go, the

survivors of /(ort:tak
Zi olkow5kl, th e Poli sh -
• to look at the face on the
mou nUiin, "Gan yo u Imag-
Th e sculptor', family has gen era lly wo n
plaudill from the state's Nauve American
ine what it will look like g roups for their wor k. Later th is month. the
Amer ican sculpto r wh o w hen ir . all ca rved oul! It
launched the projec t in Ziolkowsk is will open a Nauve American
just shows you what human Education and Cultura l Center, a facility
1948, ha ve no illus ions tha t delermination can do. M

some of them may not live
to m ak e t he fin ish ing
touches on the monument. ,
But the emerge nce of Crazy Horse 's face -his
brow, nose, eyes and lips now prom inent an d
his ch in bE-ginning to prot rude- has gi ven t~
Ziolkowsk is thei r firSt. SU~ sign.of progress. a
pha se sc hed uled for completion in 1998-the ' He knew it could n't happen ovemighL As
SOthanniversa ry of Ziolko wski's dream.
"There are days I go up there and look up al
th e race. and it just hila me how far we've
come: ' sa id Casi mir Ziolko wski. ~ 2, one of th e Rus hmore sc uipturcs in 1939. Korcz.a k Ziol·
sculptOr's 10 children,
After s pe ndi ng 3 ~ yean wor king on
Thunderhead Mounta in, supervising dy na-
mitIng and stone·drilling, casImir Ziolkowsk i
has learn ed to measuJ:C his time in incre-
ments . "For me, every day we wor k is one
day closer to being nn ished," he sa id.
Casimir is one of se ven Ziolkowski child ren
working on me projec t under the dirfCtion of
Kormk Ziolkowski's 70 -y ear-old widow,
Ruth. One siSter, Moniq ue. makes the intri -
T he Ziolkowskis have in-
he rited t he ir fath er 'll
pauenee, quoting him iocessantly for inspira-
tion, " [),ad always sa id, 'Go slow and do it
riiht: " said Ann Ziolko wsk i. " In a way, we
nave to look at w ha t we do through his ey ts.
long as you re member lha l, you don't get
frust ra ted."
A cre w ass istant who ' worked on th e Mt.
kowsk l unde rtook his drea m project after a
request. fro m Indian leade rs to honor Cmy
Hone. who led the cholrge agailllt Gen.
GCOI'ge Arms t.ror\& Custer at the baute of the
Littl e Big Ho m, then was murdered at the ilge
of 33,
In scal e models of the mou nta in sculpt ure,
Ziolkowski dep icted Cra lY Horse point ing
toward Sioux burial grounds, MMy lands arc
w here my dnd lie bu ried ,Mre ads the Iq:end
Ziolkowski cholt'.
walled wilh g ra nite blast fragments , The
ce nter will be lIlarfed by Indians , hos Ung loca l
stu denlll and dtsp laying works by Native
American artists.
- On a recen t day whe n Casimir Ziolkowski
blas ted more rock frag menlS on the moun-
ta in , a busload o r visiting Indian students
from the Canadian prov ince o r Manitoba were
so awed by the face of Crazy Horse that lJley
broke Into an impro mptu tri ba l cha nt of pra ise
on th e lodge's obse rv atio n dec k.
The detonations proceeded , as lhey always
have on Th underh ead Mou nU-in, with work -
man like precision. After sec uri ng explosive
cords in rock furr ows well beMath Crazy
Horse 's cnggy face , Casi mir Ziolkowski re o
trea ted to a prot ee t.ve cage atop the moun - ,
Ialn.
"Fire ill the hole!" he shout ed, •
Thunderh ead Mou nta in rumbled , ilS elifFs
d usty with falli ng rock s, one clay close r lo its
transforma tion into a moun ted Indian war -
rio<.

. et the Times.
 LAND AND SPIRITUALITY AND
THE DESCANSOS
byAmnlia Af('lIr-Bmi/oJ
Territorialization. annexation, forced
migration. reservation s, colonization and reloca-
tion have characterized the history and ancestry
of Mexicans in the"United States. Su ch a history
has forged a resiliency marked in a landsca pe of
che ris hed sites. In this sense the re latio nship
be tween faith . land an d self determination has
also been one of spirit. land and self representa-
tion . It is within the se connections of nature and
history that a politicizing spirituality establishes
its (lI~nrtJ tk[ IUIUrYJo in the words of Zamudio-
Taylor.
F rom a lugnr, a p lace ou tside of
Western trad ition , and th rough
critical negativity, a reconstruc tion
of a qualitatively different relation-
ship to nature can be pos ited and
acted upon . The ceremony of
memory recogn izes in ou r epiritu-
ality and tradition a'reconci liation
with na ture and the so matic. We
hav e been throw n into conditions
we have not made and are obl iged
from necessity and reality to ever-
come constraints and pai n,'
Wi thi n thi s fra mework the Chica no issues
ofland and culture stand as vital points in the
constructi on of identity. Often the issues ofiden-
tily pre valent in the contempo rary art di scourse
have described cultural specificity as otherness.
This othe rn ess has been presented through the
critique of th e body and po litical relations. but
on ly re cently through land and spirituality.
Memory and history inspi re a sp ir itua l identity
forged in struggle against d omination. For the
Mexica n descend ed Chicano this domination is
evidenced in the ongoing relationship with th e
U.S. bo rd er and a subjectivity med iated by th is
rupture .
Iron ically, the approp ria tion of "Bord ers"
in the poet mcdem debate has bee n used to erase
diffe rence and socio-geogra phic rea lity.
Terminology which arose from real s ituations and
social issues at th e U.S.lMexico border and in
other parts of Latinamerica has been dccontextu-
alieed and applied to a variety of critical
in tellect ual enterprises with little acknowledge- ,
ment of th e drastic cultural emerge ncies tak ing
place in the Ameri cas. In reclaiming the dis-
course of a very real phenomenon of borden,
geographies a nd cultural displacements we can
begin to clarify the issues of our complex identi-
ties. The understanding of place or /ugnr as a
cr itical aspect of cult ural se lf desc ription is foun -
dational. Anchor ing ourselves in a gee-spatial
context allows us to see th e relat ion s between
place and name, history and ide ntity.
LAND AND HISTORY
In the context of history and identity, land
serves as an organizing agent for ar tistic cultural
p rodu ct ion. It is pa rt of a complex se t of designa-
tions that are at the same lime a geographic
rea lity. a bisto -pcl iticel experience, a sp iritual
foundation and a familiar s ignpost.
 l it a proroun d sense th e luc.: lliity .....re
mod ern day Chi can o or M exican Ameri can arises
from 1I10se Mexicans who remained north of the
border aft er th e 1848 annexation in which
Mexico ced ed 51.2 pe rce nt or its territory to the
Un ited St at es. Becau se of the annexation, people
of Mex ican descent entered th e United St ates as
a co nque red peo ple and w ere defined as an "eth-
nic g ro up".' Yet the ancestral lega cy of
homeplace and landright is founded in a Meso
American world. For Mexican descended people
thi s continent has be en a-true site of beginning in
~ an Amer-Indian world .
t1 Chicanos have suffered a long history of
\ separation and displacement th at has brought
w ith it both a connect ion with Mexico and a
sense of homeland in th e United State s. Thus.
lan d acts as a s ubject and text con tinu ally
rec laimed thro ugh th e imagination. In an atte mpt
to retrieve a lost pa st many Chicano artists and
activists renewed the con cepts of the N ahuatl
spiritual worldview still held by many indigenou s
peoples across the Americas. This cosmology is
hued on the bel ief that we live as visitors upon
the land. This attitude toward time and land
i through temporal and spatial ideas was best
described in philosophic writings of the Nahuatl
world.
I, Nezahualcoyoll ask th is
questi on:
Is it true that on e lives with roots
on eartb?
Not to remain on earth forever'
only a sho rt while
th e U.S. annexatio n of North ern Mexico an d tile
ex ploitat ion of the G uadalupe Hidalgo Treaty of
1848. To underst and th e human impact of th e
annex ation it is significa nt to rea lize tltat th e
Treaty of G uadalupe H idalgo. execu ted on
February 2, 1848, Mexico ceded to the Uni ted
States one- half of the territory whi ch it pos-
sessed. This enormous land included California,
Arizona, N ew Mexico and also approved the ear-
lier a nnexation of Texas. Th e Mexican nat ionals
of th e annexed ter ritory had one year to ret urn to
M exico or bec ome pa r t of th e U.S. Wi th few
exce ptions the internally colonized remained
un der a treaty th at promised the safeguarding of
th eir cult ura l auton omy. th at is, they were given
th e r ight to retain the ir language, religion and
culture. While initial figur es indicate only a pop--
ulati on of 100,000 or more, th e impact
hislori cally and cultura lly wa s immeasurable.
These inequities of land and property resulted in
false and arbitrary boundari es. borders and
de marcations that cruelly di vided families and
commu nities.
While the annex atio n divided th e land it
eleo left those Me xican s encap sulated and inter-
nally colonized defenseless against already
escalating violence, especially in Texas. Despite
the Guadalupe H ida lgo treaty the protecti on of
M exicans in the U.S. was largely ignored by the ,
governmen t. Abu se of rights. land loss and d is-
crimination was pa rt of th e everyday life o f
Mexicans in their new cou ntry. Attempts by
Mexican co nsulates in the U.S. to assis t th e
remaining Mexican s were only slightly effect ive
and in many areas Chicanos or Mexica ns begin
to ba nd toge ther to defend and resist these cc nd i-
EVt It tS leo ~ . · dit· ks :
Even if it is made of tJlldu[ feeeh-
era it is torn
N ot to be on earth forever; only
for a shor t wh ile
The constructi on of land relati on s is based
on a process of naming or distinsu ishing land
that on e occupies. For the C hicano who springs
from a Mexican meetiaaje, land conti nues to be
marked with an overlapping linsuistic map. part
English. pa rt Spanish. pa rt Nahuatl . The colo-
nizers b ro ught with th em a geographic memory !
th at they imposed on M exico through acts of pes- :
session and nomination. The transposing of
Spanish topographic language of place names
ont o a Mexican terrain occ urred through a series
of,renaming processes. The land was marked
with the map of anot her language as the inva ders
took possession of nora and fauna . Despite th e
1821 independence from Spain the Mexican
memory of the first place/name had been forever
marked by the recasting of Spain's reality within
Ihe new world .
The 1848 annexa tion in turn set adrift a
Spanish language mapping that survives today in
th e American Southwest . Spanish city and state
names sta nd as a melancholy reminder of tbis
complex pa st. For Chi canos and Mex icans in the
Southwest there is a con ti nual tensio n between
the s hado w of an ea rlier central presence and
their co nte mpora ry marginalization in a hom e-
land. This mapping and remapping adds to the
disguised issues of history and identity embedded
in the we stern landscape for M exican s.
But for Chi canos th e most lasting aspect
of their re lation to land hal been the after math of
. '.
tio ns.
The Mexican Ind ependence Movemen t
and M exi can Revoll1tion remain profound histor-
ical influe nces in Chica no a.rlistic vision. As
foundations for conce pts of " u:.Jliznje or mixed
race ident ity of Indian a nd Spanish descent. these
two events provided both an imagined and
remembered pa st. Many Chicanos ca n trace
their families presen ce in th e United States from
th e 1848 annexatio n or th e 1910 revolu tion. In
each instance land wa s reconfigu red and new
bo rde rs provoked family tales of resistance which
mark th e hist oric power of th ese origins.
The critical Chi cano reclamat ion was
ba sed in part on models of cultural ad vocacy
from th e 1910 revolution w hich attempted land
reform and es tablished a positive meetieeje a nd
social reform.
The issue of the border remains from
1848until present time one of th e most formative
realities for Chicano/Mexicans. As a dis course
employed currently by cultural critics an d art his-
torians to refer to a variety of subjects. it is for
the Chicano artistic vision a ve ry real ecc ial co n-
dition. In his paper "T his is not a Border ", Chon
Noriega relates a family narrative of political and
multiple experiences.
It is an old family
joke that th e
Noriegas never
crossed the border.
it crossed th em. set-
di ng some eishty
miles to th e south
between El Paso
and J uare z..S
 In this way the history of Ch icano. as
internal colonials has created a complex set of
geographic and po litical boundaries w hich can-
not be easily s ubsumed unde r te rms like
"immigrant." This co ntinuing struggl e for land
rights and economic survival was no more evi-
d ent than in th e for ced repat riati on O f Mexican s
a nd Mexican American s by the U.S. government.
During th e Depression of th e 1930 's a hal f mil.
lion Mex ican s in tile U .S. (the majority were
Mexican -Ameri can s) we re sent bac k to Mexi co.
Once again th e Un ited States treatment of
Mexican-Americans wa s on e of di spla cem ent.
Migrati on and displacem ent were a recur-
rent paue m for Mex ican s and Chica nos
relegat ed to lower paying jobs in agricultu re.
Following the crops these migran t workers
ancho red th eir reality in a geographic memory.
Their social relations we re di ctated by cro ps. har-
ves ting, interma rriage. 1'(I"'I'(,~razgD and camp life.
Eve n th ose a ge neration beyond the camps recall
th ose rural traces. The exp loitatio n of Mexican
la borers was a characteristic patt ern in U.S.
agribusiness. The attempts at union organiz ing
for impro ved condition s was an ongoing strugg le
resorting in the profound Hltt!ga or strike move-
ment of Ce sar Chavez and the United
Farmwcrkers in th e 1960's .
CH ICANO AZT LAN
The d ra matic pull of land as a sym bol for
bo th th e resistance to an occ up ied reality and the
spiritual vision of a homeland have been two of
the strongest orga nizing concepts of meaning
am ong Chi canos. Aztlan has become a geopcliti-
ca l signpost for bo th of th ese concepts:
. \
reclamation project
in literature. the
arts, scho lars hips
and everyday cul-
ture and in its
current sense.
Aztlan now refers to
th ose pla ces wh ere
Chicano cultu re
Ilcuriehes.'
This sy mbolic term. Aztlan, reflected the
importance of a cultural reclamation upon which
a Chi cano idenlity could be founded. Despite a
Mexican history layered by con quests and muliut
resista nces..... Aztlan now re fers to "a complex
geo po litical space ", accordi ng to N oriega.
This colonial appro priation of land inten -
sified the already historic memories of invasion
and loss and marked the Chi cano psy che with an
ab iding needJor a place of their own making and
a point of origin in that Southwestern territory.
. Aztlan was mytholog;zed beyond its origina l
M eso- American meaning into th is territorial
poi nt of re birth. During th e most act ive days of
the Chicano Mo vement such figure s u Reies
Lopez T ijeri na and his Fede ra l Alliance of Land
Grants attempted to reclaim their Sp ani sh land
grants in New Mexico. Th~se efforts, however
failed. are indicat ive of the social reali ty of land
reclamation.
Homeland. return , decoloniz.ation - how-
ever impossible as a social goal - rem ained an
imaginary sile of meaning. Aztlan as an imagined
space ca rr ied with it the ca ll to uni ly. This
Chi cano memory of a fragm ented geography
structures the call to self th at drives much of th e
The earliest Chicano idcntily was bo rn of
a resistance to the deb ilitating, racist and limited
values of th e do mina nt culture. Chicanos
affirmed a mUlu,rje culture based on a complex
system o f ances try. territory an d mythology
founded in the continent. The term Aztlan ,
derived from th e Nahuatl. Aztitlan (meaning
place of th e heron s), was inter preted by Chi can os
as the lands 10 th e north. Thus th e Chicano view
g rew to mean Mexico's northern em pire or th e
So uthwest. Film scho la r Chon A. Noriega
de scribes the con cept of th e Aztlan as the mythi-
cal homel and of th e Azte cs and the reclaimed
nationhood of Chicanos in th e 1960 's:
By I%5, d iver se
socia l pro tests in the
Southwest had coa-
lesced into a
nati onal civil rights
movem ent known as
th e Chi cano
Moveme nt. Aztlan -
now consi dered ils
fun damen tal ideo.
log ical construc t or
living myth -provid-
ed an alternative
geography for th ese
effor ts to reclaim.
reform . or redefine
social space - land ,
government ,
sc hools. a nd the
urban barrio. Aztlan
also helped se t in
motion a cultural
Chi cano artistic vision. In this sense lan d ccnti n-
ued to act as a san ctuary of treas ured memories
with particul ar sites ope rating as rest ing places of
meaning and historic ex perience. Even when
official histories have erased the popular remem-
bran ce of he longing the landscape succeeds in
restoring to us the po wer of our presen ce.
TIERRA INCOGN ITA
La nd, pla ce. space. terrain; geography,
topography. lan dscape, are all re fere nces to the
"liu ra i"ell!jllila " of contemporary Chi cano life.
Often th e frame of the pa st is memorialized
th rough the present. The spirit of th e land
remains as a topography of our history. Stories
are told . re lived in a pres ent day w here so ngs of
the cor~fields haunt th e urban setting. M""lntTaJ
an d ctrt'OJ, de sert an d ""pal are remembered and
symbolized as icon s of th e other Mexico.
Pueblos and tIJt,/"iaJ in New Mexico are part of
th e record of th e old ways. The cottonwood
trees. th e Rio Grande. and Chaco ~ nyon live as
nature 's wi tnesses to history. They are th e visible
presence of a spiritual lan dsca pe fore ver tied 10
cul tural beliefs. In California the ald er trees, the
river beds. the spacious valleys of Baja Califas
are the traces of another way of life in the back-
d rop of a mode rn Los Angeles.
It is often in our expe riences w ith na tu re
th at we seek a contex t for ide ntity th rough mem-
ory. For many tr. dit ional peoples the ho meland
is marked by where our dead are buried. Then
the top ography is naturally demarcated with our
lived experience. Land is the site of cere monies.
the a bu nd ance of agricuhure and feas ting. th e
place of po pular spectacle and th e site of loss.
 Nature sta n('s as a witness to hist ories of slr uS.
glc, beal·ing the silellt mem ory of th e bones of our
a nces to rs.
Alth ou gh a n ea rly generation of Mexican!
Chica nos ex~riences a more rural life on r,u,clm."
a nd in colomnJ throughout the Western Uni ted
States, th e more current gen eration experiences
c uh ural life in a largely urban setting. Yet th e
rural tra ces Ila ve pe netra red th e rea lity of urban
life throu gh tales and mu sic. Th e co ntinuo us
flow of immigra nts brings the as sociations, refer.
e nces, a nd customs of Mexico 's rural wo rld to
enca mpmen ts in th e heart of th e metropolis. On
any given day in th e ce nters of Los Angeles. San
Di ego, Chicago and even N ew York, one ca n see
the displaced ca mpesino living in a suspe nded
rurality, hybridized and polarized within the
dominating technologies of th e city. But th e !Mr.
no., of ou r cities are truly th e contemporary sites
of our co mplex identities. H ere between free .
ways a nd industrial warehouses, displaced by
urban ren ewal a nd exiled by economics. large
Mexi can communities continue th eir day to day .
lives . [J" rritJ,r filled with Spanish speaking bu st.
neeses a nd the vibra nt cultura l activ ities a re also
touched by th e aliena tio n and poverty of city life.
Many of these hist ori c "tlly-iDol are the earliest
landmarks of Mex ican culture in the United
St at es. predat ing th e a nnexa tion. H ere th e car
replaces the horse a nd charm, ha ve long ago
g iven way to C~,ft" and pn.,~tJJ are now distant
memories as th e lowriding cruise is the social
pastime. Communities strugg le wid. the violen ce
of gan g warfare as y oung men die for a false a nd
te mporary sen se of digni ty amidst a dehumaniz.
ing exclusion .
and 2 c hild re n. largely from the laboring:c1ass.
. 'ty o f Mexico
maJon . 's North. western
. fro .ntier, I 111e
peditic n's racial compos ition demy st ifics l ie
~~panish" colonial image th at is still p ropagat ed
in film and literature. Of tile 23 founders: 8 w ere
I dian s 10 were of African descent (2 being
b~ack a~d 8 bei ng mulatto) , I was Filipino, .J was
mestizo (S panis h and Ind ian) , 1 was of Indi an
and mulatto descent, I was of Spanish de sc ~nt
born in Mexico a nd I was of blac k .an~ In~lan
de scent. Their ra cial complexity is t ?d ,.catl~e of
th e dynam ic racial mixtu res or mulu.lIje so ~nt e ­
grel to the destiny of Los Angeles. Es ta bl ~s~ed
on, Se ptem ber 4• 1781 • this small pu eblo orlgmal.
La
Iy named "rn Pueblo de Nuestra Sen~ra dCI
Anplcs" remained a small pueblo amidst a
majority of Ind ians. T he first mayor of Los
Angel es was J ose Vanegas, an Ind ian from
Ourango. T he M exican ce nsus of 1793hdocu-.
ments only 32 European Spania~s in t ~ e?tlre
,
region mos t of whom were Franciscan . . mlsslonar-
iee accord ing to Rios-Bustamante In""hls
"Illustra ted History of Los Angeles. Although
th e E uropea n myth of Spanish d esc~nde? cy has
been cultivated to describe Aha Cehforniae
found ing families , it is largely erroneous.
The 1848 Annexation IDd tbe pu ~bJQ . Federal Penitentiary where Rica rdo died 10 1922
During th e brutal and rac ist occupanon of
U.S. Captain Archibald Gillespi, ~erbul o Varela
and Leonardo Cola and 300 MeXican men rose
, )°'
up. In 6 under the "Pro
0"'1 • •
nunciamjeDto
•
Contra
1 Community organizations pro vided
Loa Norte Americanos • decl an ng them se ves
loyal to Mexico . Los Angeles was reca.ptured at .
the Battle of Rio Chino. Fighting con h n u~ ~nt,l
MeJricanos were outnumbered and an armistice
TI-IE CASE OF LOS ANGEL ES
Th ese urban l"gnIY,1 Je nl'tu rdo are most
apparent in the metropolis of los Ang eles. The
longstanding history of Los Ang eles as a Mexican
city is pa rt of both its myth and its reali ty.
Fu eled by ma sses of Chi cano. Mexican o and
Latino workers. the Los Angeles struc tu res of
bu siness and entertainment are Supported by this
silent and unempowered presence. Yet t he inv isi.
Me s ites of this c ultura l community ca n be traced
back to the late J700's .
From the founde re of El ~:
Nue.lra Senora La ReID' de Lo, I de
Porciuncula. to the Chic.no Movement. to the
1992 Uprising the submap of Los Angeles is a
cultura l chron icle of Latinos. These events arc
situated in memorial sites that a re at once collee,
rive, public a nd personal. To name the se
sights/si tes is 10 describe a sp iritual and c uh ural
landscape th a t i. the resting pla ce of the dead.
Here in unm a rked territory a re the pla ces of
struggle and ca tas trophic loss. In these resting
places, or DesCjIDSOI'. the hidden a nd un eJrcavat.
ed terrain of Los Angeles is one of geography,
economics. rac ism and social a pa rt heid . Like the
road side signs of tragic events they remind U8 of
the familiar but unstated hist ories of the Mexican
and Latino presence in Los Angeles.
SITES
The Foyndinc of Lol Ancel"
In 1781• • t th e time of the founding of Los
Angeles. th e inh abitants were Gabrielino <an
imposed nam e) Indians. wh o had repla ced earli er
Hokan (later to become Chumash) Indian s. The
Mexican expedition was composed of 2J adults
was decla red du ring w hich M cxicanoe of ~h a
Ca lifornia awai ted th e out come of the M eXican
Amencan' w ar. In February of 1848 th e . tre a ty of
G uadalupe Hid algo ced ed Ah a Ca lifor nia to th e
United Stales.
The Mexican Revolution and th e Macon
Brothers .
Rica rdo and Enrique Mason were major
figures in th e 1910 Me.xican Revolution. As writ-
ers and pol itical orgaDlzers, they led the .
opposition to th e M exican president. Porfirio
0 ,l a %. Th ey were forced int o exile; in 1914 were
publishing th eir radi cal new spaper,. . .
Rqencracioo, in Los Angeles. ThIS publication
ontributed to the role Spanish language newspa-
; ers play ed in creat ingcultural identity and
so lidarity. .
Because of their association With th e .
Mexican Liberal Party in Los Angeles a~d their
popularity (RepocracioD had a circulation of
30.000). they were constantly harasse~ by ~th
Mexican and U.S . governments. Th~,r po~ l hcal
aClivities were an inspiration to Me~t cans 10 t.he
labor movement but they were con~t c t e~ of VI O-
lating th e U. S . neutrality laws and imprisoned.
The Magon brothers remain ed in Lea~en~orth
from a possible assassination.
Commynity Celebrationl .
MeJr icans a n impo rta nt link wi th the ir cultura l
identity and soc ial history. Many groups were
mullidliJlnJ, wh ich were at their basis eelf-defe nee
organizations providing health insurance and
 finan cial supports. The Alianza Hi spano-
Americano was aimed at the growing middle
class, while groups like EI Club Anahauc served
more as a social club for cultural and charitabl e
activ ities. La Sociedad Moctczuma, La Socjedad
MUlualjsta Mexj eana - all brought an emphasis
on Mexican nationalism and Mexican holid ays ,
with parades, dances and political rallies. From
th e early 1900's to the 1920's. musical groups and
theater and dance compani es sought to preserve
cultural ties to Mexico while increasing their
presence in the U. S.
The Mexican Removal Project and New Barrios
Sonoretown, near the central plaza . was
the originalbnrrit' for Mexicans. The government
bulldozed it to make way for commercial build-
ings. Mexicans were forced into the eastside. and
the historic Chicano enclaves of Belvedere (La
Maravilla). Doyle Heights. and Lincoln Park
were born . Prior to World War I housing dis-
cr imination through the use of restrictive
mortgage contractswas prevalent. This housing
pattern wa s accompanied by discrimina tion in
labor hiring. and Chicanos were relegated to low-
paying agricultural and heavy industry jobs. The
myth of Mexicanos as a transient lab or force
allowed their exploitation in housing and work
conditions.
Repatriation or Depor tation
The massive Mexican deportation proje ct
during the Great Depression was known as
Repatriation. Nationally. some 500,000 Mexican s
and Chicanos were forced to return to Mexi co.
Los Anseleslocal government officials helped
li ousioK D iscri mination ami Wilshire UQuleYJWl
The continuation of hou sing discr imina-
tion wa s expe rienced by Mexican s attempting to
move into Anglo dominated areas. My parents
were among the thousands of Mexi can s facing
incidences of prejudice. They were forced out of
a rental by an Anglo neighborhood petiti on··while
they were trying to move on the other side of the
invisible dividing line. Wilshire Boulevard.
Lawrence and Marina Mesa, like countless other
newlyweds. were denied fair housing simply
because of their ethnicity.
Chavcz Ravine
The 1949 Housing Act promoted massiv e
urban renewal programs at the expense of dis-
placing Mexicans under the guise of
redeveloping blighted areas. By the 1950's the
Mexican population had rea ched 272,000 of Los
Angeles' 1,970,368 inhabitants. yet this communi M
ty had little protection from a history of
relocation . The historic barrio of Chavez ravine
was the site of bulldozing as land designated for .
public housing was developed for the Dodger
Stadium. Mex ican communities with little politi-
cal representation were vulnerable to freeway
projects and commerc ial development as they
be came further and further marginalized in tile
landscape of a city th ey once founded.
The Blowouts, the Chi cano Moratorium and the
Death of Ruben Salazar
The Chicano Movement wh ich began in
the late 1960's had brought to Mexican descend-
ed people a new se nse of identity as Chi canos.
Political organizing in support of a wide variety
immigration authorities to ship 100.000 Mexicans
back to M~xico by train . Many raids took place
at th e Placita a popular Mexican meeting place.
A majority of those were U:S. citizens and the
deportation s disrupted th e sense of plac e as well
as Ih.c pot ential political power of th e commu nity.
Ironically, after much hardship and in some
inst ance considerabl e time most deportees
returned to th e U.S.
The Zoot Suit Riols
. In the 1940's the most blatant racist pracM
trees were commonplace. including racial
segregation in movie theate rs and repression of
the Spanish language in public sc hoo ling. This
domination took obvious forms such as wage
inequities and housing discrimination, but it also
took more subtle forms. Access to cultural and
recreational institutions such as the Hollywood
Bowl, the Los Angeles County Museum of
Natural History, perks and public libraries was
restricted. both by d istance and by institutional
attitudes toward Mexicans. In this setting
Chi cano Youth simply had few outlets for thei r
ow n cultural expressions. The striking zoot suit
dress of Mexican youth in the 1940's bec ame a
magnet for Marine personnel on wartime leave.
In the hysteria of patriotism the long simmering
racism toward Mexicans eru pted in beatings and
stripping of zootsuited youth. Amidst this the
Sleepy Lagoon murder case became a revelation
of Mexi can baiting as II y outh were convicted of
a murder in a climate of discrimination and sen-
sationalism. They were acquitted after eweyears
imprisonment on false charges.
of issue s including far m work ers rights. bilingual
education. land and water rights. Tiley we re part
of a complex undertaking of awakening ccn-
sciou eneae and de veloping political action. In
1968 thousands of Chi cano students walked out
of th eir classrooms in five L.A. high schools in
protest of discrimination and inferior educational
conditions. These Blowouts. as they were called.
ignited other aspects of resentment and by 1970
Chicanos were galvanized by the intensity of
issues facing the co mmunity. These activities
resulted in the Chicano Moratorium. The Silver
Dollar Cafe was the scene of the shooting of jour-
nalist Ruben Salazar during the massive anti-war
demonstration by Chi ca nos known as the
Chi cano Moratorium.
Immicratjon a nd Goyernment Policies
From th e demonstrations in 1977 against
the Carter Immigration Plan to M .A.L.D.E.F.'s
defense against the SimpsonMRodino Law of 1986
Chi canos have battled for themselves and other
Latinos to protect the rights of the immigrant.
Despite th e long embedded underclass of immi-
grants that provides domestic help, childcare,
restaurant service. janitorial. hospital and ot her
institutional support throughout th e infrastruc-
ture of Los Angeles, times of scarcity fuel
growing anti-immigration fever, especially as
Latinos rea ch numerical majority in the region.
Th e sites of these invisibl e services are part of the
urban terrain.
These are only some of the memorial
Lupees that describe the burial of sentiment.
spirit, and passion that is recalled through the
lJe.Jcm",ev. In the construction of a group life
.'.
 ,

th ese places of resilien cy demarcate by th eir his- Ped ro ~s l illo, Illu strated liiltQO' pr Mexican Los
AOlel ca, (Los Angles: Chicano Stud ies. Resea rch
tcrical ex iste nce the meaning an d co he siveness of
Cente r Publications. UCLA. Mon ograph no, 12.
a c ulture . The landsca pe of Latinos in th is reg ion
1986)
is a (re) c1aiming of place a nd a (re) me mbe ri ng of
th e spirit ual. T his vision of history and gcogri -
phy is a testing of ou r ow n remembran ces .
thro ug h the social imaginat io n.' ,",r -scu
•...:
\', : · 1
""
Amalia Mesa-Bains is an installation artist, critic
a nd scholar. She ha s se rved a s Commisicner of
Art for the City of San Fra ncisco. Sh e received a
MacArthur fellowship in 1992. I
I
I Za mudio-Taylo r. Vict or. <&n:moQ1 of S,pi61 (San
Fra ncisco: cata losue elsay. The Me xiCAn Mu seum.
San Fra ncisco. 1993)
2Ma rio Barrer... Ik.,yond Azdan; Ethnic Autgnomy in
Comparatiye Pc Clpccljye ( Londo n: Univen ily or
Notre Dame. 1990), p. 9.
3Chon Nori ega. -rbis is not a Border." ~
Speclp,!Qr, 1993.
" Ch Qn N o r iege, ibid..
5 Roa dsid e shrines, a trad itional popular response ie
accidental de ath ,
6AnlQnio Riol.Bustamante a nd Pedro ystillo. ';~
, '- '
-...
IIIustraled H jltQO' of MexiCAn Los AOIele•• ( Los ::; :, l'.'""
Angeles: Chicano Studies. Research Center
Publica tions. UCLA•• Mon osra ph no. 12. 1986). ", '
., \ ~"
7 Althou gh they hav e nol bee n specifically cited • •he
following w Qrk s have infQrmed the discu ssion put
fort h in tllis essay: J udi lh F. Oaca, Watkinl Tour and
G u jde IQ lhe G rCit Wall of WI AOle1ea. (I.os
Angeles: Social Public Resou rce u nler, 1983);
Carlos Navarro an J Rcdolfc Anay a. In Search of
Com mu nity: A Compa rat ive Essay on Mexican s in
Los Angeles a nd San Anto nio, Th rou gho ut this essay
I am endepeed to Anton io RiOl-Uusllmanle a nd

v y '-i1tL ~ aq '~ !
Th. Real Multiculturalism : ,.4-/h",0 ~";O" '"9/ ConseqUlently. " II of the institutional ilnd theoretical d~'C lopmenls from
A Struggle ~o r Authority and Power , "'hkh you r institu tions spring cOflfiict with ,...hlit we, loS people of color,
reprts~nt, The rontemporary expressions of individuals.nd com munities
Amilia :'oAeu ·~lns who uve between tradlnc n and in novation simply do n'l fit Westem earego-
ries: Mul ticultu ralism has lillowed the mainstrelim " rts community to grow
somewh at com plKent. II hIS draw n" lillIe closer pe rh aps. bu t on some
levels still main tliins a di stance- ii dlst"ore from the issues of racism and
lingu istics.

for the lU I six or so year' a numbtr o f us have bee n involved In con fer'
ences in the United Statu and abroad. tal1dns about twrythl ns from the
polltkJ of culture to the center and m.lJlin, and I' m almost exhliusted with
the tmn "",/Iiev/llmll, So I' m SOinS to try to plrt the Yell Ii little bit.
I grew up in the sixties, fint In the blKk·power movement with my hus·
bind, thm in the Chiano rDO'Iftl'ICDt, and lat~, liS lin eduatOf In th at
golden ft'lI of mw ticultunl educatio n in the public schoots; so I've heard Ii
lot of jlirson come lind go. Mlllliculh,,./ism see ms to be Ii tenn tha t we lire
romfottable with lit p~nt, possi bly beause 01 its euphemis tic nliture. (t
.allows u, to Kknowledge our 0Wl'l eth rtid ty, bu t not the Cltcsorkal diller-
eras In race, d us. and gender that lirt below the Surt'lice and need to be
In this pos tcolon ial. po,,-dyi! rig hts era we are faced . in many \VIiys for the
fin t time, not simply with iss ues o f quanl lflCiltkln. liffinnalive aercn.
quotas, parity, access. and representatio n, but with the qUli litative aspects
of the diwne experi ences of uniqueness , the poIysemic voice th"t we spea k
of so often. These are the issues th at I belieYe on some level hlive pt'*
trated you r Institu tions and with which you aft StnlggUnS. ConceplS like
"
• plitrimony, Whose Is II? Stewards of a commonwealth. Whose wea lth? How
was it gained?
We o ften speak of style, cu ltunl styie, 1saw a photognph in which Ii
young blond white boy was _ aring drelidlocks; I also saw • full-plige lid in
GllrmOllr showlnS a Ugh t.s kin ned black wom an ~I ri ns blue lenses, Style
hu lilways bee n style. but the issues of real aoss-cuJturaI Of tnnscu ltu ral
exchange And, more importlin t, the cu ltunlly specific: YaNes th at people "
brins to those tnnscultural encounters are w hat we hliye had the most
, difficul ty [KinS'

ad dmHd in order to d eal ln an JiPPfOPrilite lind mponslve WJIy with the

d ivenlty we're talldng abou t.
•
Whit we're reliUy tlilldns libout Is a kind of pos trolonial dlupora. Murh of
lirt his tory and our kfeas abou t lirt, the museum, lind c:oI1«ting have come
out of the ~niaI IiSts. We are now dea ling with the generations eeseen-
dlint from those coIonilil experimres .and occupatio ns, but they have ro me
hometo the color\in. In the me of indigenous MnoameriCilns, these eem -
munitles represent an expe rieece of ln~mli l roloniutlon . You are now
mee ting their gnndctukfrtn, deaUnS with those of us lind ou r children
who rome from thlit ellPftienre of the pos tcolonililliV.
Cultul'lil Plotrimony
I come from Ii fl mily that im mipl~ from Mexico. lincl l gre w up in Ii
community with other undocummted families. I'm the first in my flimily to
receive I highe r educa tion I nd , to som e d egre e, the first to encounter I
lu ger institutional life; consequently, my family yalues haw been put Into
question time and time apin. Th is goes beyond ecde switc:hins-leliming
w hat kind of clothes to weI;[ o r wh at voice to spelik in-to fund amenu l
questions of rellitionshlp.
It is in the areas of plitrimony, cultural values, lind somet hing that C~ rl05
More calls · lnteret h nic intimJiCY" that we are presentl y stnl UlinS' By inter-

87 AMA LIA M ESA- I AIH S


ethnic. or intelTKi.ll, I n rim~·. we are not ~ Iki ns abol.!t that fearful thing
called WI, which K eminsIY is one of the driving fOf(M in racism. We're
s"eakins of something much more Intimate than that; that Is respect.
understanding. .and r.«hanse.
In many respects, piltrimonial values and Intnethnic intimacy constitute
the Nllieground In which we will worit out the twent:,"first century: and In
this luge-sc<lle rflkRnU'on or aesthetic ilnd alltural identlt:" there is on the
most profound I_I a ClU to the instilUliom that bro ker 'earning. thinking.
culture. and expressiveness- The Association oi Art MUKum DitKlors a n
playa major role here.
In order to push aside the vriI of rnulticultul1lUsm In its euphemistic sense
and conquer the mystifications that come with It, wt-as a transitional
gl!nm.tion wilh an Inheritrd view of patrimony-. values, and interethnic
intimacy- are called upon to Ulume .nother Idnd of moral leadership in
what may be I vny difficult time . It means we h.ft to de. 1with some
of the wry issues thai wt broufihl up ellrter. Issues of ~ .Iuthority,
.n<! privil<g<.
I define power.as the abiUty to ceae Kif-definitions upon which OM can
act. Adlon Is deuly the Issue at h.nd. Dialogut: hl5 been going on fot
quite. long time. From your point of view, the questions may now be: How
should we do this. and whalt will h.ppen if we do? How far do we have to
10 with It? Must I giw up the type of stewardship my institution repre-
seats? Wh.t h.ppm. when people from mulHnciaI and multicultural
communities corne Into the museum-when we bepn to change our cur'
atorial focus and 10 dew:'op other kinds of exhibition and acqulslUon
polkin?
The ability to self·define-. complex task In • postcolonl.lage-Is at the
he.rt of the str\lgsle. lam. Chiana, which means Ihat my parents were
born In Moico. I was born in the UrUted States. and I came to my own
sense of poo.wr-stIf-dt6nition foUowtd by action-during the dyil rishts
mowmtnt. The Chicano moV'tmenl was piYOlalto me and my K if-
definition. Chicana, after .lI thest ye. rs, is an kimtity based on the . bilitr
to.act upon a sense of who lam.nd what 1come from . Ewn within mr
own community I haw been SUlded by that sense of klentity. But we're
talldns .bout something probablyew:n ~ complex than that because It
Invotvts many identities and mlnr str\lgglts.
88 r HI: lEAL M U LT I CULTuaALl SioC
What Clifford points out is that we haw dmsed . dual system in which
Western art, construed within the parameters of the museum u master-
pieces created br Individual artists. is posed aglinst ethnog:TJphy, that is.
the hili of man. the artifact. the ccuure in which II WiIS created. the
anonymousartisan.
Our dilemma is that after wars of such 3 dichotomY, there have emerged in
works by artists of CQk)r ~presentations that blur a'nd erase such c.tegorid
15 folk art and fine "rt . In manr resp«ts. this blurring .nows us to see thoe
contrad!dion between the dual standards of a Western subj«t lvit~ and
those stand.rds assigned to otherness. Onlr now are mURum s .lttempting
10 de.l with the misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the post-
cOlonialage.
Resources, Audiitnct. and Exhibitions
Durinl tht courw of the day we haw talked about the notion that art
should be transctndmt. ~rt from the body politicand certainly apart
from economic reI.tIonl (power.nd r~ relation$~ But. we ..Iso know that
we're In a marketplace dilemma wilh regard to those very same piecesof
art.nd th.t the artifact hl5 joined the masterpiece In th.t marketplilCe. So,
to some deglft, the contusion overcategorin is.n KOnonUc circumst.lnce
.. won.
U the European masters .Ire priced out. U Christie's and Solheby's find that
the lAtin American market is finlndaUy mort accessible with those mas'
ters of Latin AmeriCi. such 15RiwrI, K.l.hlo, Matta, and Lam, having these
f.miUarcousins in America (Amaldo Roche. Carlos Almaraz. and Luis
Cruz Azaceta to name but a few). then wt must begin to dul with their
workas well. ~. lhe confusion. ambiguity, .nd disorder OYl!r resources.
.uditnct, and exhibitions.
Tot. 1k about the work. one must talk about the experience: so I'm going to
talk first about·rtSOiJrcn. It is preds e!y benust we oflen forus first on ex-
hibitions, I1Ither than resources, th.t we halve had confounding
experitnees. We try to determine the I.rt without underst.nding the cul-
tunl expressiVeness of particular groups.
90 THI au.L )f UlTI CULTu aAU SM
".'
I would like to share with YOU a quote ho m Trinh T. Minh-H• • whom many
of YQII mlY know as an artist, critic. and 61m~ker. She says: "You who
understa.rd the dehumanization of fceced removal·re1oca.tion-rerducatlon·
redefi nition. the humiliation of having to f.llsify !'OUr reality. your voice-
you know. And etten YOU cilnnot say it. You try 10 keep on 10 unsay it, but
please-we must say it. You tTy;:and keep on trying to uns.ay it, for if you .
donl , thev will not fail to liUIn the blanks on your behalf, and you will. be
sa.id:'1 I ~I~ Trinh is speaking of the wry Issue Wlf are concerned with
today. which is. How do we reflect pt'tYlous history? It m~ seem that the
art historicalsitu..tion is Ht .part from such other contexts, but no ut is
~d its soml. political• • nd historial context. How do these issues of
power, cultural democracy, . nd self-definltion pertain to exhibitions,
..udiences..nd resources?
Our In·stitutions are ensconced in coRCq)ts of history based, as I stated ear-
lier. in a coklnialage . Anthropology. psychology, and archa.eoJosy
oriJin ated in those times. The first typologies. which measured the dis-
lance betwten ptopWs ~ 10 determine thrir intdlectu.! capacities.
included terms like plrkprmic. dtoln ic, and melmdtdic. Those were the be-
glnninp of psychology. Such coloni.l-age tools h.w set the st.ge for the
historical understanding with which the pa.radigms of art hLstory haw
been placed.
iwas owrjowd to hear Irene Winter refer to james OUford, bec.use
OUford's ~k is wry slpillant ln helping us to understand why we find
OIJlSdws in confusion and disorder 0Yft" the .rts and culture of people of
c:oIor. I can't rem to them as il minority, beeeuse numt rlcally they're not. I
could I'ROTt .ccuratetv c.n them . dlstlncllTUljoritv, or mulliracill commu-
nities. We are t. lking prim.rily ..bout Issues of 111~. Tosome degree, race is
also a euphemism of the colonialage. one that w.as designed 10 divide re-
sources from IInsuistic groups. Nonetheless. we deal with these notions of
race. a.nd it Is Oifford and others lib him who compel us 10 quesucn these
origin.1 paradigms.
Whm O ltfO«l talb a.boutthe wa.y In whkh coUectinS tw grown out of
co\onial-age ICquisltions. he emphulzes how this chaoticcoUectinl re-
sulted in an order burd on a kind of Western sublKlivity. From this early
dale the cultural expressions of the non·Western world were reordered I nd
misapprehended.
tI9 ... M A LI ... waU.-.."INS
] I don't haw to Sly much a.bout the exhibition Hisprlllic Art ill lht Unitrd
Sf.," : !/.irty Conttmponrry Pttillttrs . lId Sculptors, as I'm sure many of you
I art familiar with the controVtrsy surround ing it. That was an instance
where to some degree the cUrlItorill perspectives startrd with mditlonal
I approaches to exhibitions. rather than an understa.nding of the resources of
the Latino communit~ When It.llk ilbout resocrces, I am refming to those
aspeets tha.t are within the wocldview of the dlvene cultures we are beg;n-
ning 10 serw and respond to-thrir patrimony. v.lllues• .lI nd sense of an
Inteff!lhnk or inteTTXial intimacy. As • psychologist I have to think first of
the resource of cultural memory. b«.use it is memocy th.t allows us to as-
sert our smse of connnuit~ against all odds. Cultural memory allows
spiritual and familial practices to be maintained. often through oral lradi-
nons. Milny of the womng-class people: of color h.ve not . Iwa.ys had a~s
to a fom'l.1 eduation; )"ttlt. ming is pasHd from gtntnUon to gerwration
in other w. ys. It Is irom that cultural memory that much of the work of
contemporary artists of color springs.
Resources: HistoricalResponsibility
The historical responsibility that is an element in those rtSOUTCl!:S Is a re·
sponsibillty for both the past .nd the prtStnt. one th.t must be shared by
culturalle.dtrs. HIstorical ruponsibility tnvoIvts the kind of history that
I
{ critic W. lter Benjllmin speaks of: '"Only th.t historian will haw the gift of
,, f. nning the spark of hope in the put who is firmly convinced that ew:n the
dud wiUnot be sale from the entmy if he wins: ! This quote has to do
with the concept of origin .nd the redemption of the put.
What we se\!: In the Mric;:an American, LaUno, and cert. inly Asian
American "nd Native America.n communities is a movingback 10000rd the
mtlTlOl')' of origin. The African Kholarship of people Ub Dr. Ben Yusef
and Dr. Asa HilUa.rd. who question the relationship of Kehmt. or bid
Egypt, to the Greco-Roman world. of books such .as Martin BerNIl's BI«t
Atlltn' . and ew:n such works as Cornel Wes!'s PropIIttic Frdgmtll,s-all a.re
beginning to question the Eurocentric myth of origin.
It was wilt! an awarenessof historical rnponsibility that books like George
'ames's 5tolm Ltp:y (19,.,,)and Ch.~lIor WilU.ms's llIt Deslrvctio" of 11ft
Bud: CiviliZll'ion (1914) W'tre written, years before they were acces..sible ex-
91 AM AU " MUA-IAINS
cept in the most clandes tine ways. The deeenterteg oi the hum a nities
relies, 10 some deg re e. 1'101 jusl on cultural memory passed thr ough. corn-
mun ities. but o n the hist orical resp on sibilil y of scholars, critics, artl.sts. and
institutional leaders who see themselves in th is transitional generauon as
ready and able to move inlo a nother sys tem oi knowledge and thou sht.
Resou rces: Communi ty Practices
Com mu nitv pr actices are also pa rt of the resources of th e com mun ity. Such
practices h~ve g reatly influenced the developm ent of aest~e~ic fo~s. F~r
in stance, the preponde ranc e of the ceremoni al and the spl~ ~a ll n parnor-
lar commu n ities is a n aspec t of the cotlective hist or y of re h ~ o n, .
sp iritu ality, and spectacle. O ther prac tices reflect ~ he d~ na m lc and U\t e~ a~.
ttve proce sses of excha nge and learni ng. the relationsh ip between tradlbcn
and innova tio n. an d the layering of expe rience that creates new measur es of
meani ng.
At the core of man y of the aes thetic repr esen tations tha t are a part o f the
con tempo rary school is anc estral legacy. In Tht ~"~~ Show: FrlIm:;1.:s of
Idtntity in tht 19805. concepts of h istori cal responslbih ty and ances
legacy are reflected 10. many 0 f tile
" art ~ rxs. :1
._. Ances tTill lega.-v allows us to
co ns i'de r more tha n one view of the up coming qUincent~nn.lal. For ~a ny
. of us the an cestr allegacv su rround in g the quincenten nlal rs not a five-
hu nd red-veer phenome~on. not a tabula rasa. or a fertile g round where
cu ltu re w~ dropped. The a nces tral legacy of wh ich we speak - a spl~ndor
of thirty centu ries even in Mesoamerica, wh ich is only one part of this
continent-is a verv, verv lon g one. It certainly outmarks a ha lf a century.
If we are 10 un d erstand a ncestra llegacy, we have 10 loo k at th e fonn~ in
w hich we find it in ou r ow n institutions. The quincentenary celebratio n.
which emphasizes h istorica l a nd cultu ra l Euro-SP.a nish develo.p.ment s, has
to be questioned no t only by those w ithin. the nativ e .~ ,:"mUOl!leS, but also
bv the large r ins titutions tha t w ill determine the exh lb,tlo ns, the outreach,
and the act ivities related to tha t very market. For our na tive brother.s and
. ,15 a m ar....ng
._, 0 f gen odde, h ardlv. som ethmg tha i
ststers. the qu incente nOIat
shou ld be called a celebration. Nonetheless, it is one as pect o f ancestral
legacy.
Aud iences : Aesthe tic S ~ n s i bi l i t '!
An extension of ancestra l legacy is reflected in family values and a world-
view, eve n in the cul tu ral styles of the aud ience. Thes e issues a re ra rely
addressed in major ins titutio ns. I've pa rticipa ted in several outreach pa nels
in Califomia a nd in <l nu m ber of othe r places; so l've see n the p roposa ls
submitted by maj or inslitutions Ih at are try ing to outreach, or reach out.
One reason that outreach has no t be en more successfu l is the lack o f recog-
n ition of ccmmunitv resources. Even th e com position of the aud iences
themselves is an issue. 1do n't have to cite the de mograp hic information.
Mos t of you know th at the ma jor cities in Ame rica are incr easingly made
up o f peo ple o f color. In California. for ins tance. by Ihe yea r 2010 people o f
color wi ll ma ke up 50 pe rcent of th e sta te. These people are disri ntt, they
are uniq ue. and they have h ist orical d ifferences; but they also share certain
aspec ts of a cultural worldview, a nd these have to be ad d ressed in the audi -
e nces that we de velop. So. composition reflects dive rsity in aesthe tic
pe rceptio n an d valu ing. The progra m mi ng of cur ins titu tion s h as to con .
slde r th is diverslty o f aes theti c pe rceptions and valuin g in d eeper
educational app roaches,
A n um ber 01you ar e famili ar with the Ge tly model. the di scip line-based
app roach to educatio n. Those o f us in ed ucational institu tion s, particularly
pub lic education in the primar y grades, have reall y begu n to question these
models and examine how we ca n expand th eir limited vocab u lary. Simply
p utting Marian ne Anderson o n th e cover o f yoW' boo klet and listin g a
num be r of artists of color as exa mp les of those calego ries is not eno ug h.
Unless you actu allv d eal with aes the tic per ception and values as bei ng as
d iverse'as the experiences from w hich they sp ring, you will find yourself
going in circles.
Th e Latino o r Chicano se nsibili ty is a per fect example o f d iversity; wi th its
combi natio n of the colonial ba roqu e age and the domi nance of the tndlge-
nous. The mixtu re of the Mexican hea ling woeldview, rllsquachismo (Ihe
aest hetics of the do wntrodden), and pop u lar bar rio styles is cha racte ristic
of this bicultural sensibility. Ceremonia l p ractices that have be en anchored
and mai ntai ned In home altars and hea ling ritua ls cons titute an aesthetic
dcrnein in which we per ceive and value th ou : thi ng s around us. Beaut y
an d pow er ar e concep ts Iha t a re embe d ded in cu ltu ral expe rience. The y
can no t be red uced to a sing le se t of fonnal elements across all g rou ps.

92 TIl £ 11 £"1. M UlTI CU lT UII " I.l SM 93 ...M"'I. I" M ES...· a" INs

Aesthetic value and pe rcept ion have a great dea l to do with socioeconomic
class . I lived in a ru ral valley and di d not ente r a mu seu m un til I was
twe nty years old . My parents did n't have access to those experi ences. I was
an artist. and they su pported me in the forms that were ~ndemic to my
community. ~fy u ncles were ca rvers and welders and made thi ngs with
their hands. I was privileged from the first d ay r shewed my aptitude be-
cause I was mar ked with J spi rit th at was \'iltued by everyo ne in my
commu nity and my neighborhood. From the agl! oj six o r seven I was
refe rred 10 as Nthe anls t" a nd given il kind oi passport to experience,

Within the reality of wha t my fami ly could p rovide for me. my artis try was
singu larly important to them and valued. yel access to the in stih.l tion s of
Western artis try was not available . Consequently. my on ly exp eriences of
mast erwo rk in the Western trad ilion were with in the Catholic chu rch. The
tremendous influ ence of bricol age, d isplay, and abu ndance is clearly
ma rked in the work ot many Latino ar tists an d comes. to' some degree,
from the CathoUc experience an d lih.lrgical spectacle.

Whe n we talk abou t a n aes thetic pe rceptio n or value. we are not ta lkin g
abo ut superfidal categori es. We are talking about expe rience layered
through time and aest hetic catego ries Ihat are dee p in their mea nin g and
rooted in region al, topograph ica l, and material realities. For exampl e, w hat
ebout the Japanese American se nsibili ty, which springs (rom the insu lar is.
land eul h.l re of Japan. What do suc h origins imply about the way one looks
al things? Wha t d o they imp ly abou t th e preference for a domina nce of '
units. significance of nature, an d spiritua lity in design ? The Kimo no Mind
is a term Iha t relers to the ma ny Japanese Ame rican wome n who st ill walk
as thoug h their bod ies were wra pped in that garmen t. An aes the tic mental.
ity is certainly pa rt of o ne's cu ltu re. Th e many hist ories of a cultu ral
aesthe tic are the in herit anc es tha t we bring 10 a n ational patrimony. The
capaci ty to respond to a d iverse national patrimony is both an opportunity
an d a resp onSibility for our major ins titutions.

Audie nces: Communicatio n St yle and learni ng Sty le

lNhen we talk a/x)ut aud iences. we have to talk abou t commu nicatio n slvles
and lan gu age, Sur ely we know muhili ngua lism is an tssce in signage, .
tours. docents, volun teers. Catalogues. and broch ures. To dea l with th is. we
have to cultivate the resources of mu ltilingual comm unities.

<14 THF.Ilr. ... I . ~ " I T "· ' '' T '' a A. ' <: ..
 Co·'llnunic;l,lion stvle is olnother uu tholl must be conside~ in oludience
cleYelopmmt. The ~ommunia.tion styln of utin Ammc~ns. Arricll,n
Ammans. and Asian Anwrians. just to name three, ere very dlsllner.
Comel West aUs the Afrian Americiln style OOkinetic orality," or the
ft'lO'Im\mt of the body with Iilngua~e in iI Yfty specific Willy. Innovation in
Iingul ~e retlects lin Afria n u\Cestry within Afdan American speech ,
The Iinsuistic tladltlons ot Africiln American speech have survived the
tlelMndous intluences of mass media and education. African based, the
language is one with its own niles for plurals, possessives, tenses. word
endings••md coUoqulalisms. That don not mean that ·s landard· English
should not be leamed , but we' have to recognlze that our children come
to us language-rich.. If we U~ not capable of interactingwith them,
understanding them, ~nc1 communiCi1tins with tMm, it is our problem.
not thein.
We: should brinS to the issue of audience, then. a pater understanding of
communication style and cultural style. One aspect of cultu~1 style Ihat we
have begun to klok. at is the way in which people intetaet even in some-
IhinS &$ simple as eleswe, the act of ending something. I often give the
loUowing ~mple. Shortfr after I married my husband. who by the Wil~ is
Atrialn American, we were going to my mother's house for dinner. I said
to him. -Now look, when we leave. puU the car out slowly and keep the
windows down: He said. "Is something going to happen?" And I an-
swered, -No. lhey just li}r.e to Siy goodbye for il while!" My husband soon
learned that closure in a community that vollues rel.1tionshlps Is nol alwilys
dalrable. All the nuances and manlfes' ations of the highly prized commu·
nication is around extendinS the relationship. not around the end product.
In such I. value system. closure milyorten be in conflict with the .4.merican
prefermce for dosure. Attitudestowards dos ure musl be taken into ac·
count when gf'fttinsand cIosinS wilh an audlence.
We have much to ~am about the ways in which communication and eu l-
. tural style affeet copition. apprehension. and learning. aU of which are
Intertwined. Culture is a window on the world. , nd our processes of re-
celvin" dlstrlbutina. and processlnslnformation must pass through Ihilt
window. The dqree 10 which we Westerners don't understand this relates
dlf1!(:tly to the degru to which we hilve nol been successful In our metn-
stream institutions. even those that deal specifially with education.
96 T H E a . ,u MULTlcuuua AU SM
In IRo1nv wavs, we are still stnJssllng with the notion oi quality or sun-
dards. As I'~ said berore. quality is a euphemism I1U rhe familiar. It is a
fAmilv oi Artists and Idu s to which many have grown qutte ICCUslomed:
but \~ are Anew extended family. We are new artisls, with new Ideas th..t
you hilve not had as much ecperience with.
The question is not simply one of crileria or standards : these a n be
amended or expanded. We hilw only to look i1t the history of scientific re-
surch In this countl y 10 understand that ' nythlng an be i1djuSled to
encompass those things that we choose to prize, As curators in this tlansi-
tional ti me our work. is partly 10 milke ourselvesfamiliar with the new
American canon.
In manv wavs. whAt we've come to undetstand about exhibitions is that it ,
Isn.'t ~sh for us to s et into the museums; man!' of us haw befl\ in. Ac-
cess is not the only issue. Interpretation is the new forefront. Sometimes
wry simple things Wte the translations of the signage a.n &fleet the u~r­
standins of the art. One o ample has to do with the exhibition His,.ulIc Art
ht lite Unittd St.,es: Thirty Conttmponrry Plilttm.rId Sal/pIon . Induded was
Cesar Martina's pa1nMSof a ~ large man with a tattoo of the V'llgin de
Guadalupe andlatttlos 01a sood woman and iI bad woman on his shouJ-
den. The painting is called El hombrr If'It,1tW mvjtm (The Man Who Ukes
Women). The title was mnslited as 11K WOrIIlImur. but that is not what it
meansl This is I. mi n who lows women. • miln to whom women are so
cenm l thAt he marks his bodv with them. The profOllnd meaning of this
wor1c.1s redUC1ld, Umlted. my~ ti fled. and misappropriAled when . simple
Ihing like a translation cannot be done with understanding, knowledge,
and respect.
Wflve also been into mllWUms WMrt the sheer placement of our work-
Ml r klbbies or bathroom.s. In rotundas or smaU rooms-has indicated the
inferior value t~ institution illtKhes to the work. So a.tteSS Is not lhe
only Issue.
EUUbitions have to be fonnulilled with expertise. and that ku 10 be
shared . Powet'-the ability to self-de6ne in, wrf upon which we can aet-
must entad shared dedsJon-ma!dn& Ieadmtdp. empowuntm t. scholar-
ship. and curatorial opertise be tween the diverse communities and
mainstream institutions.
q8 n n REA L MULT IC ULTURALI SM
Oi ffe~ncn in time lind SpICe, physiclliity, la ngua ~. olnd communication
i1ffm the w.y people enter our institutions, the ,....v thf" a~ recewed in
our institutions. i1nd the wa!' in which they learn ~ our·institutions. How
we l'Kf:ivt diverse communities end how we Ieilm from thtm olre elements
we have Iilrgely ip ored because we have come to think or audience as a
problem. not as a resource.
Exhibitions
My elIperience with exhibitions Is both as an ani st and' cur,llor. l e rga-
n1z~d a show called umnony 0{ Mtmory, which has been touring the
United States. I did thilt show to put the ceremonial work of Chicano/Latino
Ind C<1ribbean people in the same place al the same time so we coulcl con-
sider aspects of met!'lOrY, spirituillity, teTnpot&lity, and s?,tiality. I wanted
to Iook.t what these dements mean 'nd how they i1re simUar Of distinct u
used by contemporary ilrtists.
It's important 10 remember that we are the first generation to haw: had
ethnic-studies depa rtments on university campuses. Weare thffefort both
'rtists ilnd activists, We developed in many ways rathn rapidly, not unlike
the kind of fut·forward photography in which you see a little pllnt grow
very quickly. Beginning with the seed, the bun goes up. the little Iea ~
come OUI, and then there's <1 newer. In many WAYS, that'S what hlppened to
us. Milny of us we~ raised in rural communities or newlv urban commu-
nities: we hold horne prKtices of alternative spiritualitv a ~ traditions of
healing; we had folk tilles and. ","idos, or ballads; we'had wavsof knowing
the world that were from another generation, another time, a~ another
culture.
We moved rapidly through the canon and through the academy, and that
ptodUCftf In us a very dense tayeting: For ~ mple, J was raised with Walt
Disney and norlmo music, with the concept of the Motyan ruins and blac1c
rhythm and blues. This is.typical of the interpenetrations and fusions that
charlCterize the not-so--easy-to-c.tegorize work of artists of mv generation.
particularly lhose of color. It Is Ihe Inability 10 distinguish folk from fine
art. the canon from the other. thlt hIS confounded the development of
particular ellhibition practices olmons malnstr1!am institutions,
'11 A M ALIA M I! SA- ' A' N S
The ellpanded sense oi I n American aesthetic is oln important part of whAt
we are aUstnl~li n ~ with. In many WilyS the dialo!'Je is best understood
when we look allhe artists of this generallon and the kinds or work thev
do: emblematic mythoklgy In the hands of people like LUian"" fbrtet. .
Roberto Gil de Montes. Carlos Almaraz. Cecili, Ve<u",,; lhe indictment of
social Issues by artists such as Rupert Garc1i1. EsterHernandez, Juan
5.nchez.. D1vid Avalos. Ismael Frigerio. D1niel Martinez. Cm lina Parra,
and Judite Dos 5.lntos. If we think of the ceremonill. the WilVS in which
~ s~. memory. spirit. ilnd time are located In a conte'mporary form.
we Ihlnk of JUiln Bon. P1e'pon Osorio, Angel Suarez. George Crespo, and
Peter Rodrigu!z. When we think about the Issues penment to the
environment- nature and spirit. the rain forest-we Ihink olbout people
like Regina Vater. Jonas Oos Sanlos. and Rimer Cardillo.
U we look at d iversity while ackMwledging the diIfiallties of racism and
the limils of our own institutional knowledge. we can move toward those .
audlenus wilh , recognitionof their WilY; of knowingInd being. If we use
t!'at cultural in ~orm a ti!,n to create programming. exhibitions, ilnd ~UCil.
tional outn!:&eh, we can shue leildership And cunloria.ll!Xpertise and
ckovetop i1Diaral and partnerships that are bued on interethnic intimacv_
not appropriation, nor co-optiltion. nor a sood funding proposal. or tYe~ a
way 10get guil! off)'OW' b&dc. If we do, then this transitional 'ge is not so
hopdess . fter all.
~ must remember that the dillogue about the center/margin politics of
cUlture finaUy and deAnitiwly demand s action beCAuse to repeatedly speak
to audJences <and this is a very personal statement from me) l bout things
thai milttn SO much, that are tl~ SO much to the poUtia and economics of
lhis country. as well IS to your own Institu tion, with no response. mAkes
DIe feel .as though the discourse is mere entertainment.
The definitive question becomesWhal chana;es should be lnstituted in ae-
quisi.tiO~. programs, educational models, curatorial expertise. stilffing.
publiahons. and criticism within the mainstream institutions in order to
respond ~ ef~ectiwly to diverse cultum ? Change has already bqun in
milny of our tnstttutions. but tMre is much much more 10do. I like to rtfe r
10 Rex Nettleford. who reminds us that there Is such a thing.as a -urtgdom
of lhe mind'" S• _.
,-.s10naIe O't.tiYlty.
.. iI nd an emandpiltory art th, t will set
us f~e 10 understand the world relltions 01 which we are a part.
99 AMA LIA M U A· .... I N S
 T':lO .'.'I~llt' \ll~I':-I ~lllUl~h t >(t ' u r ) \\'IIIul1 s rHttp~ o l l"-'lIpll' ,II p,lCl icul olf IllII-
~nl/l1~ III l h~',r 11I Slon ~"11 Ir.lj"''<lory. In Ihe United S l.l ICS. the ll)OOs was s uch
pc n.od of Illtrospccllon, a n..lysis. OInJ act ion . Blacks. Chica nos Nati ve
~mcr~ciIOS. a~d otlll'r disl'nfranchise-d groups const ituted
h'SIOrlcal ~ubJccls• •and struggled for self·de lcrm inillion and rad ically de.
centered views of <I n
.
r II h
essen 1,1 y omogcneous nalion ..1cu hure Eth .
Pro~~ls uf rc~l'mp(jon, sc!l·Jclinilion, a nd cultura l rl'd., mil lio~ llni~~
.mJ ~SIvt' COllsllt ucnl s, Cord nl; those in powe r to ret h in k the profound Jim-
.lal1on$ of a co nsens ual a nd co llusive libe ral se nse of comm unit y Eth nl
&, ro~PS, wo me n" and gilys asserted thdr cu ltu ra l and poli tk., 1 idC~li lil'sl~n
I Ie stato o f ..lter lty .. nd d iU·. W' I ' . ,
vrcn cc. Il l.mperltllellt represl:nt.lt ion s in ",.
•••••IIIi'.'.'ii'un.. a ilrt il ' "
~ V~: a, - vuCuJ~~~ !ko~ pV'~
I
Ov, au ~
d d. •l nd 10 Iacc the e no rmou sly rewarding lask of adilpting ou r artistic,
a.ur /?1 1 A-.4-'lntl 1~70 - "7/
Itel lcctua l, a nd scholarly pract ices, and our mu seums themselves, to the
10001and vastly heter ogen eous wo rld we inhabit.
? uiJJermo GOmez.-Pt!flil, "The Muilicullural Paradigm; unpubtished (drafl) manu-
'pt, 1989, unpa ginaled.
;ylvia Pask i~, cited in Isaac Julien and KObena Mcrcer, Hlnlroduction: De Margin
I De Centre, ScrUIl (Aulumn 1988. "The Last 'Special Issue' on Race?H): 7.
l$,lac Julien and Kobt,on,\ Mercer, Hlnlroduction: De Margin and De Cenlre HS(T~I
Itumn 1988, "The Last 'Spt'Ciar Issue' on Racer):,. . , I
,Ian/(or. ~r0nov.:ilZ a nd Henr y Giroux, PosImodml Edlla rioll; PoIilirs , Cuflurt, 111111
'/11 CrlllOS", (Minneapolis: Un i ~rs ily of Minnesola Press, 199 1~ 117.
lit CrrfY'J:'O'I ~"IlUA' FilJr: MuUi(llllllml Liltracy_ nit: Oprtri".'~ of " It AllItricnlJ M illtf,
cd by RICk Simonso n and Stoll W,\lker {Saini P.:lul, Minnesota: Graywoll Press,
IL 117.
inc Deloria, 'The American Indian Image in North America,Hin T/rr Prrrrrrd / t-
;: /lIIl1gN of Nlllillt AmrriclIIIS illl/ rt MOI1;rs, edited by Grt lchen M. Balaille and'
rk-s L. Po Stllll (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State Univel"$ily Press, ' 980), 50.
.·in. Cemil Schick, H R~'p resen li nb Middle Eastern Women: Feminism a nd Cui-
Dlscou rse,~ FrmilliSI SIt/dirs 16, no. 2 (Summer 11}9O): 349.
'mez-Pena, unpsglnated.
.lnowi!z and Giroux, 11 5 -)) .
ronowitz and Giroux, 116.
The sa me Ijues tion ing occurs with in groups of IX'ople ill par ticul.u mo -
meni S in their hist or icill trajectory. In the United Stales, the u)60s \\I,lS su ch
iI peri od of introspe ~t i on, analysiS, and acti on. Blacks, Chica nos , Nativ e
American s, and olhe r d isenfranchis ed groups con st iluted themselves as
historical s ubjec ts. a nd struggled for self-d eterm inatio n :lnd rold ically dc-
centered views of an l'Ssentially homogeneous nationa l cu ltu re. Eth nic
projects of redem ption, self-definition . and cuhu ral reclamation un ited
massive co nstHuenls, forcing thosc in prnver to rethink thc profou nd lim-
it.ations of a co ns ensual and collu sive libcral sen sc o f co m mu nity. Ethnic
groups, \Vomen, and Gays aSSl'rtl'<l tlll' ir cu ltu ral amI po litic.ll id~' n tit ics in
Iht' sl.l te uf ,,1I ~'rit y .1l ... l lli(fl·t!.·I........... With ln1p...'rt i n~·ll t r~'p .....'Senl.lliuns in lil-
l·r.ltu ..... .lnd Mt, "rtisl s uf ~Illtlr s ub\'crh..' d milsler n.uriltives th ilt position eJ
the m ilS polssivc re ta iners rat her Ihan ac tive gen era lors of cu lture. The mar-
gin , the l-order, and the pe rip he ry beca me (ertile and nutrient sill'S for
creo1tion and invention , I:rom the specificity of di stinct e th nic, c1i1ss, and
gen der viewpoints, ruli ng par adigms were rigo rou sly evaluated and de sta-
bilized if not d ismantled . Elite, Eu rocentric intellectua lil nd cult u r;:al
Irad itions were no lon ger accepted as natural. lota l. a nd u n ive rsal. bUI seen
as hist orical construc ts held in plilce by glooo l ne two rks of power.
The COl'lrep t of quality was also seen as ;:ambiv<llen t, embedded in pa rtic-
ularized soci ohistorica l co ntext . A new archaeology of knowledge
p roposed thai systems o f classification and taxonomies o f cont rol were cen-
Iral co mponents in scenarios of Vkslern civilizat ion that pos itioll('c\ un ity,
order, and progress tiS cummo n g rou nd for Ihe m:lin ten a nce of a leg itim.l te
hegemo nic social orde r.
III th e United Sta tes, legitimacy comes w ith Aml'ricanizillion . The ritu als
of citize ns hi p retain th e d ose sy n\me try of ab sorpt ion and sa nitiza tio n
from ancest ra l cu lture and language, T heodore Roo se velt. writing in 1919,
se ts th~ lone eX<lcUy. Th is is from a speech called ~ Ke e p Up th e Figh t for
Alnl'ricanis m":
There musi bt! no sagging back in Ihe fight for Amer ican ism Inl'rely be-
Colus e the w,\r is OYer. lhere are plenty o f persons who have already
made the ass ert ion that they believe the American people havc a sho rt'
n\l'm ory a nd tha t they int end to revive all ihe foreig n assoc ialions which
mos t di rectly interfere w ith the complete America nizilti on o f ou r people.
C Il IC A NO "itT: TE XT " NO CO NTE XT
Ou r p rinciple in th is m aner sho uld be ab solutely siml'le. In the fir ~
p lace we sho u ld insi st tha t i( the im m igr;)nl who co mes here in gOl
Ihcm:c1vcs as fa ith, becomes an American and assimilates himsel f 10 u s he sh illl
treated en an exac t eq ualit y w ilh everyone else, (or it is a n outrage
discriminate aga inst any suc h man becaus e o f creed o r b irth place I
I origi n .
!
I
.
I]ut this is predica ted upo n the man's becoming in very f;:ad an Am
and nothing bUI a n Am erican . If he trie s to keep segregated with n
hi s ow n origin a nd separa ted from th e rest uf Ame rica, th en he lsn
I
Chicano Art :
Text a n d Context
Tomb YOOrr<l-Frausto
In th e cpcnrng pages of . . . y 110 st 10 l rog6 1D t ierra, Tom as Rivera sla tes
th e (ollowing:
Siem pr e empe zaba todo cu ando e ra q ue alg u ien Ie llamaba por su
nom brc per c w ando vclt ea ba Ia cabeea aver q u ic!n e ra 1.'1 que le lI ~m ..ba,
daba una vuclta emera y as! quedaba donde m tsmo. Por eso nunca podia
ace-ta r n i quic n le Itamaba ni po r que. y luego ha sta se le olvld aba 1.'1
no mb re qu e le hnbfun llam ed o. Perc sabra que c!l era a quien Ha mnban .
Una vel. 51.' detuvo an tes de d ar I.. vuelta entera y le entr6 mic do. Se d io
cuent.. de que cl m ismo sc habiil llam ado.1
O u r p rinci piI:! in thi s m att er shou ld be ab solutely sim ple. In t ~e first
place we sho u ld in sist th tlt if Ihe immigr ant wh o co mes here In go od
fait h , becomes an America n a nd assi m ilates h imself 10 us he sha ll be
trei\led on an exact eq ua lity w ith eve ryone else , for it is a n out rage to
di scrimina te again st <lny s uch ma n bcci\u se of creed 6r bir thplace or
origin .
But th is is p redicat ed upon the man's becoming in ve ry fact a n. American
.lnd nOlh ing but i\n Am erican . If he Iril'S to h ep scg n.'f;a ted WII~ ~en o f
his tlwn u ri"i n a nJ sepMall" '~ 1 fro m IhL' rlost tlf J\ me rk ;'l , lhen hL' Isn t d u-
in6 his pMt as an AmL'rican.
There can be no d ivid ed allegia nce here, Any ma n w ho SilYS he is an
Amer ican, but so me th ing else also, isn'l a n America n at all. We havc
room (or but one n :lg, the Amer ic;)n [lilg,.and th is exclud es the red flag,
w h ich sym boli zes all wilrs agains t libert y and d viliz;:ation , just.as m uch
as it exclud es a ny foreign flag of a na tio n to w h ich we a re hosltl e.
We ha ve roo m for but o ne la nguage he re, ilM th at is the Engli sh lan-
guage, for we int end to see thilt the crucible turns our ~ple ou t as
Americans o f A me rican natio na lity, and not as d welle rs m a polyglot
board ing house; and we have roo m for but one soul loya lly, and Ihat is a
loyally to thl:! America n pe ople. 2
For bilingual Mex ica n A me rica ns, w hose bicu ltu ra l presence in th e U.nit.ed
Sta tes antecedes Plym ou th Rock , s uc h re strictive, narrow, a nd ~onohHlI~
views o f being American negated their ve ry being and way of hfe. Re a~lIll g
to th e exclus ion and forced ab sorption inherent in su ch sc he mes o f nati onal
des tiny, Chic!lnos articulated a co un terheg emonic move ment of soc ial and
culluml resonance.
EI Mov imiento: The Chicano Cultural Projeci
.' Although the s tru ggle for soci al, political. a nd economic equa~ity. has bee n
~
"
j a,
a ce ntra llene t o f Chica no h istory since 18.. the efforts to Ulllo lllze
Cillifornia farm workers launch ed by Ces.u Chavez in u)65 signa led a
:; i nati ona l mo biliz,1lio n among Mexk a n-d escen dcd pt:!ople known as EI
:1
"
,•
,', '
 Mike Davis
LA Was Just The Beginning
Urban Revolt in the United States,
A Thousand Points of Ught

Mike Davis is the author of PrUoner. of 1M

Alfteriaul Drum and City of QUlZrtz:
£r.anJatinr the Future in LA .. He presently
teaches at the Southern California Institute
of Atchitecture.

C Mike Davis, 1992; 0 The Nation, 1992

Sections of this pamphlet are revised ver-

sions of articles that originally appeared. in
1M Nation; "Urban America Sees Its Future:
In LA., Burning All IDusions,'"n.e Nation, 1
June 92; " Bla cks are Dealt Out: Racial
Caldron ln Las Vegas: Th< NAt""', 6 July92

This pamphlet is printed entirely

on add-free recycled. paper.

Publish<d by Open Media

Pmtphlet 120
o,.n MogozW P..."nkl S<rits
Fim Printing. August 1992

OPEN MAGAZINE
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·wIth .....·aod< _ .... _ _ lhm,.......... One week later,.Mac:Atthur Park entered a sta te of
OPEN MAGAZINE· 9Ol:Ift; La V".:t::now how to Jausb ."., rnJrf d ' -
siege. A special-vir: Tap" hodine invites peop4e II) infonn
on naghbcmJ or' ~taneeI suspected of looting. Elite
pAMPHLETS SERIES e::eoept the finU-c:ne; Yet there was a new mei.Inddy in
L.A.P.D. Metro Squad unilS, . upponed. by the N.tional
INFORMATION LEADS TO ACTION
·the air.
Too ....l'poopIe haft -'Iooing thoU
.
'*'
,nxdw $S.2S-an-haur joba as tea.tMtI , 1Ulonn,. bus.-
their
Guard.. swept thtoush the tI!neInI!nIS in seuch of stolen
goods.. while Border Patrol:nwn &om.. far away 15 Tcas
_phl«·21 hIIaphIet l' boys and facto ry worken. In two )'Un of receMion, prowl the streetL Frantic parents IeUdl. for missinI kids,
Seymour Melman HoWlird Zinn une<npIoy<n<nt hal tripIod .. L.A.', mun;g,ant.,.;ghbo<- like mentaDy retarded 14-yeat-old ZuJy £stracLa" who is
On us Economy Lepcy Of Columbu hoods. At Christmas molt than 20,000 predominantly beiiritd to have been. deponed to Mexico.
Pamp}Wt s.n.. F-b&N Lec:bI:re: Mad.... WI lAtina women and children from throughout the oentral M-nwtWe. thousands of M/ffUlJ4ora, many oI lhem
city w aited all ni8ht in the coki to collect a free turby md. pMhetic .cannpn e:aptund in the d\arred ruins the day
Pampb1d18 PmDpbMtl1 BURNING ALL ILLUSIONS after the Jootipg, languiIh in County Jail, unable to meet
a blanket from charidIs. 0tMr visible buomttu. of dis-
L. Ross &: M. Fried Rosalyn Baxandall
Reproductive: Freedom WQlDm 6:: Abortion LOS ANGELES . The armored personnel carri e r
tns& are the n,pidly powing mkxties of hom"
p4MrDt on the dellolate 8&nb of Crown Hill and in the
1:0"- at.wdly high bails. One man, caupt with a packet of
sun80wa :seedsand two c:u1ons of milk. is being hdd en
Pamphlet Sui. Future Pamphlet s.n- Feature squats on the comer like lUi ,rn upo /e-"a big ugly S15,(XX) bail; hundreds of othen face felony indictments
cencrete bed of !he LA. Rinr, where people are forocecllO
Pam~dl0 PUDe,hkt13 tead...-ac:axding to 9-year-old Emerio. His parents ulk use sewage water fat bathing and cooking. and poeaible two-year prison tenns. Prosecutors deII'Iand
Noam Chomsky EdWard W Said anxiously, almost in a whisper, about the dft4p4recido. : A. mothers and fathers Ieee their jobs, or a. Wlem· thitty-day jail SEntences for cwfew violalOrl. despite the
Medi.. Control Peace in the: Middle East Raul from Tepic. big MArio, the younger Flores girl and played m.tives move .meier the sheller of \:be extended faet that many of those ..re eithu homeless street people
Ledure: Kentfield, CA Pamphlet SuieI Feataft the CDUSin. from Ahwu:h.lpu\. Like all Salvadorans, they family, theft is inaeuing pressure on tee:nagers to sup- or Sp&nish-speaken who were unaware of the curfew.
know about thote who "disa ppear." they remember the plement the family income. Belmont High School is the n.e- are the "weai.· that George Bush says we Inutt
Pamphletl5 .Pame hlet 14 headless corpses and the man whose tongue had been pull from the soil of our cities before it an be KJWn with
pride of "1.itt1e Centl'lll Ameria,· but with neady 4,500
George Carter Tom Alhanasiou pulled through the hole in his throat like a necktie. That rs . tudents it it seYeMly overcrowded. and an adcl.itional the regenerating ·seeds · of enterprise zones and tax
Acr UP "AIDS us "Globol Wuming why they ame here-to ZIP code 90057, Lot AngeMs-. 2,.000 studa1.ts must be bused 10 distant tchooJs in the San blabixpriv... apitaL
Pamphld Seria Feaeun rMlphkt s.n. Feabue ColiIcmiL There. rising apprehmsion tNt the «'lbre communi-
Fernando Valley and elRwhere. Fully 7,(XX) school..ge

._Iod
Pairlphld 12 PaapbIet9 Now they are counting their friends and neighbors, telnlgen In the Belmont arel, ~, han dropped ty will becomE a scapegoaL An ugly, xaI-~
Helen Clldicott Michael Emery s.1vadocan and Me:ldcan.. who are suddenly gene. Some out of school Some have enteftd the La IUa 1001 of png natmsm. has been growing like crabtra- in Southern
Compuaicmate Society How Mr. .... Got In. w. aft still in the Cowtty jail on Baur:het Street. lib alOf'e culture (there are 100dif£e:n!Iltgangs in the -=hool district Califomia sinat the start of the .e .Cl"'i. A lync:h mobof
Ledvre: BouJd ..... co PalDpb1et Sa:ieI Futaa than brown grains of sand lof t &InOnS the l2..5'S othe1' that includes Wmorat High), but P'Kl5t are stnJgg.ling to Omnge Co<lnty by Ropnoon..... Dono
alleged ~ra (looters) and i1luWrto. {ancxUNs) find minimum-wage fooddds in .. declirWtg eca:1OO1J· ~ of Hw,tiillllui1 hc:h,. demands the iaund-
AD Pampbletl an S1.5O ppd.
detau.J. after the molt 1'ioIent American ciTiI disturbanr:e The neighbors in MacArthur Park whom. I tneer- a. depoctation of aU the undoc:um.dlted ilJunistuts
IMMEDIAST UNDERGROUND since 1M lriIh poor bwned Manhattan in 1863. 'JhoM Yiewed,. such. • Emerio's putn~ all speU of Ihis pther- anated. b\ the dlstutbance while Ubenl Oetnoe:tat
l

SEIZING lHE MEDIA
Throughout tItio 26 page punphletol theo<y, pap""', ud
P"'l"'Mb, tho bnmedWt IJndapoond ails ... tho - . .
bon of public SpKe and the development of • national
public medi.I network. Grounded in an uneompromisir1g
aitique of mass media as the bl1loinas of capturing and
se llinS public attention to corporabe .dverti~rs. the
hrunediasts bkncl ~ture. playfulness, n insur-
gen t theory .., initial tact:ic:s for glasno6t in the United
Slates. 'The first title in • new 1nini1eries. S3ppcL
--+--
Pamphlet Series Subecr:iptiona
10 new titles ant 6tst ct.- 1Mll --$.'J)
Fora canof"'"Jr-uuq
JaIl _ SASEto:
without p.pen .. re probably already back in TJjU&NI,
broke and. disconsolate, cut off from their families and
_Iiva V _ S city poJi<y, tho poI;cered hun<beds 01
hapless undOC\Ul\«nted '."JluJoru to the I.N .S. for
deportation before the A.C.L.V . or iDunigrant rights
groups even ~ they had beerl amsted.
For manydaysthe televrsion talbd only of the "Sou th
Central riot,.. "'black np" and. the "COps and Bloods."
But 2metio'. p8rW'l1t Jcnow tNt thousands oJ their neigh-
bon from the MacArthur Puk dist:rict--hocn to nearly
one-lenth of aD the S&lvadorans in the wodd--abo Icoted..
burned. .tayed out put curfew and went to jail . (A
Sheriff'. Depa.ttment an.aly. i. of r iot-related ..rrests
~ tNt ~ were Latino, .u% African Atnerican
atld lrt. AnIlo. Sixty percent lacked. prior criminal
~ ) They alia know that the naticn'. tint Iftwtirac:iaJ
riot w• • much ..bout empty bellis and broken t.J'tI
ing sense of unmse,. .. perception of a future alrndy
looted. The riot arrived like a magic dispensation.. People
were initially shocbd by the violence. then mesmerized
by the televised images of bir.. cial aowds in South
Central LA helping them:lIeives to a\Q\mWna of et.inIbie
goods without inledae.....e froat the police. The next day,
Thursday, April 30, the authorities blW¥ieted twice: first
by suspending school and releasing the kid. into the
streets; second by annow\dng that the National Guatd
was on the way., help enforce a dusk-to-dIwn c:wfew.
Thousandt immediately inEiptelEd this • a Iat call
to participate in the genenI redistribution of weallh in
1""8'- r.-.g op<.-I with upIoo;.. """" tIuougbout
Hollywood. Mid-W_ud MocAnhur PuI<. .. wtIl ..
parts of Echo Puk,. Van Nuys and HW'ltington Park.
A!tho<>gl> ......... op<.-I"'lfy'''s _ dle loot-
ing crowds were penoed by a Yitible moral economy.
Anthony 8ei1enaon, sounding like the San Femando
ValIoy'._-Lo-Pm, "'.".... to otrip citizordlUp ....
tho U.s........ _ 0I1IIogob. """"""s to _
Lovato of MacArthur Park'. Central American Refugee
Center, -We are becotning the guineI pigs, the Jews, in
the militarized laboratufy where George 8uIh it inventing
his new urban order."
A BlACK INIlFADA?
1Jttle Canpte:r" Tak can't get 0ft1 his amu.ement
tNt he is actu.aDy -.nding in the lame i'OOdl oIllroth!r
Aziz'. IDClIqUe: with • bunch of Inglewood Cripe. The
.........., 22-yoor_ Tak. a '-st't up" Inglewood
lIIood who Ioob .... lib a bIad< angel by lo6cIloIonpIo
.... cae 01 tho Boyz 'N dle Hood. ..m Itu two Ctlp hul-
leD in tu. body, aDd..they still CIt:ty .. jew oIl1line.· Soaie
cI tho Cdpa ud 0< no! gang .coIon ·

• tt ....bxrtpalice-'::"and Rodney King. A. one Iftidd1e..4pd lady apbined to me. -s-tin& is a bne t.n nttaal tribIl8lp, ~cneaDDllber'froIn
OPEN MAGAZINE !he __ befote. the riot was W ! cnaWy hot. At
nlgl>t tho poopIe 1Ingaod"- on tho _ ud __
*" but thiI.lib a KIe,iaio:. pIM thaw where wery-
one in the ..udieIlce sets to~" UnHb the kJoten in
- p1a,gtOWd daya. boa -.It """ ..... _ ....
thE bure1a of automatics in a Wat that hat diYided
PAMPHLIIT SERIES
walb of their tenements (Ma cA rth ur Park is L.A: s HoUywood (1IClIne ClI\ skaMboerds) who . - Madoona', JngIo.ood-<he..,-.~ bid-majority city ..........
MAlNomcr SpmiIh Harlan), ta1Ulg ..bout their new burden of trou--
_ ud.oD dleClO4<:hloooJlO'"* _ _.. tho
of L.A. whue the t.abn P1aY--br a riRr of teenap
P.O. Box 27.16 WeoIfieId. New)mey ble. In .. neighborhood far more crowded than mid - D1UIa of MacAtthur Park C'DnClmtrated OIl the prouic blood. N;)w, as Tak explaina. ~erybody knows what
0'1091 USA.Telel9Olll_ ~ties 01 life lib cod::tc:«1. tpny and diapers. time it is. If we don't end the kiIlin& now and unillie as
AMSTERDAM" EU!tOPE ;
Manhattan and more dangeous than downtoWn Detroit.
,,,
7•• • 2 .... 4Hollord
I 2 3
.. ~

,lick m«l,. we neverwilL"
" AJthou8h Imam AziZ and the Nation of. IsLam have
rorided the fcnD&1 auspc. foe psc:emaltinS,. the rea1
wds tNt have ..tied the red and blue rap IlJSdher into
• -black thI:n(.. ate D Simi V..,.. Wilhin a few bouts of
M fiDt aaack on white motorists,. whichstadIlld in EJsht-
l'ray (83rd Stzeet) c.nptet Crip t:e:nitory n-r Florence
lnd Nonnandie. the insatiab'" war between the C:rips and
1&oods,. fueled by a thouund neighborhood vendettas
..t doodlooo>oboy>. was'put an hold' ~ Loo
~ -.d ..... odja<m' bid . . - . . of Caatptan "'"
'nsJowood.
Unlike the 1965 rebeD.iao. which broke out south of
Watts and remainsI primarily ~ on the poorer east
~ of the ghetto. the 1992riot ~ its maximum 1eIn-
>enture along Crenshaw Boulevatd--the very heart of
."Iack t.e:. Angeles's more afBuent westside. Despite the
illusion of full·iaunerSion -actuality'" proYided by the
tninicaJn and the helicopter, telerisicn's cowrage of the
riot's atlFY Idse wu even more twiNed than the melted
s_1 of CRnshaw's devastated shopping centers. M05t
tepCClI!I5--....unage looters' as they &Ie now being called
.. _ ConttoJ....<natiy!ip-<yndwd ........... - . . . ..
they tramped through the ruins of lives they had no
de:sift to undentand. A violent bleiOOImpe of bewilder-
inS comp1e:xity wu Battened into a single. calegOrical tee-
Mricr. leptimate blAck anger oYer the KIns d«:ision
hijad:ed by hard<ere street crimina_ and transfoaned
into a macIcIewd _uk on their own ClDCNIlUl\iI:y.
1.o<al ........ _ unwiltin&lY mimed the -
Coaunillion's swnmary judpnent tNt the Aupst 1965
Watts riot wu primarily the act of a hoodlum. fringe.ln
that ale, a subsequent U.CL.A. study revealed that the
- riot of the rif&aft'" wa in fKt a popular uprising imoIv-
inlat -.sa: SO,QXl wCAkhl&~ adults and Iheit ~
chiIdrw\. When the anet records of Ihis 1&_ uprising
a.. linaIIy analyDd. they will probobly aJoo _ .....
judgment of many residents dvIt aU segsnents of bLla
youth,. png and non-gang. '"buppie' as well as undler-
d-.1OClk p-" in the diioIder.
Al1bousl''' Loo........ _ ..... - black
aUddIe <J- bas oociaIIy "'" opatIaIIy paJIod luther aport
from the deindustriaUzed black workinS dass, the
I.A.PDo'. Opera_ Hammer "'" other ~ dtag-
nets that ansted kids at random (entering their names
and adda into . . electronic prig toA!r that ;. now
pro'Ying useful in house-to-hoUM searches for riot
"ringleadasj hive tended to c:riminalize bLlck youth
without class cn.tinc:tion. Between 1987 and 1990, the
combine:i sweepsof the J...Aj)D . and the County Sheriff"s
.-........-.1 50.000 ·_·Even the _
dcctors and ~ from VIeW Park and Wud.or Hills
of
hn'ehad to .... theP*.~and ocaDa".Dyendure
IICADe of the humWatiana that tba hameba)'s in the Aats
faceevery ~Y . ¥ iiencB that teinfotte the NPutatian
of the pnp (and their poets la\I.fUte; the gangster ra~
pen like JceCube and N.WA) as the heroesoi an outlaw
geMidon.
Yet if the riot had a breed mcial base, it was the par.
,;apotianofthep_,-' _ _ tian--<l>a•
gave it const.Int momentum and directiCAL If the 1965
rebellion WD a hurric:3nt, 1eveIing one hundred bk:cb of
Central Avenue from Vernon to lrnperia1 Highway, the
1992 riot w_ a tornado, no . . destruc:ti.ve but snakinga
z;pe aNne tIuouSh ..... .........,.;al ..... of the ghdto
and beyond. MeA of the media saw no patlilm in its path.
just blind, nihiliJtk dstruc:tian- In fae:t. the anon was
NthlMsIy systematic:. By Friday morning 90 percentof the
myriad J(oreanooWned liquor stores. markets and swap-
meets in South Central L.A. had been wiped ouL Desertec:l
by the LA.P.D. which In&de no attempt to defend small
busir • the Korean5 suffered damage or destruction to
almost 2,000 storn from Compton to the he art of
Ko~town itself. One of the first to be attacked (although.
ironically, it survived) was the grocery store where 15-
year~ Latasha Harlins was shot in the baa of the had
last yeu by Korun gt'l)CE Soon Ja Du in a dtsput:e over a
51.19 bottle of orange juicl!. The girl died with the morwy
""" "" J""<h- .."" hand.
Latalka Harlins. A name that was scarcely mentiane:l
on television was the key to the Cltast:rophic rollapse of
reLltions between l.A.'. black and Korun coaununitieL
Ever since while judge Joyce K.rlin let Du off with a ssm
fine and lOme C'ODlmwUty servic:e-a sentence wNch
dedared that the taking of a bIac:k child's life was ac:uaeIy
more serious than drunk.driving-some interdhnie
ecpkJAan has been virtually inevitable. The several '*l-
riota at th!: Compton courthl:louse this winter were early
Wllming signal s of the black ooaununity's W\&I5W1ged
Con"" W _ y " ' " Th"-y, ( W.. _oodIy-
grief av er HarliN's m\llder. On the streets of South
--rNa is for our baby siMer. This is for Latuha.'
The ba1a.nce of grievances in the coaununity is ann-
plex. Rodney King is the symbol that llnb unleashed
polic:e racism in I..os AnpIes to the c:risis ol black life
everywhere,. from Las Vegas to Toronto. Indeed, it is
breccxnins dar that the ICing caa may be a1Irlaa as much
of a watershed in American hiAory as Dred Scott. a tISt of
the very meaning of the citizenship for which Afrian
AJnori<aN have ""'88Iod "" 400,.....
But on the pus-rt'IOb level, especiaUy amonS pns
youtt.. Rodnoy JGoa may not have qui" the ...... ptO-
found mmnance. ~ one of the Inglewood Bloods. told
'"" 1lodney JGoa? 9tJ~ JAY _ be \>eo. tib doga by
..... poIIoo.-y day. Thlo dot;. about an the homel>oya
mwdeIod by ..... poU<o..- ....._ _ 1dIIed by lite
~abau.t twenty.--wrt years ofcwr ·ra Rodnq
IIJng juot the trigger.'
At the same time, those who prmic:ted tNt the next
L.A . riot would be a literal Armageddon have been
5
proved wrong. 1lelIpitea tI......-.d Day..CJo ahartatlans
em the-waOs ·of South Central to "'KW the Polic:e,- the
......._ ""'ainod &om ..... doodIy guoailla ........
"tNt thq are so formidably equipped to conduc:t. As in
1%5, ..... hat not been a '"'sIe I.A.PD . fatality, "'"
........ few _ _ poIIoo D1jurioo 01any kind.
In this fOW"ld, at Ieat. the brmt of gang power was
_ lOWud the looting "'" deotnxtian of ..... ""'-n
seees, U Latasha JUrlins . the im~ PftII!ld, there
may be other agendas a. well. I saw g:raf:6ti in South
Central that ad voca ted ' o.y one: bum them. out. Day
two: we rebuild.' The only natianalleadet whom DQt
Crlps and Bloods see m. to take seriously i . Louis
Fmakhan, "'" his p i 01black""""""'" aoIf.detonnlna-
tion is broadIy ...- . (Fmakhan, it oltoWd beattploa-
sized.. has never advoc.ated violenor as a means to this
ond.l A ...... lngIowood _"""""" _ _ place on
May5, ti'left were repeated tefen!nc:es eo a rmais5ance of
black capitalism. out of the ashes of Korean busineues.
..After alL' an ex-Crip told me lam, ' we didn't bum our
coau:nunity, just their .....'
In the meantime. the poUae and military oa:upien of
Los Angeles give no ae:Ience 10 any pmcefuI.. let aIane
entrepreneurial, ~tion of L.A.'. black gang c:ul-
twa. The'«utnenkaI InOYement 01 the CripI and. Bloods
is their want i.Jnapning: sana: yiaJenr::::ie no lanpr tatdam
but paHtidzed into a b&ac:k kl.ti&dL Tbe I-A.P.D. mnmt-
ben a"lIy too· well that a senentian aso the Watts Nbel-
lion produced a gang p-ce out of which snw the Los
AngeIeI branch of the BIacltPanther Party. M if to prove
anonymoua ond pOIaibly _Ioollet
their suspidons. the police have citculated • copy of an
WIing " " _
unity and 'an ~ for an eye~_ If L.A.P.D. hurt a black
wt:'U kill two."
For its Jl'i&t\. the Bush AdmirUtIatian has fedaaliz:ed
the repression in L.A.-the OlOSt sweeping since the
Nixoo era-with an eye 10 the spec1Ide of the President
m.a.rdting in triumph.. lib a Roman emperor, with cap-
tured Crips and Bloods in chains. ThUll, the Justice
Department has dispatched to L.A. the same elite tIltk
force of fedenlln&tlhals who c:apturw:i Manatl Nor.ieg.a
in PanAIN, a. well as ptoteeuter WIlliam Hogan from.
Chicago, who led the fedentl tnkfarce that aushecl the
Windy Qly'. ....... EI Rulon __ Tho FIll. wItich hat
aMiped 100 agentlto tria down the suppc.ed sans
. downtown.. that became the symbol of a ~ new
inIti&a- 01 the riot. _1odpo .... ·tItla .... frankly,
.....b;ggtsteltOrt ....., fodonIIy.'
Crudal to the lastic. Dep artment's s trategy in
Soulhcon"" l-A- ;. the application of RICO, ..... - . J
anti-rac:bteering; "w, that aUo1n: the government to
indict . treet gangs a. ttiminal organiutions. U.S.
Attomey Lowdos _ hat promiood that RICO Will be
..-I onaporingIy ......_ _- _ _
suppc::cba5, memw~ &Ie.5INddng Iheir lips ovt:r' the
appetWng eIecloJaI fallout of a trig federal \i<toty .,..,
, 7
L.A.'s street gangs. But as a veteran of the 1965 riot saKI.
while watefUfta SWAT teams arrest some of the hUi'\dteds
of riva l ganS members trying to meet peacefull y at
Watts' s Jordan Downs Housing Pro;e:ct: '"That ole fool
Bush think we u dumb as s.dda.m.. t.nd. Marines in
Campton and get hiself re-ele:ctecI. But this atn 't Iraq .
This is VIetrWn. Jad::.'
THE GREAT FEAR
A cone pievance fueling the Watts rebellian and the
sabsequent urbut insurrections of 1967-68 was rising
black unanplayment in the midst of a boom C!ICOnOIny.
What CDl\temporuy journalistsfelrfully desaibed as the
beginning of the -Second Civil War"" was as much a
protest against bIAc:k America's exclusion from. the aUli-
tary.K.eynesian expansion of tht 1960s as it was an upris-
inS asawt police raciscn and de facto segregation in
Jc:hoob; and housing . The 1992 riot and. its fC*loieprop-
ro. must likewise beunderstood as inst1rftaions against
an intolerable: politia.l«:onoatic oider. As even the Lo.
AIIZtlu Titna, aWn c:heerIeader for -World City LA..-
now .s..itorially acknow ledges, the " globalization of Los
Anples- has produced -devastating poverty for thole
wak in skills and. ~'
Although the 51 billion worth of liquor stores and
mini·malls destroyed. in L.A. may seem like chump
cha1p nat to the S2.6 trillion recmdy alU\ihilated on tht
Tokyo Stocl< Exdw>p. ... bunting of 0. ptobably 615
into the same Hegelian niche with the bUf$litlg of the
Bubble Ecmamy: not the "end of histoty" at the seac:aat
of Malibu but the beginning 01-an ominous dialedil= on
the rim of the Pacifie. It was a haUuc:inatian in the &m
piKe to ~ that the whet'l 01 the world economy
coWd be _ lnde6ni"'Y by a Himalaya 01U.s. .....
deficits md a 6ditiaul )'8\-
This - . I aisis of ..... Japon-e.- . _
perity tpheft,- however, threatens to b'anI1IIte dus can-
tradid:ionl into intemhnk conflict on both the national
ond IocaIIoftI.CullWa11ydistinct ............ _ _
etbnic' mtrq:meneuts and the like--risk beins 11m as the
persan.a1 repraentatiV8 of the invisible hand that has
laoBi laca1 coaununities of ecDnClIiI'Uc: autonomy. In the
c:ase of t.e:. Angeles. it wu tragicaUy the nei.ghborhacxt
- . tiquo< _ - the okyoaap..- ""P""''''-
_oodo<.
en _ _ ..... baIf ..
L.A. haw bem piTdri .po a»y aca.ted by the failure of
the . . . to praIed themapiNt blKk Pge-Indeed. IeVeJ>.
" _ " " - ' - _ " " that they wae"'f"riaJIy _
that the South Central shopping malls ~trolled by
AIeoa_ Haason- a - J t h y . . . - to local pOO....
,.... qukkIy do&,..oed by police and National Guud.
whiletheirstclreI WIft JeisureIy ransac:bd and burnedto
the ground. ~ thiI is what ~ get.... a u.c.LA. stu-
,

dent said,. "for' uncritically buying- into the white nUdcUe
caws.ttitude toWUd. bUcband its faith in bpolice."
The ~ foe. multicultural rea:aciliaticn in 1.05
Angel.. depend much leu. OR whi~ knight Peter
Uebe .cAh', emnmittee ofaxponte rebuiJderf than upon
I
I
• gmera1 economic nxovery in Southem Calilomia. M
the 1M AllIe/a Bu iMS' Jo."u' COIl\P1ained (after not-
ing that LA. had loet 100,000 manufacturing jobs over the
I truce and place Bowen 00. the pftS of their homeboys
p"" _ y<U$), 'The _ ee Iike podm adaUni>Iaed
to a sid. ~tient." Recznt forecuts &om the Southern
!,
,
CAlifornia Auociation of GovenuIlmti p&int a da rk
future lo< tl>e Land ofSunslUne." job powth. oIowodby
thedecline of ~ . weD as manufac:tutingshifts to
Mexico, lags far behlnd population increase.
Unmtploymlnt ra-.......aot alIUnq the estUnated 4J.aJO
jobs Ioct from the riot" and the uprising's impect on the
business cllinate---&re predkted to remain at 10 to 13 per-
cent (and 40 to SO percent for minority youth) for the next
generation.. while the hou .ing crisis, already the most
acute in the nation. will spill over into new waves of
hoJne1eun,eu. Thus, the "widening divide" of incotne
inequality in t..os Angeles County, desaibed in I; land-
mark 1988 sNdy by V.c.LA. ptofes5ot' PlIuJ Ong.. w ill
become an unbridgellble chaS1D- Southern ~·s
erw:ne.1UINRC!I' is finalty 0Ya'.
Af8uent AngeIeno& inItindiveIy.enMd this as ttwy
patrolkd their Hancock Park ..... w ith Ihotpn:& or
boIt8::l in thIir BMW. rot while anctuarieI in Oranp and.
Ventura counties. From Pa1Dl Sprinp poolsidea tb!y anx-
iously a"';tod MWa of tl>e bunUn8 0I 1levor1yHills by tl>e
~ and Bloods,. and fr-.d 0ftI' the ectra :8 of house
..,.. tl>ey had looI;ahIy ........... ., tl>e La_ man
W.. the now an ineePdiarist? Althoup their fun
were hyaterically magni6td. tentacles of disorder did
pmetnltll such sane:twn5 of white life as the Beverly
Cm_ and Westwood. VlDap, as well as the MehaIe and
Fmfu ~. Moot aJamtinIlY, tl>e L.A.P.D.'.
"thin blue line,.... which. had protllcBi than in 1965,. was
now tittle more tNn . defunet metaphor, the last 01 0Uef
Gates's bad jobs.
LA. IGNITES LAS VEGAS
hundred Cript and Bloods, ignomg the stann wanUnp.
were marUy bubequing potk ribs and passing around
~ botdes of beet_ Eartie:t in the day, do:z.ens of
fo nnedy hostile sets with na mes like Anybody'.
Mwds"en (AIIM). Donna _ Cripo and North T.....
BloocB had joined at a ,.n,y c:o:neemy to INJ'k a sana
(there were twenty-seven local gang-related deaths in
1991). Now _ .-.tWe ......,. and thei< aIrlfrionda
were swapping pbs and new rap 1yrir::s.
But gathainp of tv. or .more people.. however ami-
cable. haw been t.nned since: May 17 by Sbaiff"s orGer
throushout 1M V. . . . WId We!ItIide as weD as in the
_ thia"""""""
neighboring btue-mUar suburb of Noeth Las Vegas. To
odkt. Metro Polke puIIod up In
front of Valley V'II!'W Park in ttu- V-100 al"l:hOr*i ~
net C2rrien borrowed froa\ a nearby Air Forc.1r baae. WhIn
defiant p;adcl<as ....- ., <Uapetoo. tl>e "'P' oponod up
with teat sa. and concUllion grenades. The Las Vegas
-riots- Md resumed for the fourth weekend in a row
aln<e tl>e Ilodrey l<lna....nct had ;plod a .. dot""" of
bladan-va-
ntI RUUS HAW CHANGED, N _
I caught up with some of the C2SUalt* in the pulcine
lot of a bumecklut n wket an bola atl!r. M a fHc:ina.t.
aowd watdled. Yolanda. who said IbewM17, exhibi-.:l
tl>e bloody pah in her I<s- while her boyfrlon<I. [)ovid.
hopped around oxcitodly wi" a mDlIplod oIIva-pm
caniseer in his hand. -Check thit; o ut!- he coaunanded.
_what....-..,. .. he _ tl>e ulfedlrc pIOjoo-
tile in JAY face. I reK the label out Iow1: -Model m,
llu............ sa.nCnNde.·
-We ·were just holYtng a piaUc. a zoddamn peaoefuI
pimic, - David repeated. SeYeral kid• • tared hard,
unblink.ing, in my dirw:tkJn,. Someone lobbed an empty
Colt 45 botde into the ~ Then a tall fisure: .in a
CeoIgetown .-1Shirt gnbbsi my ann. -You'd better
1pUt. man. U you want an interview, come Nc:k tomot-
toW. I'll tIdl you anythinl you want 10 Jcnaw about t..e:.t
fu<kin' V-..1_ hla...... He Iaual-l' 1"" <all
.... N;ae D. VaJIoy V_ Canplo< Cripo.ox ?""
I went 1oold:nI for D. the nlDCt day. Weft Las Veps
~:lD)lOO) II tl>e anOp<>de" tl>e ptoooo...-
J'la»--the cI<*It thing on the Westside to a shopping
center. He reca1IId the nigh t 01 April 30, the day afta' the
:
LA. TBdict,. when protest tumed. to riot and sans mem-
bers-looted and firebo mbed buildings, including the
_ Supe<1 Marl>at in the middle of tl>e plaza.
· A young . """'" (high adwoI """'" Iaalah Owlea Jr-l
went in to reec:ue a little girl. She managed.10 get out, b ut
he was trapped when the roof coUiIpeed. The fire dIpart-
eeoe h¥l alteady run away, 10 the fire ju5t burned for a
IonS time... He showed. me the charred remains of an
adjaant N.A.A.c.P. office and AIDS cIiN<.
Although the sale of arson damage in West ta.
Vega (15 million) was minute c:ompand with lhat 01 Los
Angels (about II biIlioa), the thaer fwy of c:on&cntation
was, if anything. D'lOl'e intense. Accounts of that first day' s
events have a Rasho mon -like ambiguity, only here no
third pa rt y eme rges to resolve the contradic tio ns.
Everyone a~ tha t rioting did not begin until about
7:30 m the evening oj the 30th. after police UItd ... gas
to tum back several hund.n!d young blads trying to
tn.I.«h from the Westside to dowhb:Wrn.. From that JXHnt
the .tories dnllnatiaJty diYage': the 1oc:-1 rwwspIpe:rs'
versaxt.almost totally reliant en polic2 reports. wma the
street~el paspective of )'OWII African Americ:ans I:i.b"
D.
According to Metro Polic:e UeuL 5m'e Franb (who
would shoot • teenager during the eecond. \o'..eebnd 01
disturNnces), "Ow' inteWsence was that if that group
had reKhed downlO'Wl\. they Weft rMdy to Rt fire to the
hotels. &d it not been fat our officIFs dUs town would
h.ve gene up in Sames.- D. ..,.. .."... is Ida!: bu1lIhit.
We were only trying 10 demCI.,.te Ilpinst the Rodnl!y
l<lna vaWct and _ _ """ here in Laa Vap. The
policejust wanted an exE:USe toattaclt us.-
HaYin8 brobn up tl>e _ tl>e paID ""dorwd off
trIOSt of W.t t.. Vegas and drew weapons IX!. anyone
who ap proached their barricades. Hunciredl 01 young
people, manwhlle. had "'S'O"I"'d ..... tl>e Ganan Pall:
pro;eets.. ",here the local Kir\pmm Gang was hoatins an
impto...p tu. petty foethe vuiou& Crtp mel Blood. . who
had a~ tl>e _ _ day-oJ'l'U"nlly...._
new. from LA.- to stop fighting . Acmrdlng to D., <I-
Metm -rad car d.rove straight into the festiTe c:rowd.
cae who could confir:m either of these lurid sIorieI,. which
the city'. two daily ~ dialmUnated uncritic&Uy to a
hcuified white pubUc. Nor were there fOUow·up reports
01 . uspects in such crimes from among the I I1 people
-.
At the same time, the media. a. in t.os Angeles, stu-
diously avoided any reference to police misconduct d ur-
I ing the disturbcnca. 0 .. however, has vivid ftIt'OlJecrion5.
~ and my friends left after the shooting Rarted..- he
.1 said. -Our car was puUed over a few bklcb Illtl!'r. When
we asked what we had done wrong. a big redneclc cop
Mid,. "'lM rules haft c:Nnged. nigger' and hit me in the
face w ith his pistol. I wa. held 6ve days in jail for
-obItrudioa.' The cops threw away my LD. and health
c:ud,.10I loamy job . t Carl' s ]urtiot.-
D. got out of jaUjust in time 110 witness the renewa) of
violence on Sunda y, May 10. Once again kids gathered
nell' Gerson Park to play softball and party. Metro Police
alJed in an annored personnel carrier' and began shoot-
ing wooden bullets at the crowd. The following w-':end.
wa. a virtual rerun, as a gang picnic at the Doolittle
Community Centu disintegrated into a wild. aU-nigh t
eelee between cops in their V-l00s and hundreds of
--you....
D. thinks these now-ritual confrontations will only
grow more viol ent over the summer. Lib other b lack
)"DUdw with whom I tpOke, he beUev. that Clark County
_ john Moton "wIIJ do anything. _ ..........
1O break up the [gang] unification pl'OC'eM-- Indeed. D.
~ the others are (U,.ilad that . Rant cfrive.byshoot·
t, qthatwoundod fow .......... of the ·RcIIin'600 (a loal
brandt of the funou. LA. Clip set) wa actua1Jy orp-
ftiud by the poU<e. lhoy abo apeak deriAnly 01 the
-reverse bUy- program. in which undaO)'\l'eI cops poseas
drug clalera to entnp aac.k addicts whom they then
«Ift'D! into becoming police infonrwlts.: D. warned me
that Las Veg:a is on.the verge of what he ails -an under-
I"""'d holoca...... Why?
by
MISSISSIPPI WI$I'
Although.Las V...... mythoglaphers (moM: nlCIIndy,
Wunn &.tty in Bupy) typically elide race,. Wack _tier.
eu.s and Iabonn pla,-l decisi:, e roles in the trarllfor-

Lu Vegas's frenzied Me'D'lorial Day weekend wa s

wmdlng down with tl>e promiae 01 a b;g atonIL Spring
lightning danced in the dark douds abow 0Ladest0n
Pookand tl>e Valley 01_ M rain<Uopo tl>e_0I.un.
doUus intermittently tplattered the sidewalb outside,
weary' ~ IeUen counted a q1lUtll!:t..billkm doDars in
I the m-tbelt ..d i PS of a petto.. It1 c:Ietaclwi homes
ho8day. ~ue.. ~ tt. Mo;a"o 5O)XX) homebound
.............. _ " " ' ' - buInper " baDlpa", &om
iTaoplh D<y Lab., t h e _ o f LA.. 250 . ... .waY.
In a tIMIl pat in the DOrtmlut put of town.. teftft1
,.
, ,.
I 9
oIckM.1IoWn and the Strip. Grit without pltW,
hoeek, caIinclI. ~keu. b.nb lX ft'8\ ~ bus
it'"
........ YO\.Iib Sooth Cenbal LA. • ........,.--
lack th e verdant.. A.t:roturf~Ub lawn' and backyard
awUamlrl3 pooIa of the white ~ bu. they
"",,",., bekwinllY"'-' with grana ofWde_
., _ apinat tl>e _ _ . - . J-l Ewn tl>e
_ ~ how>ing unIta in c.ncn Park have a 6dy
ambimce that belies1hei:r PJ.at,.
I met up with 0 .. who is 20, near the ruilwofNudeus
no
""PeDpIew... auy.lhoy_lIuow;og ..... andbot.
ties; then one of the hoCl\ia opened up with his gat
(gun~. The '"IlY """" bumed down a.-.by.- of
the Pardon and Parole Iloud. while other gzoq. attacked
a1Ol8 and pa ltltiona with MoIotIw mc=ktaik
Ueutenant Franks claimed thlit snipers 1Ud in. trees
and roof tope, and U8ed human tugeta when they came
out in the open 10 fire.-. n..e yeUow-beDied lilts stood
>nth Y"""8 _ ....... _ and then opontd fire
... poIico.can.. _ f"llb apok-man _
gang members tried. to kidnap an infant from a white
family 1Mng!Xl a pndominantIy _ . . . - 1 loon! no
10
mation of a .leepy d esert railroad town into a
Slf...biDion+,.. tourist oais. Bat the sensational rile of
the modem QIino eoQl:KlOI}' went hand. in had with the
\.
r
dopda_ of black righta. Cli_ C"""_buiIt by]Un
Crow.
As exi led. LA. gamble,. began to buy up the old
Fn:mont Street c:astno. in downeown 1.-. Ves-in the latll!
193Os,. local blade. reaidents lftft banCo&om the black-
;ad tabla and alat _ When TOD1 Hun ope>Dd hla
that
fJ. R.mcho III lY'tl-cM StDp'i ptooeer CIIIn) and. reKlrt
". hotd---rett:rice CXJ't'enants wue being used to nkt
bid:. funilies &em downtown and fcJrte than aa\W the
...
11

Unioa P.cific tnw into W.t Lu Vegas, a wasteland
witbDut: p.wd -et... utili_ or fin: pR*Ction. 1lwI, by
the _ ...... lAnokY. ""'""" _ .Bupy ......,
Iy-'- _ " " " " _ _
tain, like Lena Home and
IMb_
s.mm,.
..--
pxlioob in 1947,... egaticn in 1M Veps-. . Wtual-
Dlris Jr but they
could not wed:. • deUft or bu• ..., stay a hotel.
lift in a whilll! neigbbomood CIt &0 10 a white daool.
M aU.white p:>Iice ~~ with a national repu-
tation for brutality, enIon:ed the cdor line in a lDWn that
A,fril:an-AJl'Iericans began to caD MiMioippi Waf. When
in 1944 black G.l.s guardingt*tby BoWdet Dun tried. 10
d<ty lhe..ast ruIo> .... bpt _ out 01-..-., ....
and euino&, they Weft attad:ed by pollee. In the full·
Bedged riot that erupted, one toldin' was killed. A quar-
.-a:n.twy later, in October 1969. heavy-handed police
tactics. together with disg\m OYer CU\tinuing job discrim·
ination, again ignited a riot. Two people died and
eovemoc Paul Laxalt calledin the Nal:ioMJ Guard to_I
off the Westside. .FOt neatly a yur dterward, Clark
CoW>ty'. >ehoob, only p"rtiaUy ",_ted, ..... """""
by battles betweat white and blade students.
WhUe r.osm was buiIdins in the prmUer' city of the
saver
tureI, but now raciIl turmoil w.
Sta-. thole with power could ignore its usIY fea-
ta.rniIbing its iInaJe-
The majo< """'" .... thoU """'I'ticit ....... - . J y
toiJlWd a conseftt dec:ree in 1m luaranteei1\l open
aaplo)"menL In the MIDe year the N....ada leplature
~ .Ions......yod fair houains law. Cluk County
tchociI roDowed a ye.r lata widt an .,. .'alb, Khmie
that cwetlode white resistance to busin&- After thirty
,..rs 01 wanderin& in the ~ black La Vepns
1Ioou8l" they a>uId ... oquaIity ahood.
Uke 10 much. else in the deItert. du. has tumed out 10
be a awl minge. Akhoush tokm integD:tion • the naIe..
the majority ol blatb are Iocbd out ol Las Vegas'. boom
economy. In teeent r-n.. .. the teM ol the Sunbelt h..
aUpped into recession. Clark County'. population h..
. - at warp opeod (1))00 . - ' - I I ! ' " ' ....).
and Nevada, the ·ma.t mrtuNte .tate 1ft the nation,,·
1CCOrdina' to thI! k:IClll A.F.L-C.LO... hal ,..,..uy lid in
job .,.Iion (8 """". annually _ 1!187 and 1990).
&np&oyment on the Strip hal - - . i with the a:1...t11iC-
_ 01 mop-hoooIa Woe ohe 4,OOlkoocn ~
10 be followed by the S,.ooo..room M-C-M Crand" the
_ milituy--_....
~ in the wwld while the .....Ded SoaIh Nenda
""'_ R _ ha oedoxed _0I1tigh-_
But anJy. handfuJ 01 bIadt _
~
haft found thoU
ny into affluent nnr-growth subufbI; lib WmcbeAer
ad e-n Valley. Doapne the _ t y_yoor-dd .....,.
~ b1lcb remain Yudy undeI'-repraenled. in. the
~I",,_joboand _ _ .. ...u
• in the new .aenc:e J*b. Although ll'IinDritif» mab tip
lD ........ 01 Nonda·.labor ""'" (2S """"'" in CIaxk
12
County). they hold anJy I< """". ol puhlk-"'< i<>'"
and Covemor Robert MWer recently acknowledged the
bankruptcy of the sta te'. a ffirm ative action efforts.
Concurrmtly, the growth in the metropolitan area',
Latino populatiCln--frorn S78 in 1960 to 82,.9(U in 1990-
and a huge inBux ol job. . whites from nearby _ _
have ~y crimped traditional blKk employment in
the low-wage serviceindUIIrieL
Not 5UIprisingJy, blKk Lu Vegans of all daues wocry
about creeping "Miamiution.. with their commUl\ity,
dospile impnsiw pclilia1 gaU-o. """"""'s .... oociaJIy
and eccnooUca1ly periphenJ. Fat 100 many ·Ntive IOnS·
like D... the recent boom. has been an embittering . prilcJn..
en ' dilemma,· offer ing equally futureless choices
between meni.1l t.bor and the wdeiground ec:onomy. As
in Los Angeles, the shortfall between the spectacle of
pn>f1igale """""'ption and the ...uty 01ghetu> life haa
been made up by street gangs and ro::k cocaine. The lim
Crip set,. transplanted from Watts. took root in CArson
Park.in 19?8-79; aac:k hit the streets of West Las Vegas in
1984, shoitly aitet its anin I in South Central L.A. Now
an estimated ~ Crip and Bloods (together with 3.000
Latino and Asian gang members) are locked in • grim
twilight ItiUggJe with police a '-' dozen blocks hom the
Uberatr Mu.um and Caesar', Pa1ac:e.
LTNCHI_, 900 STTU
Owl Kendrick is a aa:agy. anguLu Southerner with
a Pw-line beud w~ loob lib he might haw .-pped
I' out ola Ciril W a r ~A WteDil cirillibertis
actiYiIt. he J.drd the V'uginia A.C.LU. fer
before mavin&: to Lu Vegas to run the orpniution's
man,. ,...,
Nevada chaptI!r. He makes no bones about which ana is
morally farthest below the Mason-Dixon line: -Police
Abu. heft • wane than. anywhere in the contemponIy
urban South.. In an avenge month I get InOre axnplaints
about police Illiscmduct in Lu Vega than I..eved alto-
Juot_-
gether during tweIve)W1'S in IUdunond. The lituation is
AoxmIIn& to Kendrickand """" <ritia, tho Metro 1M
Vegas Police Force, helded by Sheriff Moran (whom a
local repoItei delcribed AI being ·as aC'CleSllble a. the
ICing 01 NtpIj. ill little InClft dIltft a ~ guard dog in'
the ~ and the Nrtada ~ A8xi1ticn.lCendric:k
is corwtantly dWlenging the UN ol nuiMnc:le,. loitering
and. ....grancy law. to keep ·undelin.bla,.- eIp!CiU.ty
young blac:b ud homelen peopJe.. off the Strip.
rope MImtics"
Llbw. . he fighll to "'"" the poIioo, puticu1ady III
to 18pkt the' COOItibdimal CIlD-
_ _ _ «t -m" and.-are.:
... . - 1 9 1 1 9 _.. r.poil.dbydlelM
Rn;n,.J....... ... 1""_ J'ft'UIMbIyIool<lng ""
V_
iIIegaI...-., - the ...... 01 ss,...-<>ld IlaJbaa
.. - They....,unced their arrival by - . two
; powodul"""- poadoatluough-_ .....
,.
I -
; ",-'
Li:.
~' . ,
13
- • .P,
d ow then broke down her &ont door. While her fifth-
~ grandoon""""" "' 1enOr. they alIod bee -tUg-
ger- and ~idl," tore off her nightgown. k:nocbd. her to
the Boor and kil:k8i her betweet. the legs. Afte:t tI:lI5hing
the _and finding _ they _-..so<>", "'"
and left. Melvin was not charged with any ~ She
filed a cocnplaiftt with the police.. but it was dismined
with a fonn letter. Aa:ording m the RnVw-Jolmw. the
"'I" aIao kop.$4,OOl ol ... a>nfiK>ted """"'Y.
The cue ~ t most haunts West Las Vegas today,
however, is the killing of asino 800nnan O\ades Bush in
July 1990. Bush was asleep when three plaindothes police..
wanting to question him about the aliSt of his pregnmtt
girlfriend for prostitution" broke into hl5 apertment with-
out a warrant and choked him. to death. The of6cial polke
explanation was that Bush,. surprised in his sleep, had
fought with them . At the coroners' inquest,. attorneys 11!p-
resenting Bush's family were prevented from asking
questi ons, and the strlinguJation wu ruled "jl.lStifiable"-
the forty-fourth tUne in a row since 1976 that the police
had been exonerated in the death ola suspect.
Despite a storm d criticism over the coroner's vetdict.
the Clark County D.A. would. not indict the ecee cops.
Six months later the Nevada Attorney General 's office
brought them to tria.! fat manslwgh_. but the all-white
j ury dudtocked 11 to 1 for acqui ttal and thlt case was
dropped. The kxa1 u.s. Attorney iJnored the A.Cl-U: ,
petition for prosecution under fedeml civi.I rights statutes..
As Xmdrick points out. '"The M!pcy ol the Bush caM: is
even more d.isastrous than the Rodney Kin, verdict. It
shows that the Las Vegas police ate allowed.. on the
8iJnsie5t of pretexts,. 10 bnU mlO black peopW. homes
and kill them when they resist..
For D. and his friends,. meanwhile. the Bush ease · is
j.... anooherlyndUng. Laa Vogaa-atyIo.- They poin.to the
hypooisy ol a new state law that doubles amtenol!S for
gang-related felonies while kxa1 law enfotament "plays
patty<Ue with the Mafia up on the Strip.· They com-
plain about the hwniliation of being .t:rip-tearchKl in the
street in front of girlfriends and neighbors. And they acid-
ly CU\trut the Feds' apathy in the BUlb cue with ~
zeal to mash '1<il1a. Daniel and the other ABM Crips
from North Lu Vegu-·leany small-time hoods,·
acxotding: 10 D.-who were 1I101!htly indicted on federal
conspiracy,charga of distributing twelve graDd of
""'"'"
But lhdi binmst feelings ate rese:rved for the politi-
cians who think black Las Vegu·. grievances can be
swept under the rug with a few InOft Ioken pstureI. lib
tihoral Mayo< jan lAwny Jo<W' graodlIoquont """"""
of farty-two new ;x:.. in the casino.-. 01' Sheriff Mcnn's
offet 01 ~ CXJCNnuniation- with the W~ For
D.-wnofoda ohe anJy p"'p1e"toIIIng ohe truth.bout
~...uty'"",Amorica ... _ Woe leoC....
and O".:kD--Ihinga... alnodynar ohe uJ_Ieodp-
Th!' time for lies is put. We built Las Veg.u fat thecn, and
without equality. we will tear this motherlucker down...
CASTING THE FIRST STONE
LOSANcnEs 1ht BIac:k man is an irUeBigenoe IIl!5t
the: white man is taking.. The: R.nerend Albert QQge, a
Detroit civil rights . . . .. Mid this in the walu! of the ghet-
to UP_llgs of 1967. Ii the testltill.ppIies. the thtee whillt
pys in the boothnext 10 1M are Bunlcing badly.
I.IIft.ting braldast in " tetro-fifties diner favored by
mD::Ir'writl!:rsand ltnerant Eun:Hrash. Ever sinc.'e the loot-
in8 d a nMIby camen shop, the entire neighborhood has
suffered from incteuingly bizarre hallucinations.
Although thi. is the edge of Beverly Hills and not
Sarljevo, the locals complain abot.lt "'po6Hiot stre5$'" And
greet: each other u · felIow survivors..·
My neighbon are discuuing the beating of wh ite
truckdriver Reginald Dmny near the C'Ol"ner of Florenct
and Nonnandie on April 29. KCOP-Channel 13', lurid
newscoptu view ol Denny being dngged from hi5 rig Uld
hammeied senseIesa has bea:xne !he definitive image d
tte u. Angeles rebeJDcn. me an achina IOOthac:he in the
the e.:tronic: YOid. it has t.n shownand teShown a hun-
c:I:red times Clrt kx::all8evisior$.
The trio are particularly riveted by the vision of a
young powetfW Blaa man unuhina: Denny over the
! t-d with • lOCk Ol' piIIoe ol conmtI!. With M:range famil-
I
'~
~:
..
'~
iarity. th=y'*' m hie _ "Food:d.. "1 i'at boupt ,a pit-
taL- I oveebear cne guy ~ "'no 1ioodJ.n". gonna
come. thiwgh my &ont door.· "'You'd haw: been IINR!'r
I ~"'- to have bought a shotgun,· says the second . "Or a
_ .- adda ohe thInl
There is II new- telf-righteol.llir'leS& on this side of the
buri<adoa. Tho neu-Iyn<hing of Rodney !aug haa laded
fran moral roc:us. Just as Reginald Denny has now become
every..."', urblU) viC'tim, so ha. Damian 'Football'
Wlllia~tgedwith nineteen counts of attempted.
murder. torture, aggravated a:nayhem and robbery-
1:lecXII:ne the all-pwpoIe MonIter in white L.A.'s Rlf-telV-
"rrUgll......
MOlHEIl COIllIA(M AND HEll CHILDIlIN
Mast aI the tim::llitde bungalows en 1lst 5tieet e.st 01
Narmandie coukI 1IIIe • NIp of &.h pU'It.. but the lawns
an tidy and well-tended. Thirtr yean "SO' the last
,; .
whites IOIIle of them with Okie dnw....urrendere:I
lbla put ol bIuo<o>Ilu. _ LA. to iliad: immi-
• _ .... ohe Soutb. Now. aging iliad< ~""
wa:h with a INSiQlt: aI irony • young Mexican families
aappIant them. n tum.
Coorg;ana WllIiama has"- lou<dUId<on b y -
in nua:nber 1315. Mad of bet' neighbots hail &om. Te:ua CIt
15
Loui5iana, but Georgiana is gra~ Mi._ippL She
grew up with twd¥e btodoersand si*n on a hardsaab-
hie tenant £ann a~ Highway 61 &om the ViCksburg
Civil War ~ Her people were poorbut resoura:fu1
and. Ielf-suffirient. "'Debe I w.s ... J knew how to
• weD • leW. 1CDUId ch:lp cottew\" harni!-. a mule,. evm
'*"'"
-'
aWce mocmhine. We wore homeInade cn.es and wmt
Although she speaks proudly of ber mother and
~ (......utiful. """"g !adios"). Ge<npna did
not WAnt to bee:ome: aMther sba.t«1upper's wife tnpped
fOr life in a shotgw\ shack. Nor' did she want to end up in a
pUn Westside aueago \l!nftnIJ\t Hke 10 many thousands
of olhu MiSssippi emigrants of her gtneration.lnstad,
in 1960, at age twenty, she t-ded west to Califcnnia. Aftu
a brief spell with her sister in Vallejo, she married and
moved to LosAngeles. The marri.lge didn't work (nor did
a second), but with ha' earnings as a vocational ncese,
Georgi.anl was .bw to buy the little house on 71st St!eet.
Damian Monroe, nineteen. is the youngut of the
Wtlliams' ch.i1dren and the apple of his mocher's eye. "He
is a vuy c:aring person. The little kids in this neighborhood
kx:Ik up to him because he has always taken care of them.
He has fed them and boupt them shoes. Put hftnty dol-
lars in his tw'd. and he will give it ~ay to SCIInI!IXIf: lnCft
nemy. That is how 1railed him: not to be Wlappd up in
woddy P -ms but to klok afWr' others.•
Although Georgiana bridles at the nicknul.e
"FootbUl' \His nuwe is o..ia_"), she points to one of
II
... """l' _ _ ..",.... " " - tluoughout ... - -
"He runs to kJftIy, like:one of thole African d.:r. like a
«azelle.- Through sports, Damian has also built many
frimdthips outside the nlighborbood. including: whites
and lAtinoL "'I ta.t him always to look b" the good in
people,to judge everyone equoIIy.'
Da.xnian's oldersiblinp went 10 neighborhood Khools.
but he was sent to privl:12 schoois as Georgiana struggled
to keep him out of harm's way. As he was entering Junior
Southcentral and 'Crippin' w.
high school in'l985, crack waa 800dlng the streets of
at the height of its popu-
luity. The Eight Tray GanptetCripl. klCked. ina spiraling
blood feud with the RoWng 5I,xti,. CUP.. had become the
invisible government in the Williams' neig.hbortoxl. Mlr
Fknnceand Ncxmandie.
that the could"" pro-
UJ-..IyGeorgiana _
" " Damion by InO¥ing bock to Vdaboag. The boy &om
the 'hood adapted with psto the hardy routine of his
runlldnlolk. "My Cod how ~ _ ~L
He ~ ... _ _ ., h",' and 6oh,..ad
up lore fmm 1he. older mm.ll'1e9a' saw han h.appeL'
But eventu.lly, wrad:ed by financial difficulties.
ecorp..a had 10 IhOft bad: to 71. Stn& To her distress
Duni... 1ib monyofhlo friends,-"'_
and·dropped out of school Although h. proaUsed 10
6n1sh h# dip~ he fathered. a child and acquinld a
16.
weighty new obligation. Working w ith his older brother
out of the family «acage. he sa~ped • living togethar
installing car a1ann& and A!ftOS,.
In an aging neipworhoocl with few}'OUCll BlKb left
up .....etNJJ w.
., Ivxno. ~ ..... guageocplay"'g p;d<-
the mcm visible tI!enagef. IzIU-arcJy
he RII. ai:lul of the tough street cops from the L.A.P.D.'s.
rnh Street Divi:sicn Over Georgiana" whement protBtI.
they added his name lID their roaer 01 active Eght Tray
Crips.. As she says with a bitterness sone add. "they
mubdhim.-
ntlllGFlX
Unllke many of her neighbcn glued to their tv sets,
Georgiana paid scant attention to the triaJ of Rodney
King's assailants.. "Why raise my blood pnssure? I knew
those cops would never be cawicted.. I knew ptntmADy."
Georgiana recalls her own eocooaeer with suburban
bigotry. In the 1910sshe had been tent to Simi Valley by a
private nuning lftVice to tend a terD\inally ill cancer
patient. His irate neighbors complained. to the agency
about her pl"l!llenCe. "'They wanted a white nwse for their
lilly-whil2 ~ghbochood. I didn't fit into the dec:oc-."
1lu» Ceorpna was hardly surprised when the radio
~ the King case .cquittals while she was driving
home from the beauty shop lal2 in the aftemoon of April
29. But • she apprt*hed the' comer of Nonnanctie an::I
Fbau: a block from her house she was shocbcl by
the scene of cNQI.. Police: can with siren. screaming
dwgod down wIille _ _ knots of youth ~
..
~· and ~ M Ihe pWJed Wo her driwway, excit-
$-- ed neighbors told. of • ronfrontatioo earlier tNt after-
noon.
As word. of the vedict sptMd. • Wge crowd of kx:al
kids and. unempk)yecl young adults had gathered It the
comer. Some began to throw rocks at paging white
motoristL (L.A.P.D.lop record that the initial anerzmcy
caU from the vicinity of Florence and Nonnandie was
teeeived a 4::17 pm.) As the 6tst patJQI units from the 17th
Division arrived on the toene they too were pelted with-
___ and bricb. Q\e of the rock-throwers. sixteen-)"U-
old. Shanda.l rate who Uva aaos.s the street from the
Williams', wascomeie:l by a group of piaed-off «IpL
Ceorpna'. ne;gIlbon deocribed how'" poI;ce_
him ~ a ~ twi:ABd. his arms and t.t him. When
Damian's older half-brother. Mark Jackson (age 30),
,aJed at the ~ to stop, he too .as pWlUlllltled.. then
amsted fOr "inciq a ~ -.d "ISistillg au.t.' At th:is
poirn. ShandarslnOther, ADem Tate (known aBecticna. .
ly to netyone_CD the block as 'Baby') arrlftd OIl the
tcene. "Don't take DlY chlId..' the shrieked before:. cop
ptoiiipdj put a cbolcehold Q'l her::
FcIb an 1lat_ger....ny 'I'"" thalpotice btu1aIi-
ty toward the TalIS was lib thnnring gasoline on a &re.
SUmnoring _ _ woo ....bWe. on<!. ohottly b<fo<e 600
11
p.D\., .. the policesuddenly began 10 wittdraw fnxn the
neighborhood, tM inflamed crowd resumed . ttad:s on
pusin.s whites. The: L.A..P.D. made no effort to wam
un suspecting motorists of the dangerous situation at
NonNndie and Florence. and. at 6~ Clw1nell3's haver-
ing twiiW»COptI!l' began brow;lo astinS liYe ronnge of the
....ting of Reg;naIdo...n,.
Although the Lo. A.,d~. TiJJU. knew from the
beg:iming about the earlier roughing-up of the TaleS, the
stoly w. not n:por~ until 15 May (In an.tm.iring piece
about the rank-.nd-6le CI:JI» of the 71th Street DiviIion),
ud was depicted without c:laaal caulJ8d:ior. to lhean.clcs
on Denny and others. Yet Georgiana and IM&t of her
nei&hb<Jn are ron:rincc that It is lm)X*ible to under-
stand what happened at 6~ ex£ePt as .. ~ of
the arlier incident. She believes the media have deliber-
.atety disguised the logic of events and emotials in order
to conjwe an ilnage of irrational BIacl: male violence.
And she is IIOnnented. that her ICC\. out of the I2N of
thousands of participants in the rebellion.. has been
arraigned before the entire warid as the incarnation of
that male violence.. She temeInben Damian's outrage: at
the police on WedneIday, but equ.aDy the recalls how he
spent the next day (3D April) helpin& neighbors watl!r
their roofs with garden hoIe$ • flam. _psi menacing-
ly dote &atn. burning ....EfI""ts on FIonnI:e. She had no
inkling; that he: would be arraeed or charpd with any
<rime.
"Two weeks later I was worms o.. unipt in
Hunting'Xl a..dt when I receind a t.per caD euIy in
the Dtot"ftin& from my sister-in-law. 1. . . K&red. that
momma ta.d died. in Mi • •q,n. But my aiIter-in-Iaw
saki that Damian had been arreRed by-a whole: umy of
polko including old. lying Dory! c...... _ ChIef
Cates, clad in a buUet-proof vest and. with a bctdwp of
two hundred cops and :FBI agents, personally amHed
Damian, whom he taunted as "'Pootball.-
Ga_ claimed lhat Dunian had been identi&d &om
O\annel 13 footage • the: perIClIl who hit Denny with a
rock. Two other alleged Eig.ht.Tray Ganptel' Crips,
Antonine Miller (20) and Henry Watson (27), were
charged • m..eMIil."ts.!n CQ'lt:lMt to the simpIe_ult
<OUnl6led OS-'" """ who _10<1 RodneyKO>g.
Williams, Mille:r and Watmn wen:: eICh charp:i with
. - . - ............... _ ..10<1 mart-and mb-
buy. th:t- additicN1 su.peda KpaRtely ~ of
attempted robbely, misdemeanor battery (apittina on
Denny), and ...wt with • a.dly ..-pon wae ...
ft'I!I"ltuaJly Wi a ltd.
""'"" ....... by Geocg;ana. .... famIIy a n d _
era to atricate DI:adIIIl haw cWy rautted In the judicial
'riIebems tamed tipIer. Thealdtaitiwbaftac klEs.t-
I y _ h l o _ b . l m l r i o l _ .... - . .
ciramatIc -=aIaticn. .... moIher. At hit uraipmll. for
emnpIe. Cl\Iel Gnoo pIacod ...._ L.A.P.D_an tun
18
tactic:aI alert a I!'IOft that seemed to impiy that Dunian
was .. ~ as ManaeI Noriega or Pablo Escobar.
Then the Judge set the: bail at a staggetirtg $195,000, or
1165.000 more than Roclney King's LAP.D. assailants.
When GeotgWY heroiol1Jy . . - ... ..,.." the US.
AttomI!)' promptly p&ac.1. fedaal-oold· on the c.ase
P"="enting n-dan'a m..e.
While de:fenIe lawyers were COilbestiilg this, District
AItcmey In. Reiner filed 37 new fdany dmges against
tluNan ...,fhiotwo pdncipoJ a><lefendan... Boll_
to S5a),cm. When. Georgiana.. with widespread support
hom an outIaged Black CDIIiDl.unity, seemecI. on the verge
of ICRping this new fortune together, the court ordemt a
MCUre the bail w.
opec;aI heoring to detennine whethu property uoed to
' acquired legally The D.A . beg an
videotaping Damian's family and supporters as they
pthered in the courtrooaL
Georgiana feels like she is spending time on the aos5 ,
"Why do I have to go through this? They're treating me
like I'm a drug dealer. I"m not a drug dealer. I"m jus t a
worm, mother from Southcentnll and they are trying to
J:ynch In)' son. Lynch him just as swe as if this was Dixie
in the 19S0s.·
THE HATE FAcroRT
Thesystan is5tiU fi.surin3 out new cha1p 10 hmg on
0u:Uan Wdliams. At time 01 writing (1 August). he f.::es
poaibie lifie imptiloiwtent for nineteI!rl. feklny mmtL In
the prosecution's soena:rio, he: has been ptoallOled from
oiIIlpIy boohing Reg;nakl Dumy ..... hood to bang ...
gnnl condUdiDl' of the entbt whirlwind 01 violence that
enp1fed the corner or FloRnCe and Nonnandie on 29
April He is accuIeCl of havinl ·directed· the beating of
. ,
nearly a dozen whites and Asians. While the District
Attomer weighs further assault aNnts, the FBI tepcx ted~
Iy i. investigating violations of federal racketeering
I·
statutes (RICO), presumably rottnembership in the Eight
I .
Tny <:rips. (Damim's attorneys, meanwhile, have filed a
$10 miIlicn lawsuit c:IaiJnlng that "WilliaD1S was charged
with the panoply of crUnes to at to become the focus 01
I theriotL·
like hundreds of other young Blacks and Latinos
j d\arpd with ftionies for their puticipation in the L.A.
!~
uprising, Damian waits for trial a t the PeterPftl::hess
·
Bono< R.ndoo _ _ ... SIx FIago Map: Moun....
amUlelnmt pat:.: in northern L.A. County. The Rancho-
.
still kmwn to inma_ .wid their families by-* old name
01 -W.,....-wu ntlbUIhed in ·tbe·l93k by Sheriff
Eupne BDaihu._. ·rewtXutioroaryapa~ in reM-
bilitating minor offenden:. BiscaDuz.;.a·1egePduy out-
cioanman with -an inborn diIlike of ccnfiliement.· ran
·.:r
! .
I" ,
l
t,
Wayside as a working ranch where pr6tces c:cWd e:-pe-
tioDoe ... "'IS"'! lile of cowboyo and _ .. ....
I ard>ound<d hlIlo.'
t ..:.::
i ~: Cattle still graze in the meadows at Wayside, but
l
' .,-
~
. <'I~:
, 19
..
. . ; ,,;;,;iI

"""'J"hing . . luos clw>pd Co< the ....... The benign
"'honorrancho"' has nolved into a giant prisat with 9,(1X1
NOW AVAILABLE:
inmatea.1hoehomed inllO £Militiel·designed fat . . than
6.000. Only .. handful of sentenced. inmAteI still enjoy
Bilcaih&%'a outdooclife, mCll!It of the popula&n it daUltrO- MANNING
pboblaIly <OOlined 23 how> ~day .. ~
like donnJtories. Fotmedy Wayside rai8ed alfalfa. now its
!.
MARABLE
main product is hate.
During the last,.r hundreds of inmate& have been PAMPHLET""
seriously injured. in virtually constant racial wufare.
Although most of the twenty.five major zneiees have bro- BLACK AMERICA
ken out . ... result of an intractable power s truggle
between Blacks and Latinos (since 1989 the new majority MULTICULTURAL DEMOCRACt
,at W..yside). there baYealso been brutal clashes heM...
IN THE: AGE: OF CURE:NCE: THOMAS,
whites and Blacb. Indeed" it can be ugued that the t.A.
Rebellion actually began at Wayside, where,. within min- DAVID DUKE, AND THE: LA UPRISING5
utes of the original announcement of the King case vee-
dict,. Blackinmates were fighting whites. The whites, in
tum. retaliated. in late July when thirty Black inmates ...If we listen carefully
were ambushed and sIuhed with jaiJ-made ahmka. to young African Americans in the streets, this
Although racial vioience is now epideJnic throughout generation is I:eWng us mol'\'! than just its dissatis--
Wayside's five winJS, the mO$t suttained conftict has faction with the King vt'rdict. The violence was
occurred in the high-security facility where Damian not directly generated by reactions to courtroom.
WilliamI, AnIlOnine Miller and Henry Watsm are i:mpris- dec:isiorlS. What our young people painfully real-
coed ooget!oeo" with """" h........ other Blackand lAtIno ize ia dull the enlire "system"- tbe govem.ment
youth dwged with mUJder. Bitler intrla_ compLain that and its poUtidans, the courts and the police, the
the Sherlfft take grim deUght in fanning the Samet of c:orporaticns and the Jnedia--hM, written theIn oif.
racial hatnd. One Crip, o.e., who abno8t had hit eU' cut They '"""S""" that Buoh Nd vUtuaIIy no lIDho<-
off in the latest clash with while pttsonen.. tokl me that ent poUdeIli addre.ing urban problems.. until he
guards had ignored Black prowsts about shank knives
being made and CI:lIlCeU!d by white priaocera: 1hen when
,."...con&mted. by "'ve street YioIence. They
r-1 irwtincti:YeIy that AInerican businel:les hive
the Blacb were ambushed. the guards ftIuIed 10 inter- .no intention ofhirlng them at r-l-Uving wages,"
veneuntil thewhites had finished their hancUwork. that the courts refuse to treat them as human
Ceotgiana says that Damian has 10 far .void8i being
behlp. and tN' the poI1_ tab thelt """'" and
sucked into the maelstrom of the hate factory. "He ignore the" needs. By talting to the ........ tho)'
........ proud and gme<>IIy _ .. thoush we had to I·{-
I are crying out to . aodety: '"We will be heard'" We
get .. court order to ensu:re that he would be fed regularly II .. wiD not be ignored.. and we will not go away qui-
and allowed to bathe. And of cnune he misees 1pOttL" I etly. And U the_and _ u-.
asked Georgiana what she talb about with Damim dur- , ...
'
........ to
to us,. we inlend to bum it to the ground." That is
ing her tegu.Iar visits to Wayside. the _ 01L<»AngeIeo...
~ we talk .bout MissiIsippi,. and fam.i}y memo-
rioo. ""I"'ci'IIy",y ~ who died loot lleoanbe>c
. . ADPamphl_ art $3.50 ,peL
that old lady. A Iiny..............,
at ap 100. She was Damian', favorile. He really loved
lout loot ..... Inch-
.......ehe wON long oldrlashiclned. drn6ea and wu CQn~
')
I-'! Pamphlet Serles SubKriptiou
to new' titles sent first ~ maU--&3O
ltantly sing ing. She'd go from room to room in the
aJweaoppen' ahac:b putting the kids to sleep with a
prII)"'IeI' and. • tClI'Ig. I can hIw her sweet voice always." OPEN MAGAZINE
Ceorpana Nniles and. softly singe • few emphatic
JineI.: 11ba11 ~ I IhIJ1 not be mc:wed.•• just like • tift
pAMPHLET SERIES
-.ding by the waw, I ohal1 not be.....cL·. MAIN'OffICE
P.O. Box:m6 W _ New jeney01091 USA
T. (908) _ _ Fox: (9Otl) 65f.J829
AMSTERDAM" EUROPE.
c/o Po6tbu& 2126
10000CC _ _
,
More Information
• INSIDEnIE L.A. RJar5
PooliQa: utides frQQ1 U. WcdIy, ViILrp' Voi«. 'TIlt ~
f~&Iy~Mdotha'~pr.-~ llUiU
s.m
T.V L.A . Rio,. is !he ant book out oa the 'IIfdRrl3t in LA... L.-
V.,. and oth8r Americ:m do.. Edited by Don Huon and.
pubtished by the Imtitute fur AkemItlw JourmliIm. s&.95 pst-
pGd.&cm:
tOO EaR 15th St..New Yodc.NY1OO2S
.. THE FIREnus TIME
~ with Mike Davil about lederaHud ,ltp..... in t.c.
Angelel. the upn.mp. UId u.. an.Jina: l«hnoIosr
01 the
Amaialn poU<:e stale. hahnd in the SUlNMr 1992 iaoe of
Cocen A.diJn ~ BadltfiIL Send $610 e-t A.ctiIx
1500M_ An.., NW 1'13'"
WiMhinpa.DC 2OllO5
• CIVILUBERTIES IN CRlSJS:
LOS ANCELES DURING THE EMERGENCY
Thr fim compl'thtnsiV't report on "assembly-line" juStice (sic) in
the aften:nath 01 LA. RbdJiorL Details widespreId abo.aa of ttw
righb 01 ~ Ilnll hoaMI-. A vUJabl.l from American
Civil u"bwties Union 01. SoutNm Ca1ifomia. Formore info write:
1616 Bevuly Blvd .. toe Anplu"CA 9OO2S
• STRATEGY ONTER. REPORT
ON RECONSTRucrING LOS ANGELES
..A ~Ye ~ to the UebaToth. C'OCJ'O"Itist vision of
inner ri ty redoD'liNltion." Written by Cynthia Hamilton. Eric
Mana,. Anthony ThJ.spenn. and other ~ of the Urb.n
Sb . . . . Croup. send SS pCIItpIid. to;
14S40HaynuSt..,SaU.2OD. Van Nuya.CA 9un
.nUGALDEPORTAnON OFIMMlCRANTS
CARECEN is the UJ\ofBcial civic C~ for ·Los Anseles' s
Cnr.l-Ammican population. k provideIlepi $UfPCJIt for faIni.
tie5 victimized by INS Rids during the LA. I"Ibellion. Contact
CentnJ AJnericanRefup Center:
661 South BoNUeBraeStnet"Lo. AnpIU.CA to057
• THE BUSH CASE,. POUCE ABUSEIN LASVEGAS
a.n Kendrick of Uw ACLU ICnJ38Ies a1moIt JinIle-handedJy to
defaod civil. Hba'ties inside tt. llitte'clolne. For rmre norma-
tion CXJl'Itac1Ihe ADwrican Clvil1..ila'ta. Union of Nevada a t:
325 South Th1rd Strnt,. SaN 25, t.. Vep.. NcY"tnOl
.111£ DEFENSBFUND FOR DAMIAN WILLIAMS
The case 01 Damian WiDiaIns will let • uu.;or prec;:edmt in the
SOWs ~llocriminlHze . . . ~ ~antt-~
-.ing~Suppcwtlol'. fair kW for o.au.n WOU-h
• crucial stIrp tow.-d jus&e for .u f"'OPAe Adfains frwn contin-
u..l po!b bruld.ty, ee:onmnic deprivation.m poIitbl diMn-
fr.adIiIemenL
do htMI AME Cliardt,. 790 South W..... An, LA.CA !IOOC3
• NATIONAL ALUANCE AGAlNSTRACST AND
POLIT1CAL REPKESSION
sw. 1m thB NA.AJWR" orpnized • nMiorlM multkulbnl
co.lltioIl of I.bor, dntrch. educational,. .atvist" and WOII'len's
poup.. Con&onI:ing nK:isI:n. ri-Sanitism,. poIke crime. andthe
~ of political prisoners in. the us and. South'Africa are
ewira.I :ancng !he A1Iimae's ~ Send m SAS2 6cr. com-
pllmmairycopyclthe~,the~.~.
U Jolul k,1l_ 7DZ,. NYC 1OO:JlI
•
 The ca refulty manicu red lawns of Los Angeles's westside sprout forests of
ominous lIu le signs warning: 'Armed Responsel' Even richer neighborh oods
In the canyons and hrllstdes Isolate themse lves beh ind walls guarded by gun-
~ toting private police and state-of-the-art electronic su rvelllance. Down-
. town, a publicly-subsidized 'u rban ren aissance' has raised the nation's
largest corpo rate citadel, segregated from the poor neighborhoods around
It by a monumental architectura l glaciS. In Hollywood, celebrity architect
Frank Gehry, re nowned for his 'humanism', apotheoslzes the siege look In
a library designed to resemble a forelgn.leglon fort. In the Westlake district
and the San Fernando Valley the los Angele. Pollee barr icade streets and
seal off poor neighborh oods as part of their 'war on dnlgs '. In Watts.
developer Alexande r Haagen demonst rates his strategy for recolonizing
Inner-cny retail markets: a panoptlcan shop ping mall surro unded by neked
metal fences and a substatfon of the LAPD In a ce ntra l surveillance towe r.
Finally on the horizon of the next mlllenn lum, en ex-chref of police crusades
for an ann-crim e 'giant eye' - a gec-syncbrc ncu s law enforce ment sate llite
- while othe r cops disc reet ly tend versions of 'Garde n Plot' , a hoary hut sttll
viable 1960s plan for a law-and-order armageddo n.
Welcome to post-liberal Los Angeles, where the defense of luxury
lI f~tyles Is translat ed Into a proliferation of new repressions In space and
move ment. und ergirded by the ubiquitous 'armed respon se'. This obsession
with physical secur ity systems, and . collate rally, with the architectura l
" policing of social bound aries, has beco me a zeitgeist of urban restruct uring,
a master narrati ve In the emerging built e nvironment of the 1990s. Yet
conte mporary urban theory, whether deballng the role of elect ronic
techn ologies In precipitating 'pou mcdem space', or discu ssing the
dispers ion of urban functions ac ross poly-cen tered metr opo litan 'galaxies',
has been stnmgely silent about the militarization of city life so grimly visible
at the st reet level. Hollywood 's pop apocalypses and pulp science Ilcuon
have been more realistic. and politically perce ptive, In representin g the
programmed hardening of the urha n sur face In the wake of the social
polarlzallons of the Reagan e ra. Images of carcen l Inner cities (EsCDpe
l from New Yor., Runninn Man), high-tech police death squads (8faJe Runner).
,. sentient bUildings (Die Hard), urban bant ustans (They l.ive ~, Vietnam-like
street wan (Colors) , and so on, only extrapolate from actually existing
trends.

22 4 C I TY OF ~UA R T Z F O R T Ress L .A.

225

Such dystoplan visions grasp the exte nt to which today's pharaonic

scales of resldenttal and commerclal secur ity supplant residual hopes for
urban reform and social Integration . The dire predictions of Richard
Nlxoo's 1969 National Commission on Ihe Causes anri l'revenn cn of ~
Violence have been tragically fulllllcd: we live In 'fortress cities' hrutally
divided between 'fornged cells' of amuent so<:lclY and 'places of terror'
where the police battle the c rtmlnaltzed poo r.' The 'Second Civil War' that
began In the long hot summers of the 1960s has been hu titution alll.ed Into
the very structure of urban space. The old libera l paradigm of social control, ':
attemptlng to balance eepresston with reform , has long been superseded by :
a rhetoric of social warfare that calculates the Interests of the urban poor ~
and the middle classes as a zero-sum game. In cltfesllke Lo s Angeles, on the
bad edge of postmodemny, one observes an unp recedented tendency to
mcrge urban design, architecture and the police appuatus Into a single,
comprehensive sccurny cffort .
This epochal coalescence has far-reaching consequences for the social
relations of the built environment. 111 the Ilrst place. the market provision
of 'sec urity" generat C3 Its own paranold demand . 'Security' becomes a
positio nal good dcflnedby Income access to private 'protective seolees' and
membership In some hardened residenti al enclave or restricted suburb . Iu
a prestige symbol - and sc meumes as the declslye borderline between the
merely well-off and the.'t ruly rich' - '. eeurlty· has leu 10 (10 with personal
safety than wnh the degree of personal Insulation, In residen tial, wo rk,
consumpuo n and travel . environme nts, from 'u nsavory' groups and ,
tndtvtdnals, even crowds In gene ral.
Secondly, as Wllllal.n Whyte has observed of soclaltmercourae In New
York , 'fear proves Itselr. The social perception of thr eat becomes a function
of the security mobmeaucn Itself, not crime rates. Where there Is an actual
rising afc of street Violence, as In Southcent rallos AngclCJ or Downto wn
Washington D.C., most of the carnage Is self-contained within ethnic or
class boundaries. Yet white middle-class Imagination, abse nt from any nnt-
hand knowlcdge of lnncr -clty conditions, magnlnes the perceived Ihreat
through a dcmcnctogrcel tens. Surveys show that Milwaukee suburban ites
arc Just as worr lcd about violent cr ime as Inner -clty Walhlnglonlans,
despite a twenty-fold difference In rclatlvc levels of mayhem. The mcdla, ronlnESS L.A.
whose Iuneuo n In Ihls are na Is to bury and obscure the dally economic Bllllktr JlilI
 C I TY 0" Q U ... RTZ
violence of the city, ceasele ssly throw up spectres of crlmlnal und erclasses
and psychotic stalke rs. Sensatio nalized acco u nts of killer youth gangs high
on crac k and sh rllly racist evoc ations o f marauding Willie Honora foment
the moral panic s that reinforce and Justify u rban apart heid .
Moreover, the neo·mlllt ary synt u of co nte mpo rary architectu re
Inslnuatu violence and conjures Imaginary dangers. In many Instances the
semio tics of so-called 'de fensible spac e' are just about as sub tle as a
swaggeri ng whit e cop. Today's up scale, pseudo-public space s - sumptuary
malls, office ce nters, cu lt ure acropol ises, and so o n - are futl of Invisible
signs warning ofl'the undeicless 'O the r'. Although archit ectural critics are
usually oblivious to how the built enviro nment co ntribute. to . egregatl on,
par iah group. - whether poor latino families, young Black men, o r elderly
hornelen white fema le. - read the meaning Immediately.
T H E DESTR UC T ION OF PUBL IC SPACE
The un iversal and Ineluctable cons eque nce of this crusade to secure the city
Is the destruct ion ofacceul.ble public space . The contempor ary opprobrium
attached to the term 'street perso n' Is In Itself a harrowing Index o f the
devalu ation of public s pac~s . To reduce co ntact with untouchabl es, urban
rede velopment hu convened o nce " Ital ped estri an atreet s Into tramc
sewe rs and transformed public parks Into temporary recept acles for the
homeless and wre tched. . The Amer ican cit y. as many critic. have
recognized. Is being sy.temat lcally turned Inside ou t - or, rathe r, outs ide In.
The valorlzed spaces of the new meg"'truct ur es and super.malls are
co ncent rated In the center, street fron tage Is denud ed , public actlYlty Is
sorted Into strlctly func tional compart ments, and circulation Is Internalized
In ccmdore u nder the gaie of private pollee,"
The prlvatlzatlon of the architect ural public real m, moreover , II
shado wed by pa rallel rettructurlngs of elect ronic space, as heavily policed,
pey-accese 'Inform atio n o rders' , elite data-bases and subsc ription cable
services appropr iate parts ~ f the Invisible agora . Both processes, of course,
mirro r the deregulation of the eco no my and the recession of non -marker
entitlements. The decline of u rba n liberalism has been accompanied by the
death o~ what might be called the 'Olmsredlan vision' of pubUc space,
220 cr r v OF UU"'RT4:
Its spatial relations. Even IS the walls have co me down In Eastern Europe, :'
th ey are being erected all over los Angeles . . clea ring o n a vast scale, with little mobilized opposition, h ave resur rected
The observations that follow take as their thesis the existen ce of this {
new class war (sometimes a continu atio n of the race war of the I96Os) at
the level of the bu ilt enviro nme nt. Allhough this Is not a co mprehensive !
account, which wo uld require a thorough ana lysis of eco nomic and political .~
dynamics, these Images and Instances are mean t to co nvince the reader that ':
lIrban form Is Indeed follOWi ng a repr essive function In the political fur rows
o h he Reagan-Bush era . Los Angeles, In Its usual preflgoreuve mode , offers
an especia lly d isquieting cata logue of the em ergent liaison s be tween
arch itect ure and the American police state.
THE FORBIDDEN CITY
The Iirst militarist of space In Los Angeles was General Otis of the nmes.
Declarlng himself at war with labor, he Infused his su rroundings with an
unrelentingl y bellicose air :
,
He caned hll home In Los A~lel the BtvoulC. Anolher houle was known as the
Outpost. The TImfJ .;.. known as the Fortress. Th e mIT of the paper was the
Phalanx. The TImfJ building Itsclfwas more fon re" than newsp.ilper pl.ilnt, there
were turrell, battleme nts, tentry boxes. Inside he stored firt )' rifles.·
A great . menaci ng bronze eagle was the TImes's c rown; a small, .functlonal
c annon was Installed o n the hood of Otis'. to uring car to Intimidate
onlooke rs. Not surprisingly, this overwrought display of aggrenlon
produ ced a respons~ In kind . O n I Oc tobe r 1910 the heavily foru fled nmt s
headquarters - citadel of the open shop on the West Coa st - was destroyed .
In a catastrophic tlIp loslon blamed on u nion saboteurs.
Eighty years later, the spIrit of General Ot is has returned to subtly
pervade los Angeles's new 'postmod ern ' Downtown : the eme rging Padflc
Rim nnanclal complex which cascades, In rows of skyscrapers, from Bunker
Hili southward I.long the Figueroa co rridor. Redeveloped with public tu
Increments unde r the aegll of the powerful and largely un acco unt able
Co mmu nity Redevelopment Agency, the Downtown pro ject Is one of the
" O RT Re: SS L . ....
227
Fred erick Law 0 1 d
msre , It will be recalled, was Nort h America'.
Hau umann, as well as the Falh er of Ce ntral Park In th k f
Manh It ''C ' e wa e 0
I: an s o mmune' of 186 ) , the great Draft Riot , he conce ived ubllc
landscapes and parks as soc ial safely-valyes, m;l;na classes and ethnlcl~les In
co mmo n (bourgeo is) recreation s and enJoyme nts. As Manfredo Tafurl hu
shown In his well-known study o f Rock efeller Cente r, the same prinCiple
.nlmated Ihe co nSlructlon o f the cano nical u rban spaces of the La Gua rdl...
Roosevelt era . I
If Th~s reformist vision of public space - as the emolllem o f class struggl e
not t e bedr ock o f the Ameri can polis -Is now as obsolete as Keynealen
nost rums o f full employment . In rega rd to the ' mixing' of classes,
contemp~rary urban America Is more like Victo rian England than Walt
Whitm an s or La Gua rdia's New York In Los A 1
d . nge ea, c nce -upcn-e-um e a
eml 'paradlse of free beaches, luxu riou s parks, and ' 'crUising st rl s'
geeutnely democratic spa ce Is all but exunct. The Oz. llke arc hlpela : o~
WestSide pleasur e dom es - a co nllnuum of tony " g
rna s, arts centers and
g:urm et sl rlps -Is recipr ocally dependent upo n the socia l Imprison ment of
t e thlrd·world service pro letariat who live In Inc reasingly re resnve
ghettoes and barrios. In a city ofseve ral million yearning Imm igrant; publl
ame nities are rad ically shrinking, p arks are becoming derelict and beach e:
mo re segre gated, IIbrarle. and playgrounds are closing youth C I
f d ' , ongregat on s
o or Inary kinds are banned, and the "reet. are becoming more desclar
and d angerous . e
Unsurprtslngly, IS In other Amerlcan cltles , mu nicipal policy has taken
Its lead from the securit y o fTe nslye and the mlddle -c1us demand for
In~leased spatial and soc ial Insulation . De facto d isinvestment In tra dit ion al
pu Ic space and recreation has supponed the sh,. f n 1
It 0 sea resource. to
corporlte·denned red eVelopm ent pri orit ies A pilant It
thl I II . c y government - In
s case ronlca y pr ofessing to represent a bl-ractal co alition of hbe I
white s and Blacks _ hIlS II b ed ra
co a oret In the messlve p rivatization of ubUc
:pace and the .subsldlzallo n of new. racist enclaves (be nignly descrl~ed as
urba n villages ). Yet most cu rre nt, giddy dlscusllon~ of the 'POstmodern'
Ic~ne In los Angeles neglect entirely these overbearing aspec ts of counter.
ur an lzatlo~ , and counter.lnsurgency. A triu mph al glon _ 'u rban
ren aissance , city of the future', and so on _ Is laid over the bruta llzaUon
of Inner .c Uy neighborhoods and the Increasing Soulh Afrlcanlzallon of
" O A I AE tf tf I. . ... . L,.,,,,.
largC'st postwa r urb an deSigns In No rth Ame rica. Site assemblage and
lan$l values, upon which big developers and off-shore capftal (Inc reasingly
t . Japan ese) have plant ed a series of blllion-dcller, block-square mega·
stru ctu res: C roc ke r Center, the Bonaventu re Hotel and Shopping Mall, the
World Trade Cente r, th e Broadway Plaza, Arco Cen ter, CltiCo rp Plaza,
Califor nia Plaza, and so on . Wit h historical land scapes era sed, with mega·
. tructures and supe rblocks as primary co mpo nents, and wtth an
Increasingly dense and self-co ntafned circulation system, the new Anand al
district Is best co nceived as a single, demonically self·re ferentlal hype r.
struc ture, a Mleslan skyscape raised to dementla.
LIke slmllar megalom aniac co mplexes, tet he red to fragme nted and
desolated Downtowns (fo r Instance , the Ren aissan ce Center In Detroit , the
Peachtree and O mnl Ce nters In Atlanta, and so on), Bunker Hili and the
Figueroa corrldor have provoked I. storm of liberal objection s against th eir
abuse o f scale and co mposition, their denigration of street land scape, and
their connscatlon o f so much o f the vital life aetMty of the center, now
sequestered within subterranean co ncou rses or prteatteed malls. Sam Hall
Kaplan, the crus ty urban critic of the TImes, h.. bee n Indefatigable In
denouncing th e anti -pedest rian bias of the new corporale citadel, with Its
fascist obllteratlo n of street frontage. In his vtew the superi mpositi on of
'he nnetlcally sea led fo rtresses' and air-dropped 'pieces of subu rbia' has
'dammed the rivers of life' Dow ntow n, I
Yet Kaplan' s l'lgo rous defen se of pedeunen democra cy rema ins
groun ded In hackneyed liberal co mplaints abou t 'bland design' and 'elitist
plannin g pract ices' . LIke most architectural c ritics, he ralls against the
oversights of urban design withou t recognIz ing the dimension of foresight,
of explici t repressive Intenti on, wh ich has Its roots In los Angeles's ancie nt
' . history of class and race warfare. Indeed, whe n Downtown's new 'Gold
Coast ' Is viewed en bloc from the standpOint of Its Interactions with other
soc ial nus and landscapes In the central city, the 'fort ress effect' eme rges,
not as an Inadvertent failure of design, but as deliberate soc lo-spatlal
strategy.
Th e goals of this strategy may be summariz ed as a doub le represncn: to
raze 1.11 association with Do wntown's past an'd to prevent any art iculati on
with the non -Anglo urbanity of Its future. Everywh ere on the perimet er of

230 CI T Y OF QUARTZ I
redevelopment lhb strategy tah l th e form of a bruni arcbttecnnal edge or
glacis that denn es the new Downtown 1$ a citadel vls·i-vls the test of the
central city. Los Angeles Is unusua l amo ngst major urban renewal centers .
In presf! t'Ylng. however negligently. most of lis circa 1900-30 Beaux Arts ;
comm ercial co re. At Immense public cos t, the co rpo ra te he adquarters and "
financia l dist rict WIS shined from the old Broadway-Sprlng co rridor six
blocks west 10 the greenfield sue created by destroying the Bunker Hili ' .
residential neighborhood. To emph asize the 'security' of the new .
Downtown, virtua lly all the tndUlo nal pedestrian links to the old cent er,
Incl udi ng th e famous Angels ' Flight funicul ar rail road. we re removed .
Th e logic of Ihls en ti re operatio n Is rev~alJng. In ethe r ci ties developers
m ight have au empte d to articulate th e new skjscepe an d rhe old, ex ploiti ng (
th e latter 's extraordinary Invent ory of theaters and historic bUildings to .
create a gentrtned hlstory - a gadlght distr ict , Faneuil Mark et o r Ghlnrdelll :
Square - as a su ppo rt to mlddle-.elass residential colon izatio n . But Los .
Angeles' s redevelope rs viewed property values In the old Broadway co re u
Irreversibly eroded by the ar u's 'Iery ce ntrality to publi c transport, and :
especially by Its hea vy use by Black and Mexican poor. In th e w~ke o f the
WaUS Rebellion , and the pe rceived Black threat to c rucial nodes of whi te
power (spelled out In lurid detail In the McCone Co mmission Report).
resegregated spatial security became the paramount concern.' Th e Lo.
Angeles Pollee Department abetted the mght of business from Broadway to
.
Black teenagers as dangerous gang members.
,
th e foruned redoubts oreunker Hili by spread ing scare literat ur e typify ing .
As a result, redevelop ment maulvely rep rodu ced spatial apan held. The .
moat of the Ha rbor Preewey and the ~aded paltsades of Bunker Hili cut off .
the new financial co re from the poo r Immigran t neighborhoods that surround ;.
II on every side. Along the base of California Plaza, Hili Street became a local :
Berlin Wall separenng the publicly subsidized luxury of Bunker Hili from the
IIfeworld of Broadway,' now reclaimed by latino Immigrants as th eir prim ary ".
shopp ing and entertalnmen t street. Because politically con nected specubtc n
are now redeveloping the northern en d of the Broadway co rridor (sometimes ;
known as ' Bunker Hili Ell!'), the CRA Is promising to restor e pedest rten link-
ages to the Hillin the 199Os, Including the Angels' fli ght Incline railroad. Thll, .
of course, only d ramatlz~s the curre nt bias against accessibility - that Is to say, '.
against ony spatial Inter action berween old and new. poor and rich, exce pt In ~
232 C IT Y OF Q U ... R T Z
SADISTIC STREET ENVIRONMENTS
Th is conscious ' hu denlng' of the city su rface ag. lnst th e poor Is especially .
brazen In the Manl ch aean tr eatment of Downtown microcosm •. In his -
famous study of the 'social life o f small urban spaces '. William Wh yte maket
th e po int th at the qUlllty of any urban enviro nme nt can be measured, nrst :
of all, by wheth er th er e are conve nient, co mfortab le places for pedestrllnt ,
to sit. II This maxim h as been warml y taken to heart by designers of the
hlgh-eo tponte preci nct s or Bunk er Hili and the em erging ' urban ~ llIa ge ' or
Sout h Park. As part o f th e city's polley o f subs idizJng whit e-collar r~slden tl ll
co lo nizatio n In Do wn to wn, It hu spe nt, or plans to spend , ten. of millions ..
of dollars of di verted tax revenue o n ~ ntld n g, 'so ft' enviro nme nts In these :
area s. Plann ers en'lls\on an opulent co mplex or squltes. fountalnkworld· ~
class public art , exotic shubbery, and avanr·garde street furniture along I :
Hope Street pedest rIan co rr ido r, In th e p ropaganda of offici al boosters, -
nothing Is tak en u a better Index of Downtown's 'IIv~ahlllty' th an th e Idyll ~
of o ffice wo rkers and up scale tour ists loun glng or napping In th e terraced "'
garden. of Cillfo rnla' Plua, th e 'Spanish Steps' or Gra nd H ope Park .
In stark co ntrast, II few blocks away, th e city Is engaged In a mer cllell )
. troggle to m ake public facilities and spaces as 'un.llveabl e' as possible for
the homeless and the poo r. The persistence of th ousands o r stree t people on
the fringes of Bunker Hili and the Civic Center sours the Image o f designer :
Downtown living and betrays the laboriously co nstr ucted illusion of a .~
Downtown 'ren aissance'. City H all th en ret aliat es wit h III ow n variant or .
r . U
low-lntenalty wan are .
Although c ity lea ders peri odically essay schemes fo r removing Ind lgenll
en mou e _ dep orting them to a poor farm on (he edge o f the desert,
conn ning th em In ca!nps in the mounta ins, or, m emorably. Interning them
on a derelict ferry at the H arbor - such 'flnal soluttons' have been blocked
by co uncllme mbe n fearful of the displace ment of the homeless Into th eir
dlstrlcII , Instead the city, s~ l f-consclously ad opt ing the Idiom of urban co ld
war, p rom ot e. the 'contai nment' (official term) of the hom eless In Skid Row
alo ng Fifth Stree t east of th e Broadway, systematic ally transforming the
neighborhood Into an outdoor poorhouse. But th is conllinment st rate gy
breeds Its ow n vicious circle o r contradictio n. By co ndensing th e mass of the
despera te and helpless together In suc h a sma ll space , and denyi ng adequate
•
~ O A T R I!: 99 L . ....
2 31
th e framework of gentrlllcaHon or recolonlzatlo n.1 Although a few white-
co llan vent ure Into the Grand Central Mark~t - a popu lar emporium of
tropical prod uce and fresh roods - latlno . hoppe n or Saturday stroll~rs never
circula te In the Guccl precin cts abcve Hili St r~t. The Ott&5lonal appearance
or a destitute street nomad In Broadw",y Plm or in front or the Museum of
Contem porary Art sets off a quiet panic; video cameras tum on their mou nts
and security guard. adjUst their belli .
. Phot ographs of th e old Downtow n In lit prime sho w mixed cro wds of
Anglo, Black and latino pedestrians of dlfTerent age. and c1ass ~s . The
contem po ra ry Downtown ' renaissance ' Is design ed to make suc h heter o-
geneit y virtu ally Impossible. It Is Intended not Just to 'klll th e street' as
Klplan f~a tl, but to 'kill the c ro wd ', to eliminate that democratic admi xtu re
on the pavements and In the parks th at Olmsted believ ed was America's
antidote to Europeln c1,u polarizati on•. The Downtown bjpersrructure _
like so me Buckmlruter Fuller post·Holocaust rantasy - Is programmed to
ensure a seamleu continuum of mlddle-.elau work, co nsumption and
recreeuce. without unwonted ex posu re to Dow ntown's working-cl ass
st reet enviro nments.' Indeed the toUlltarlan sem iotics or ramparts and
baulem en ts , reflecnve glass and elevated pedways, rebukes any affinit y o r
~
sympat hy bet ween different ar ch itectural or human o rders. As In Otis's
fortress nmeJ bu ilding . th is Is the archlsemlotlet of class war.
lest this see m too extreme, conside r Urban uJnd magazine's re ce nt
desc ription of the pront-drl'len fo rm ula that across the U nited Stat e. has
linked toge ther clustered developmen t, soc ial hom ogeneity, and a secu re
' Downtow n Image':
1I0 W TO OVERCOME fEA" OF CPJME IN OOWNTOWNS
( realt a Of'nJt. Compact, Multifunctional COTtArta. Adowntow n cln be dengned and
developed 10 make visitors fte l th.t II- or a . Ignlncanr ponl on of It - Is attractlv~
Ind the type of place thar 'r espectable people' like thernsel'1e' lend to frequent. . . .
Acore downtown Irea th.l\t Is compl ct, densely developed I nd mulllfunctlonal will
concenfrate people, giving them more Ic llvltlu. , . . The Icllvttle. oITered In thl.
core nel will derermlne what 'type' of people will be strolling III sidewalks;
loelling offices and housing (or middle. Ind upper-I ncome te. ldent. In or nel r the
core Irel cl n assure I high percentage cr 'respectable' , I, w" bldlng pedenrl an•.
Such In .tl nctlv~ rede~lo~ed core . rel would .110 be lu ge: enough to . fTect the
downtown'. over.lIlmage. I) • I
Ir O R T RI!SB L.A . 2 33
' housing, o fficial poli cy has tran sformed Skid Row Into proba bly the most
dangerous ten squ ar e block s In th e world - rul ed by a gris ly succession of
; 'Slu hers '. 'Night Stalkers ' and more ord ina ry predarees." Every night o n
Skid Row Is Frtday the t 3th, and, un su rp rlslngly, many o ft he homeless leek
to esc ape th e 'N ickle' durtng th e night at . 11 COSU, se arc hing safer niches In
' other p ans of Downtown. Th e city In turn tight ens the noos e with Increased
police harassm ent and Ingenious d~slgn det erren ts.
One o f th e most com mo n, but mlnd,numblng, o f these deterrents Is the
kapld T ransit Distri ct 's new barrelshaped bus be nch that ofTers I minimal
• .urfl ce for un comfortable utung. while m aking s l~p l n g uuerl y Impossible.
Such 'bump roo f' benches are being Widely Introduced on the pe riphery of
· Skid Row. Another Invention. worthy of the Grand GUignol, Is the
• aggressive deployment of outdoor spr inklers . Several years ago the city
;' opened a 'Skid Row Par k' along lower FlAh Stre et, o n a co rner of H ell. To
· ensure tha t the park was not used for slee ping - that Is to say, to guarantee
that It was mainly utilized for d rug dealing and preetnuuo n - the city
Installed an elabo rate overhead sprinkle r syllem prog rammed to drench
umus pectt ng sleepers at random times during the night . The system was
· Imm ediately co pied by some local huslnessmen In orde r to d rive the
· homeless away from adjacent pu blic sidewalks. Mea nwhil e restaurants and
· marke ts have respon ded to the hom eless by building ornate enclos ures to
· prot ect th eir refuse. Althou gh no o ne In los Angeles has yet pro posed
addi ng cyanide to th e garbage, as happen ed In Phoeni x a few years back, on e
· popular seafood restaurant has spe nt S12,000 to built th e ultimate bag-lady.
proof trash c.ge: made of three-quart er Inch steel rod wit h alloy locks and
vicious outt urned splkee to safeguard priceless mo lde ring Rshh eads and
: u ele Fren ch rrles.
Pub lic toilets. howev er. are the rea l Eeete m Front of th e Dow ntown
war on the poo r. los Angeles, as a maner of dellb era te policy , has fewer
a¥allable publi c lavatories than any major Nort h Ameri can ci ty. On the
edvlce of the LAPD (who actually sit on the deSign board of at leut one
major Downtow n redevelopment prolect).u the Com mu nity Red evelop'
ment Ag~ ncy bu lldozed th e remaining publi c toilet In Skid Row. Agency
· plann ers th en agonized for months ov~ r wh et her to Inclu de a ' free.•tandlng
, publ ic to ilet' In th eir deSign for So uth Par k. As CRA Chairman Jim Wood
later ad mitted. the dec ision not to Includ e th e toilet was a 'polley decision
 232 CI T Y OF O u ... .. T Z . ," O R T AE 8 tt L .A . 233

SADISTIC STRE ET eNVIRo NM ENTS
This co nscious 'hardenrng' of the cny surface against the poor Is especially :
brazen In the Manlchaean treatment of Downtow n mic rocosms. In his .
famous study o f the 'social life o f small u rban spaces', William Whyte make.
the point tha t the quality o f any u rban enviro nment can be measured , nnt
of an, by whether there are convenient, co mfortable places fo r ~ estrllnt
to sit. II This maxim hal been warmly taken to hear! by designers of Ihe "
high-ccrpc rate predri t U of Bunker 1-1111 and the em erging 'urban ~l1Iage' of ;."
South Park. As part of the city's polley of subsidizing white -co llar resident ial .
colonlzatlon In Dow ntown . It has spent, o r plans 10 spend. tens o f millions
of dollars of d lverted tax revenu e on enticing. 'so fl' enviro nments In these
areas. Plan ners en visio n an opulent co mplex of squ a r~ s, fountains ,' wod d-
class public art , excdc shubbery, and ava n titard~ nreer fur nitu re along a
Hope Street pede suian co rrido r. In th e propaganda o f official boosters,
nothing Is reken as a bette r Index of Down tow n's 'liveability' than the Idyll ';
of office wo rkers and upscale tou rists lo unging or napping In the terraced
gardens of Ca llforn l~ Plua, the 'Spanlsh Steps' o r Gra nd 1·lope Park.
In star k contrast, a few blocks away, the city Is e ngaged In a mercllese
struggle to make public facilities and spaces as ' unllveable' as pcsslble for
the homeless and the poor. Th e pe rstsree ce o f thou sands of stree t people 6n
the fringes of Bunker Hili and the CIvic Ce nte r sou rs the I m llg~ of designer
Downt own liVing and be trays the labo riOusly co nstr ucted illusion of • .:
Downtown 'ren alsu~ ce' . City Hall the n retaliates with Its ow n variant of ;.
low-rm ensny wufare. lJ
Although city leaders peri odically essay schemes for removing Indigen t.
t n mont _ deporting them to a poo r farm on the edge of the desert,
co nn ning them In camps In the mount ains, or, memorahly, Inte rning them
on a derelict ferry at the Harbo r - suc h ' Ilna! solu tio ns' have been blocked
by cou ncllmembers 'fearful of the displacement of the homeless Into their
districts. Instead the city, self.consclously adopting the Idiom of urb an cold
war, promot e. the 'cOntainment' (official term) o ft he homeless In Skid Row
along Fln h Street eall of the Broadway , systematically transfor ming the
neighborhood Into an out doo r poo rho use. But th is co nta inment stra tegy
breeds Its own vicious circle of co ntradic tion. By co nde nsing the mass o f the
desperat e and helpless together In such a smlll space, and den ying adequ.te
housing, c lllctal policy h illS transfo rmed Skid Row Into pr obably the most
dangerou s ten square block s In the wo rld - ruled by a grisly succession of
'Slashers', 'N ight Stalkers' and more o rdinary pred ato rs." Every night o n
Skid Row Is Friday the 13th, and , unsurprlslngly, many of the hom eless seek
· to etcape the 'Nickle' du ring the night at all costs, searching safe r niches In
othe r parIS of Downt own. The cit y In turn tightens the noo se with Increased
police harassme nt and Ingenious design deterr ent s.
: One o ft he most co mmon , but mlnd .numblng, of these deterrents Is the
· ~a p ld Transit District's new barrehhaped bus bench that o(f~rs a minimal
, surface for u nco mfortab le slUing, while making slee ping uu ~ rl y Impossible.
· Such 'bumproo f' benches are being widely Introd uced on the pe riphery of
~ Skid Row. Ano the r Inventio n, wo rthy of the Gra nd GUignol, I. th e
aggresSive deplejmem o f outdoo r spr ink lers . Seve ral y~ rs ago the city
· opened a 'Skld Row Park' ,long lower Firth Street , o n a co m er of H~I1 . To
· ensure that the pa rk was not used for sleeping -th, t I. to say, to gu aran t ~e
~ that It was mainly utilized for dr ug dea ling and prostitution - the city
: Insulled an elabor ate overhead sprinkler system p rogramm ed to d rench
unsuspect ing sleepe rs at random tlmes du ring the night . Th e system was
\ Immediately copied by some local buslnusmen In o rde r to d rive the
• homeless away from adjacent pub lic sidewalk•. Mea nwhile re.tau rant. and
m ark ~t s have respond ed to the homeless by build ing ornate enclosures to
prot ect their refuse . Although no one In los Angeles hilS yet proposed
, addlng cyan ld~ to the garb age, as happened In Phoen ix. few yean back, one
.: popu lar seafood restaurant has spe nt S12,000 to bu ilt the ultimate bag-lady-
proof trash cage: made o f three-quarter Inch steel rod with alloy locks and
vicio us c uu um ed spikes to safeguard p riceless mol d~rlng nJh heads and
stal~ fren ch fries.
Public tollet s, however, are the real Eastern front of rhe Dow ntown
war o n the poo r. Los A n g~les , as a matt er of deliberate po licy, has fewer
av.llable public lavatories than any major No rth A m~rlcan city. On the
advice o f the LAPD (who actually sit o n the design board of at least on e
major Downtown redevetopmem prolect), l~ the Co mmu nity Redevelop.
,; ment Ag~n cy bu lldozed the remaining pu blic toilet In Skid Row. Agen cy
· plann ers then agonized fo r months over whethe r to Include a ' free.stand lng
public toilet' In their d~s l gn for South Park. As CRA Chairman Jim Wood
later admlued, the decisio n not to Include the tolle t was a 'polky dec isio n

CI T Y O F OUAf'tTZ FOHTnES s L.A . 235

234

and not ill de sign decision'. Th e e RA Downt own prefers (he solution of
'l!ull5l.publlc rest roo ms' - meaning totlets III r~St:luraIlU, art galleri es and
office bUildings -which can be rnnde avallahle to tou rtsts and office workers
wlrlle helng de nied to vagrants and other unsultables: ' T he to iletless no-
man'•.land east 00 1111 Street In Downtown Is also barren of outside water
sou rces for drinking or washing. A co mmo n and tr oubling Sight th ese days
are the homeless men - many of them yOllng Salvaclorea n refugees -
washIng In and even dr hikln g from the sewer croue nt which flows down the
co ncrete cha nnel of tile l.os Angeles River o n the eastern e~ge of
Downtown.
Where the Itinera ries o f Down tow n powerbreke rs una voidably
Intersect with the hablt~ tJ of th e homeless or the work ing poo r, as In the :
preViously mentioned zo ne of genulncatlon along th e northern Broadw ay
co rridor, ~xtno rdlnary design precautio ns are being taken to ensur e the
phYSical separation of the different hum anities. For tnsrance. the CRA 1
brought In the I.os Angeles Police to design 'H ·hou r, stare-of-the -art
secu rlty' for the two new parking structur es that serve the I.os Angelel '
limn ami Ronald Reagan State Office buildings. In co nt rast 10 the mean
streets outslde,lh~ pa rking stru ctur es co ntain beillutlfully landscaped lawns
or 'm lcroparks', and In one case, a food court and a histo rical exhib it. '
Moreover, both struct ll~es are designed as 'con ndence-bcudrng' circula tion
systems _ mlnl ature pa~adlgms o f prlvilltlzatlon - which allow white-collar ..
workers to w1\lk from car to o ffice, or from car to bou uqne. with mini mu m ;
exposure to the publtcstrcet. lbe Broadway Spring Center, III particular,
which links the Ronalli Reagan Building to the p ropo sed 'Gnnd ~entral \
Square' at Third and Broadway, has bee n warmly pratsed by architec tur al :
critics for adding green ery and art (a banal bas relief) to parking. It also adds 1..
a hoge do se of menace - arm ed guards , locked gatel , and secu rity ca m~ ras ;
_ to scare away the homel ess and poo r.
The cold war on th e str eets of Downtown Is ever escalat ing. The police, '.
lcbbted by Dow ntown merchants and developers, have bro ken up every ;
Atte mpt by the homeless and th eir allies to c reate safe havens o r seU· '.
organized en campments. 'jusucevnle'. fou nd ed by homeless activist Ted :
11ayes, was rou ghly dispersed ; whe n Its Inhabitants att em pted to Ilnd refuge .
at Venice Beach, they we re arrested at the behe st ohhe loc al cou ncllperson [ ' BUM·PRooF' BUS BENCH
(a renown ed enviro nmen talist) and sent back to the Inferno of Skid Row. : Hill Strut, Downtown
j

.j
 <00
"" 1 T V I- U U A N I I., I'" U H ' R f: S S L .A .
237

The city's OIY ., br ief experiment wit h IcgJllzcd camp Ing _ a grudging
respo nse to it series of exposur e de aths In the co ld winter of 198 7 16 _ was
ended abruptly afte r o nly four months [0 make way fo r cons tructio n of a
tr ansit repair yard . Cu rrent policy see ms to Involve a per verse play upon
7..ola', famous Irony abou t the 'equa l rlghls' of the rich and the poo r to sleep
out TOn gh. As the head of th e ci ty planning commission ex plnlncd the
officlal llllC to Incredulous report ers, It Is no l agai nsl the law 10 slee p on the
street pe t se. 'o nly to erect any sort of prot ective shelter', To enforce this
prescription against 'ca ~dbo a rd condos ', the lA r D periodically s w~c p the
Nickle, conflscatlng shelte rs and othe r possessions, lind arr esting resisters.
Suc h cy nlca~ repression has t~, rncd the majo rity of the homeless lnto urb an
bedouins. Th ey arc vlslble &11 over Downtown, pusllll1g a few parbenc
possessions In purloined shopping ca rts, alway! fugitive and In motion,
pressed between the offi cial policy of co ntainment and the Increasing
sad tsm of Do wntown stree ts."

FR A N K O E H R Y AS D IR T Y tt A R R Y

If the cOlne mpora ry search for bo urgeois sccurny call be read In the design
of bus bench es and mega-struc tures. It Is also visible at the level of (WU llr.
No rece nt architect h~s so Ingernously elaborated the ur ban security
function or so brazenly emb raced the resultlng friSlon 3! l os Angeles'.
l'r uekcr Prize laur eate, Franj< Gehry. As we saw earlier, he has become one
of the principal 'Imaglneers' (III the Disney sense) of tile nco-booster tsm of
the 1990s. lie Is p;"tl~lIl arly ade pt as a c rossover, 1101 merel y between
architec ture and modern art, but also between olde r, vaguely radical and
co ntemporary. hasteally cynical styles. "I1IUS his portfolio ts at once a
principled rep udiation of pcstm cdemrsm and o ne of Its cleverest sub-
limations; a nc n algtc 'evocation of revolurtonary construc tivism and a
mercenary celebration of bourgcors-decedcm mlnhnallsm. These
;
am phlblan shifts and paradoxical n uances In Gchry's work sustain a
boo mIng co ttage Indu ~ t ry of Ce bry-Imcrprctatton, mostly effused with
hypcr boltc adm iration.
Yet. as s llggesr~d In chapte r one, Gchry's strongest suit may simply be
TIlE NEW COMMANDMENT
his stralghtforw" rd explouatton of roug h urb an cnvlro nmems. and his
Yumont IIear Olympic

238 CI T" u .. ou,," , <&. I'"UI ., .. e e e, ... .... .

blatan t Inco rporation of thelr harshest edges and detr itu s as powerful largest Central American barrio In the Un ited States. The Inner-city
represent ational elements In his wo rk. AffectIonately described by situat ion of the Loyola campus confronte d Gehry with an explicit choice
co lleagues as an 'o ld socialist' or 'street-fighter wIth a heart', much of his between the risks of creating a genuine pu blic space, extending Into the
most Interesting work Is utterly unroman tic and anti-idealist .11 Unlike his · commu nity, or choos ing the security of a defensible encl ave, as in hls
popular front mentors of the 19 40s, Gehry makes lmle pretense at prevlous wo rk. The radical, or simply Idealist, arc hitect might have gambled
architectural reformism o r 'design for democ racy'. He boasts of trying 'to · on opening the campus to the adjace nt co mmunity, giVing It some
make the best with th e reality of thIngs' . Whh som etimes chilling substantive stake In the deSign. Instead, as an admiring crtuc explained,
lumInosity, his work clarifies the und erlying relations of re pr ession, · Gehry chose a fundament ally neo-conservative design that was:
surveillance and exclusIon that charac terize the fragmented , para noid
spatiality towards which los Angeles seems 10 aspire. open, but no! 100 ofJfn. The South Instructional Hall and the chapel show solid
A very u rly example of Gehry's new urb an realism was his 1964 .fback. to Olymptc Boulevard, Ind ~I!h the anonymous street 31del of the Burns
solutIon ot the problem of how to Insert high property values and sumptuary ; Building. form a gateway that If neither forbidding nor overly welcoming. It Is
spaces Into deceyrng neighborhoods. His DanZiger Srudto In Hollywood Is the , ' imply there. like everylhlng else In the nelghborhood.1o
,
pioneer Instance of w h a~ has become an enttre species of tcs Angeles 'ste alth
houses', dtsnm ulan ng their luxurious qcelntes with pr oletari an or gangster i: (ThIs descri ption considerably underst ates the fot blddlng qualities of the
Iacades. The street front age of the Danziger - on Melrose In the bad old days : .. campus's formidable steel stake fencing , conc rete bloc ziggura t, and stark
, frontag e walls.)
before \Is current gourmet-gulch renaissance - was sImply a massive gray ..
t But If the Danziger Studio camou flages Itself, and th e Cochiti Lake and
wall, treated with a rough finish 10 ensure that It would collect dust from ;
passtng traffi c and weather Into a simulacrum of nearby porn studios and ; Loyola desIgns bunch fron tage In stern glares, Gehris baroquely fortified
garages. Gehry was explicit In his search for a design that was 'Introverted · Frances Howard Goldwyn Regiona l Branch library In Hollywood (1984 )
and fortress-like' with the silent aura of a 'dumb box'.'? · positively taunts poten tial trespasse rs 'to make my day'. Thls Is undo ubted ly
'Dum b boxes' and screen walls form an entire cycle of Gehry's work, " the most men acing libra ry ever built , a bizarr e hybrid (on the outside) of
ranging from hIs America n School of Dance (1968) to his Gemini G.E.I. ~ dry-docked dread nought and Gunga Din fort. With Its fifteen -foot secur ity
(1 9 79), both In Hollywood. His most seminal design. however , was hll ··, walls of stucco-covered co ncrete block, Its antl-gram tl barricade. covered
walled town ce nte r for CochitI l ake, New Mexico (197]): here ~(;e-bl ue _In ceram ic tile. its sun ken ent rance pr otected by ten-foot steel stacks, and
ramp art s of awesome severtty enclose an entire community (a plan ; ' lts stylized sentry boxes perched precariously on each side, the Goldwyn
replicated on a smaller scale In the 1976 Jung Institut e In l os Angeles). In : . Library (Influenced by Gehry's 1980 bfgb-securtty design for the US
each of these Instances, melodrama Is generated by the antithesis between .Chancellery In Damascu s) projects the same kind of macho exaggeration as
the forti fied exte riors ,' set against 'u nappealing neighborh oods' or deserts, ; Dirty Harry's 44 Magnum.
and th'e opulent Inter iors, ope n to the sky by clerestories and Ilght wel1s. , Predictably. some of Gehry's Intoxicated admirers have swoo ned over
Gehry'a walled compounds and cttles, In other words, o ffer powerful . ~ this Belru th:ed structure as 'gen erous' and 'InvIting', 'the cld-fashtcn ed kind
· of library' . and so on. They absur dly miss th e potnr." The previous
metaphors for the retreat from the stree t and the Introversion of space that :',
characte rized the deug n backlash against the urban Insurrectio ns of the Hollywood RegIonal Branch library had been destroy ed by arson, and the
.J
1960s . (·Samuel Goldwyn Foundat ion, which e ndows this collection of fIl mland
This problemat ic was renewed In 1984 In hls design of the Lo yola Law : ' memorabilia, was flu ted on physical secu rity. Gehry accepted a
School located on the western edge of Down town Los Angeles In the commission to design a stru cture that was Inherently 'vandalprcof". The
 240 CI T Y OF aUARTZ , FOR TR E SS L.A .
2 41

curiosity. of co urse. Is his rejecuon of the low-proflle. high-tech sec urity ~

systems that most architects subtly lnlcgr;\te In their bluep rints. He chose:
Instead a hlgh-prnOle, low-tech approach that maximally for egrounds the
security functi ons as motifs o f the d esign. The re Is no d issimulation of ;
funct ion by form : quit e rhe opposite. Gehry leis II all h,mg n ut , J low playful .,
o r mord antly witty you may flnd the resultin g effect depend s o n your .
existential position. 11.c Goldwyn Uh rary rele ntlessly tnterpelletes , ;
demonic Other (arsoni st. graffiUsl, Invade r) who m II reflects back on ~
sur ro unding streets lind street people. It coldly saturates Its Immediate :
enviro nment , which is I~ly but not parti cularly bost tle, wit h '!ls own:
arrogant paranoia. \
Yet pa ranoia cOlild he • misnomer. for the adlace nt street. are . :
batt leground. Several years ago th e l os Angcles Times b roke the sordid . tory.
about how the entertainment conglomerates and a few large landowners..
rnou c pclt atng land ownership In this part of Hollywood , had managed t
capture co ntrol of the redevelop men t pro cess. Thcl r plan, . 1111 the object or;
co ntroversy, Is to use eminent do maln and pub lic tax Increments to clear.
the poor (Increasingly refugee s from Central America) from the streets of'
Hollywood and reap the huge wind falls from 'upg rading' the region Into I
gllt7.y theme-perk fo r Intern ation al toortsm." Within this slntegy, the
Goldwyn Ubn ry - like Gehry 's ea rlier walled compounds - Is a kind of'
arclnte ctu ral O re .ha! ~ , a beachhead fo r gentrification. Its soaring, light.
Oiled Interiors surrounded by bel licose barricades speak volumes abo ut hO'N'
pub lic arch itecture 1'1 America b literally being turned Inside out, In the.
servtce of 'security' ai'lll preflt ,

THE PANOPTI CON MALL

i
In other lc caltnstances, however , the 'for tress' Is being used 10 reca pturt.
the poo r as con sum ers. If the Goldwyn Ubrary Is a 'shilling ex ample of th~
posslbilltle. o f public and pr fvate-sector coo peratio n', then develope r
Alexander 1-13agen'$ Inne r-city malts are tru ly stellar Instances. Haa gen1.
whose career began as a Jukebo x distr ibut or In the bo nky-tc nks or
Wilmingto n, made his InItial Ior tur e seilIng co rne r lots to 0 11 co mpanlel . DIAn IlAAA r S 1.181UAY
(. Ince recycled as mlnl-malb]. lie nnw controls the largest retatl Gofc/wyn li brary , flolJ)'I"ooc/

..i l T ' .... . ou ..... z FO h . ne 8 & .. .... . 2 43

24 2

development empire In Sout hern California. respo nsible for mo re than fort~
shopping ce nte rs. A, we saw In chapter two, Haegen Is a savvy polltlca
uh th Democra ts and RepubllcJ ns. He Is ah a th e past
do nor who swIngs w bo If
master at exploiting publlc.sector redevelopment for prlYate gain - o r,
u refer 'the father of the Inner city's rebirth '.
yo ~e wa's the On t major developer In the ne ncn to grasp the laten t p roOt
tentl als of abandoned Inner-clty reull mar kets. Al\er the 19 6 1) WatU
: :belllon the hand ful cif large ret ailers In Southcentra l l os Angeles 100~
night while viable small busi nesses were asphyxiated by dlscrlmlnato~ ban ;
' redllnlng' p ractices , A ~ a result , half a million Black and Lat nc shoppen
were forced to comrnut.e to dista nt regional malls or bordering white areas .
even for o rdinary grocery and prescription shopping. Hu gen reason ed that .-
a retail developer prepared to re tu rn to the Inner city cou ld mon opo lize
ye high sales volumes. Aware of the accumulating anger o f th e Black "
co~munlty against deca des of benign neglect by redevelopment autho n tle. , i
he also calculated that tie could Induce the city to subsidize this commerc~ ,
recoloniza tion . Wh ile ihe Commun ity g edevelopmem Agency had rac
h d to assemble Ia~d for billion aire developers Downtown, It had
• ea I Ingle supermarket te ,
floun dered In Wat ts for years , unab e to ~ lt ract a • h .
- lg'hbo rhood shop ping center. I'h agen recognized t at
anch or I propose d n .. h _.
d t d hot water with Its Sout centra .
the Bradley regime, In unp r« e en e h \
dsomely reward any prlyate·sector Initiati ve t It
constituency, wou Id h an . , I '
could cut the Gordian k not of th e ' anchor ten ant problem . His Ingen OUI.
from Jerem y Be ntham's renowned mn eteenth-century design for the
' penop ucon pr ison' wtth lis eco no mical ce ntral surveilla nce . Co nside r, fo r
example, the layout of }-h agen 's Walls center:
The Ki ng center alte Is surrounded by an elghl·foot·hlgh, wrought·lron fence
compuable 10 security renee. round at the perimeters of prlute estales and
exdu.lye residential communille•. Video cameras eqUipped with motion detecrers
are posilioned near ent rance. I nd throughout Ihe . hopplng center. The enure
cenler.lncludtng parking lou , can be balhed In brlghl Ieur-fccr Cindie 1tghllng at
the' nip of the 5wltch.
There are six entrances to the center: three entry polnu for aUlOS, two service
gates, and one pede'lrlln wllkway. The pedenrl an Ind IUtOenn les have gatelthat
Ire opened at 6:]0 a.m. and d osed It 10:] 0 p.m. The semce uu loce ed II the
ru r of the prope"1 Is enclosed wlth a slx·foot.hlgh concrete block wallj both
service gates remain closed and are under closed-elrcult video surveillance,
equippedfor two·wayvctee communications, end operated for dellyerlesby remote
control from a .ecurlty 'observatory'. Infra-red beam. It the bu es of light nxluru
deteet lntruden who might circumvent video cameru by climbing oyer the wall.U
The 'unobtru sive' pan opt lcon observatory II both eye and brain o f th is
. complex security syste m. (In the Willow brook center It Is actu ally hidden
, above a pub lic libr ary b ranch.) It con tains the headquarters of the shopp ing
center manager , a substation o f th e l APD, and a dispatch ope rator who
monitors the video and aud io systems IS well as maintaining commu ni·
~ calion ' with ot her secu re sho pping cen ters tied Into the system, and with

solution, which won nat ional accla im from the co mmercial deyeiopme nt,
Indu stry, was a comprehe nslye 'Jtcurity .oritntt d design and mana.gement.
,n
strategy , d I 19 79 whe n Haa gen Develop ment took lItlf
Th e Orst move was rna e n I
Id Sears l ite I t Vermont and Slauson. In the heart of Southcentra ,
over an 0 hi h com plello
Then In 19 83 the redevelcprneru agency turn ed over to m I e I h
of Its 10ng-delayed ~1a~ln Lu ther King Jr. Ce nte r In W"tts . A yea~ at; r. .
won the bid for th e' $120 million refurbishing and expansion 0 t
Cre nshaw Piau In Baldwin HlIIs, followed by a Co unty conlract to creat ,
a shopp ing comp lex In the W illowbrook area Just south of ~atts. In ea I
clSe the guarant~ of fall.safe physical s«urlty was the Slnt qua ~n .
ersuadlng ret ailers and franchises (and their Insurers) to take up le~
~e pr ototype plan shared by all four shop ping cenlers plagiariZes brazen..:
the police end Ore depa rtments' , AI any lime of the wee k, day or night ,
·,' there are at least fou r center secu rity gu ards o n du ty: on e at the observato ry
.n d thr ee on foot patro\. They are tra ined and backed u p by the regula t
'LAPD o fficers o perating from the substation In the observatory .
'While these security meuures may seem extraordtnary, shopping center security
hsues hive risen to the forefront of management's concerns during Ihe tut few
. an . With Insurance carriers revtewlng lhe security operallons of shopping
nlers before wrillng new policies or even reneWing exlsllng ones. and, In some
~ U Cl, Insisting on upgn ded securlly progrllms u a condition of Insurance:, centers
locations other th,ln Inner-elty netghborhoods hllYe sllned to focus on securhy
entlon5 u an Integral plln of their design and management strategy. Indeed
i'olecllng shoppIng cenTer owners and managers from ,",wsult. can make a urong
rlty program eJtuemely proflu ble oyer the long run.1•
,
244 CI TY O F QU A RTZ ' FORTR E S S l .A .
245

Th ese ce nters, as ex pected, have been bonanzas , averaging annual.ales

o r more than $350 NO ,"_, Ieaseble square loot
r , as co mpared to about $200 (or
their sub urban equtva len t s.n Marcover I-I n gcn has reaped the multi 1 ~'
~
wind falls o f lax br c akI , ed era I an(I city grants. massive Iree publtcny sub-' pie ,
~1~Ii7.cdtenan ts and sixty' to nin ety-year gro und leases. No wonder he hal :
nee n able. 10
. bo ast'. 'Weve • pr ovcuu' tha t th e on ly colo r thai counts In buslnen :.
~s gre en. I her e Me ',lUge opportunities and huge prcfue 10 be mad e In these ':
depressed Inner·clty an!u of America that have been abandoned.''' :
Meanw hile the logle of '11a"genlzat lon' has been extend ed to the '
houll,l n g as we ll as shopping areas o f the ghcuo. 'n lc co unte rpart of the '
rna -as-pano pttco n-prts011 Is rne
1m I I lou slng'p roJect -as-strafeglc·hamlet . The :
penal Cou rts I10uslng Project, Jtut down the road from the Marti :
Luther King Jr. Ce nter, has recently been fo rtlOed with fencing obll tn .
IdentifY pau es and a . ubslatl on of the IA PD. Vlsllors are ':0 ~a
oryd
frisked while th
. ' e ro.II pp an \
a; rou tin ely order residen ts back lnto their
i
part menf s at night . Such I.t the loss of freedom Ihat public hou!lng tenenu -
must now e ndure as the pr ice of 'security' . i
•
\ .\ \1 , \ ,
,i 8
FR O M R e NTACO P T O ROEIOCOP
,

Th e secur ity-dr iven logiC o f ur ban endavlzatlon Onds Its most popul ar
expresslon In th e frenetic effo rts o f l os Angeles' s afflue nt neighbo rhoods to'
lnsulate home values and lifestyles. As we saw In the lUI chapte r new
lu xury developments outs ide the cl ly limit s have oflen beco me f~rtred
cure s, co mplete wit h euccmpessrng walls, reJ:lrlcled entry po ints wnh guard
posts. o verlapping prl v,ate and public police services. and even privatized·
roadways. It Is Sim ply Impossible fo r ordinary citi zen s 10 Invade the 'cutes'
of H idden III11s, nra ~bury, Rancho MIrage or Ro iling Iflll s without
an Invitatio n from . res ident . Inde ed Bradbury, with nine hu nd red residents ·
and ten miles o f gated pr ivate roads, ts so secunty-obscssed thai lis th ree clly
officials do nOI retur n teleph one calls from the pr ess. since 'each time an'
b I appeared ' " It dr ew ane nno n 10 [he city and th e num ber 0 r
article
u rg aries Increased'. For lIS part , I!ldden II I1I I , a N o rman Rockwell '
Ptf NOPTlCON EYE
p ainting behind hlgb-seccr ny walls, has been btnerly dtvidcd
com pli Ih S over
ance w t a upe eter Co u n o rde r 10 bu ild forty·etghl un it'. c f senicrs':
Polke observotory above library III f fnngtn 5hopplng moll
Willowbrook c/iJlrict '
I
)
C IT Y OF Q UARTZ FORTRE S S l. .A . 247
246

ho uslog olltslde li s gates . At meet ings of the city's all·powerful ".;

hom eowners' association (who~e memhershlp Ind udes Franki e AV:lloo,
Ne ll Diamond and Bob Eubanks) opponents of compliance have ar gued Ihat "~
the old folks' :tpartmen lS 'will an eact gang s anti dope ' (slc).JJ
Meanwhile. tradilion al luxu ry encl aves like Beverl y I ll1Is and San :
Marino are Increasingly rest ricting acce ss 10 thclr pobltc facilities, uSing '
haroque layers of regul~tlons to bu ild Invisible walls. San Marino , which \
may b e the rlche st, and Is rCJlut edly th e most Rcpuhllcan (85 per ce nt], city '
In the count ry, now d oses lis parks on weekends 10 exclude I.allo o and "
Asian families from adtacenr comm unities. O ne plan unde r dlscusslon "j
would reopen th e parks on Salu rd ays o nly to those wllh proo f of reSidence. .
O the r upscale neighbor hoods In Loa I\ngeles havc minted a similar "
reslclentlal pr lyllege by obtaining ord inances to restrict parking to local '
homeowners. Predl clab ly, such p referen tial parking regu\a.tlo ns pr olifera te "
excl USively In neighborhoods with three -c ar garages.
Resldenll al are as wtth enough c10U I are thus able to privatize local publiC.'
space, partitioning themselves from the rest or the metropolis, even Imposing "
a varlant of neighborhood 'passport co ntrol' on ouulders . The nexi slep, of.
course, Is to ape Incorpnn ted enclaves like Roiling H ills o r H idden Hills by ',
bllllding literal waU,. Since Its cons tm ctlo n In the late 19 405 Patk La Breilhill
been a bit of t o wer Manhalt"n rllUlzpah moo red to Wilshire Boulevard: a '.
I76-acre maze of meclhim·~n1 townhouses and tower apartments, occu pIed '
by an urbane mix of slnglcs, reti rees, and families. No w, as part of " str atcgy
of gentr lfkaUon, lIS ow~~rs, Forest Cily Eotc rp rlses, have decided 10 enc lose:
the emtre community In sccu rlty fencing , c\tHlng off to pe,lcstr lans·one of:
the most vital public spaces along the ' Mlr"c1e Mile' . 1\, a spokcswoman for'
the owners observed, ' It's 1\ tr end In general 10 have enclosed ;
communities'." In th~ once wlde-('lpen tract lands of the San Fern ando .
Valley, where there wer e virt ually no wallcd ·ofT co mmunltlcs a decade ago,
the 'tre nd' has assumed Ihe frenz.led dimension s of a residential arm s race at .
ortllnary . ubmbanltes demand the ki nd of soclal lnsu1:ltloll once cnJoyed only;
hy the rich. Brian Welostoc\, a leading Vallcy contract or, bo ,u u of more than '
one hundred newly gated neIghborhoods, with an Insatiable demand for
more security. 'Th e flrst question out of their (the buyers" nlouth s Is whether
CIIUTZPAII OENIF.D
there Is a gated community. Th e demand Is the re on a ) ·to-I hasls for a gated
Park La BrM
t;ommunlty than not liVing In a gated commun ity.'}!
 C ITY OF aU4R T2 : FOR TR e s s L .A . 2 49

The social control ~dYantilges of 'giltehoOtI' have also aureo ed the :

en enucn of hmdlords In den ser, lower-income areas. Apartment owners In
the Sepulveda barrio of the Valley have rallied behind a pollee program, ~
launched In October 1989, to b:u rlcade their st reets as a deterrent to drug
buyers anel other undesirables. The I.Al' O wants the City Cou ndl'J'
permission to permanent ly seal off the nelghhorhootl and restrict entry to.
residents, while the owners finance a guard station or 'checkpoint chu lie',.:
While the Council contemplates the perman ency of the experiment, the.
1.Ar D, supported by local homeowners, has continued to barrlcade ot her I
urban 'war zones' Including part of the Pfco-Unlcn district, a Mld·WIl$hlre .
neighborhood, and an entire square mile around Jefferson "lIgh School In .
the Central-Ver non area. In face of complaints from youn ger residents ),
about the 'Berlin Wall' quality of the nclghborhood quaram lnes. Pollee 1,
Chief Gates reassured Journ alists that 'we're not here to occupy the ,
terr itory. 'T1l1s Isn't Panama. It' s the cny of los Angeles and we're going to I
be here In a lawful, manner.' " '
Meanwhile the very rich are yearning for hlgh·tcch castles. Where gate.t
,md walls alone ~J1I not suffice, as In the case of BeYerly 1-111Is or Rel·Ali,
homeowners, the house Itself Is recleslgned to Incorporate sophl. tlcateQ,
sometimes far·fetched, security functions. An oyerrldlng but discreet goal
of the current 'manslonlz lng' mania on the Westside of los Angeles - for
Instance. te3r1ng down $J million houses to hulld $JO million manslons-
Is the search for 'absolute security'. Rcsldenttal architects are bor rowing
design secrets from overseas embassies and military command pOli S. One of
the featu res most III demand Is the 'terro rlst' proof securlty room ' concealed
In the housep"'n and accessed hy sliding panels and secret doors. MeN .
Griffith and his fellow manstcmzers are hardening their palaces like missile ;.
silos. ,
Hut contemporary resrderutal seceruy In 1.0s Angeles - whether In the '.
fortlRed mansten or the average suburban bunker - depends upon the :
voracious consumption of private security services. Thro ugh their local .'
homeowners' associations, virtu ally every amu ent neighborhood from the .
Palisades to SlIverlake con tracts 111 own private policing; hence the ,
thousands of lawns displaying the little 'armed respons e' warnings. The :
classtllcds In a recent Sunday edition of the Los Angeles TImtS contained i· BU LlGERENT LAWNS
nearly a hundred ads for guards and patrolmen, mostly from Rnnl : IlollywooJ HiIlJ

-
250 ~OF~AA RTtrIrI'S L~

,
Ipeclallzlng In residential protection . Within Los Angeles Coonty, the ..
security services Industry has tripled Its u les and workforce (from 24 ,000
to 75,000) over the last decade. ' It Is easier to become an armed guard than .
It Is to become a barber, hairdresser or [cumeyman carpenter', and under '
California's extraordinarily lax licensing law even a convicted murd erer Is :
not automatically excluded from eligibility. Although a malorlty of
patrolmen are minority males earning near the minimum wage (S4- 7 per '
hour depending on qualHlcatlo ns and lHeracy), their employers are often .
multinational conglomerates offering a dazzling range of secueny producu :
and services. As Michael Kaye, presldent of bu rgeoning weeee (a subsidiary
of Japan's Seccm Ltd), explains: 'We 're not a security guard company. We :
. eli a concrpt of secort ry.'!' (This quote, as aRd onados will Immediately '
recognize, echoes'the boast of Omnl Consumer Products' Dick Jone. - the
villain of Paul Ve~hoeve n 's Aobocop - that 'everythIng Is security concepti ,
. . . •ometlmes I can Just think of something and It makes me so horny' .) ~
What homeowners' associations cont ract from westec - or III principal
rival, Bel·Alr Patrol (part of Borg-Warner' s family of security compentes,
Including Burns and Pinkerton) - Is a comp lete, ' systems' pachge that
Includes alarm hardware, monitoring, watch patrols, personal escorts, and, .
of course, 'a rmed response' IS necessary. Although Iaw-enfcrcement
experts debate the efficiency of such systems In foiling profeu lonal
criminals, they ate brilliantly successful In deterring Innocent outsiders, .
Anyone who has tried to take a stroll at dusk through a strange .
neighborhood patrolled by armed security guards and slgnpolled with death
threats qUickly realizes how merely notional, If not utte rly obsolete, Is the;
old Idea of the ' freedom of the city' .
THE L .A .P. D . AS SPA C E P OLI C E
This comprehennve urban security mobilization depe nds no! only upon the
Imbrication of the police function Into the built environment, but also upon
an evclvrngsoclai division of labor between public. and pn vere-sectcr police
services, In which the former act as the necessary supports of the latter. At
Police Chirj magazine note s, 'harsh economic realities of the 198 0s' - for ,
Instance, the tax revolt, rising rates of crime against property, and
burgeoning rntddle-class demands for secur ity - have catalyzed '. realign.
ment of relationships between prtvete security and law enforcement'.u
;' The private sector, explOiting I n army of non-union , low.wage employees,
: has Increasingly captured the lebor-Intenslve role. (guard duty, re. ldentlal
,. patrol, apprehe nsIon of retall crime, maintenance of security passages and
~ checkpoints, monitoring of electronic surveillance, and so on), while public
· law enforcement has retr enched behind the supervision of secu rity macro.
· systems (maintenance of major crime data bases, aerial survenlence, Jail
, system., paramilitary respo nses to terrorism and street Insurgency, and so
on). The confUSing Interface betwee n the two sectors Is most evident In the
overlapping of patrol functions In many neighborhoods and In the grOWing
, trend to subcontract Jailing (With the privallzed supervision of electro nic
. home surveillance as another potentially lucrative market).
, In many respects this dlYlslon ofJabor Is more elaborated in los Angeles
• than elsewhere, Ifon ly because of the LAPo's palhbreaklng substitutions of
technological capital for patrol manpower. In part this was a necessary
: adaptallon to the city's dispersed form; but It hIS allO expressed the
departm ent's particular dennltlon of Its relationship 10 the community.
especially In lis own seff-perpetuaeed f!1yth, the LAPD Is seen as the
progressive antithesis to the tradit ional big-city police department with Its
patronage armies of patrolmen grafting off the beat. As reformed In the
early 19 50s by the legendary Chief Parker (who admired above all the
· elitism of the Marines), the LAPD was Intended to be Incorrupllble because
· un approachable, a 'few good men' doing battle with a fundamentally evtl
city. Drogntr's Sergeant Friday precisely captured the Perkerteed LAPO's
quality of prud ish alienation from • citizenry composed of fools,
degenerates and psychopaths.
Techn ology helped Insulate this paranctd rJprll J~ corps. In doing so, It
Ylrtually established a new epistemology of pcllc tng, where technologtzed
surveillance and response supplanted the t raditional patrolman's Intimate
'folk' knowledge of speciRc communities. Thus back In the 1920s the LAPO
had pioneere d the replacement of the natfoot or mou nted officer with the
radio patrol car - the beginning of dispersed, mecha nized policing. Unde r
· Puker, ever alert to splnofTt from military technology, the LA PO
Introduced the nut police helicopters for systematic aerial survelllance.
· After the Walts Rebellton or 196 5 thlt airborne effort became the
252 CITY 0," QUART Z " ORTRI!S5 L .A .

co rnersto ne of II policing strat egy for the en tire Inner cby.1l As paJ! of lis ;
'Astro ' program LAPD heljcoprere maIntain an aver"ce nineteen -hour -per- ~
day vigil over 'high c rime areas', tac tically coordi nated to patrol car forces,
and excee ding even the British Army's aerial su rveillance of Belfast. To :.
facilitate grou nd-air synchronization, thousands of restde mul loafl ops have ~
been painted with Identifying street numbe rs. transforming the aerial view
of the ci ty Into II huge police grid.
The nrty·pllot LAPD etrforce was recently updated with French ;
Aerospatlale helicopters equtpped with futuristic surveillance tech~ology. }
their Ic rward-lccktng Intra-red ca meras are ext raordinary nIght eyes that •
can easily fo rm he..t lm..ges Ircm .. Single bu rning clgareue, while their i
thlrty-millJon-candlepower spotlights, appro priately ca lled 'N lghtsun', can f
. I
literally turn the night Into day. Mean whtle the LAPD retains anot her fleet ~
or Bell Jet Rangers capable o r deliveri ng com plete clements or SWAT ,
perso nnel anywhere Ih the region. Their training, which sometimes
Includes practice assaults on Downtown hlghrbes. an ticipates some o r the I
spookier Hollywood Images (ror examp le, Blui Thundtr or Running Man) or
airborne police te rror. A few years ago a vete ran LAPDSWi\ T commander!
(apparently one of the principal! In the Infamoul SLA holocaust In ;
Sourhcemral Lcs Ange!es) acclden relly shot his own helicopt er o ut of the ..
sky while pract icing a straOng ru n with a machine-gun.
But the most decl;lve element In the LAPD's meta mo rphosis Into a ~
techncponce has bee n Its long and successful lI..bon wit h the military \"
aerospace Industry. Just In time for the opening of the 198 4 Los Angeles :
Ojymprcs, the department brought o n line ECCCS (Emergency Command !
Control Communications Systems), the most powerful, stete-of-the-ert :
police co mmunications system In the wo rld. First conceptualized by ,
Hughes Aerospace between 1969 and 197 1, ECCCS's design was reOned .,
.
and updated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Incorpo rating elements '
or space techn ology In~ mission con trol com municat ions. Arter the passage
or a $42 million tax override In May 1977, the City Council eppoved ]
Syslems Developm ent Corpo ration of Santa Mo nica as prime co ntracto r fer -
the system, which too k more than seven years to build. '.
The central hardware or ECCCS Is encased In security co mparable to I .
SAC mlsslle silo In Monlana . Bunkered In the earthqu..ke-peoofed and '-
secu rity·hardened fourth and Ofth sublevels of City l fall East (and Inter- :
connecting with the Police pentago n tn Parker Center), Central Dispatch
Center coor dinates all the co mplex Itlnerartes and responses of th e t APD
, using digitalized com munication to eliminate voice congestion and guarantee
the sec recy or transmission. ECCCS, together with the LAPD's prodigiOUS
Infonn atlon'proceu lng assets, Including the ever-growing dat..bases on
suspect citizenry, have become the ce ntr..l neural system for the vast and
:' · disparate, public and private, secu rity operations laking place In Los Angeles.
But this Is hard ly the ultimate police sensorium. As gang hysteria and
the war o n crack keep the city's coffers open to police funding requests. It
Is likely the LAPD will continue to win political !uppo rt for ambitiou s
capital Investment progra ms In new technology. Having brought policing
: up to the levels c f rhe Vietnam War and early NASA, It Is ..Imost Inevitable
i that the LAPD, and ot her advanced pollee forces, will try to acquire the
, technology of the Electronic BattleOeld and even Star Wars. We are at the
· thr eshold o r the universal electronic tagging of prope rty and people - bot h
criminal and non-crtmlnal (small childre n, for exam ple) - monit or ed by
both ce llular and ce ntralized surveillances. or the latter , ex-Los Angeles
police chler, now state senato r, Ed Davis (Republican - Valencia) has
: proposed the use of a geosyndlnlcal space satelllte to co unter pandem ic car
theft In the region . Electron ic alarm systems, already tested In New
England. woul d alert police Ir I properly tagged car was stolen; satelllte
moltorlng wou ld exte nd covera ge over los Angeles's vast metropolitan
, area. O nce In orb it, or course, the role of a law e nforce ment satellite would
grow to enco mpass o ther forms of surveillance and co nt rol.
The Image here Is ultimately mor e Impor tant than the practicality of the
proposal, since It co nde nses the historical wo rld view and quixotic quest of
. the postwar LAPD: good citizens, 01T the street s, encleved In th eir hlgh-
, .ecurlty private consumption spheres; b..d citizens, on the streets (and
therefore not eng"ged In legitimate business), caught In the terrible.
· Jehovan scruti ny of the LAPo's space program .
T HE CARCERAL C ITY
All this airborne surve illance ..nd engrlddlng, e ndless police data-galhe rtng
and ce ntralization of commu nications, constit utes an Invisible

25 4 CI T Y O F QUARTZ f- uHYRE tU:l L .A .

'11"ussmannl7.atlo1\' of Los Angeles. No need to clear Odd s of Ilrc for

ca nno n when you co ntrol the sky: len need to hlre Informers o n cvery block
whe n surveillance cameras are unlvers"l ornaments on every building . But .-
the police also reorganize space In far mo re stralghtrorward WOlfS· We have
already seen their growing role as Downtown urban dcstgners, Indtspene-
able for their expertise In 'security', But they ah a lobby Incessantly 10
cnlargc law-and-orde r land usc: additional warehouse space for I
hurgeon lng Inmate population , and administra tive-training facilities for
themselves. In Lo s Angeles this has taken the fo rm of a de f~cto urban
renewal progra m, operated by th e police agencies, that thr eatens to co nvert .
an ent ire salient of Down town-East Los Angeles tuto a vast penal colony.14
Neerly 2),0 00 prisoners are present ly held In six severely overcro wded '
county and federal f~c1 I1 t1el - not Including Immlgrlltlon and Narurallaatton .
Service (INS) detention ce nters - within a three -t ulle radius of City Hall - .
the largest Inca rcerated population In the nation . R:aclng to meet the
challenge or the current ' War on Drugs' (which will doub le deta ined ~
popu lations within the decade], au rhcrlnes are forging ahead with the '
co nstruction of a new state prison In East Los Angeles u well as a giant I
expansion of the C~u nty jetl neer Chinatow n. Both prolects arc Vigorously
co ntested by co mmun ity coalitions opposed to further dumping ofja ilipace
In the Inner city. Y~t at the same time agencies like the Bureau of l'rlsons
and County Jail, togeth er with the Innumerable private security compa nies,
have beco me major ~om mll n l ty e mployers In the wake of plant closures and i:
delndustrl "IIzallon In East los Angeles during the 1 9 7 0 ~ and ea rly 1980s.
Jails now vic with' ConnlYIUSC Hosphal as the single most. Impo rtant ,
economic force on .the Eastside. ,
The a m nia otl nterest between commu nity and law enforce ment land ,
use Is also sharp ly ~ocused on the fate or Elysian Park, the hom e or Dodger
Stadium and the pJ llce Academy. Consisting of steep htllsides and ravines
Immediately no rthwest of the original EI Pueblo de Los Angeles, [ Iyslan ..
Park was o nce UPOh a ttme a prime to urist att raction, one of the foremost
'City Beautiful' pa;ks In the country. Through an extra orilinary clrcum- ,
venucn orJoc al government. the police department has managed to turn lIS
occupancy or the 1932 Olympic pistol range (under tempora ry lease to the ,
Police Athletic and Gun duh) Into :\11 occupation or the entire park. NElGII80RllOOO PRISON
Although lawyers for 'Friends of [ Iyslan Park' were ahle 10 pro ve that the INS Deten tion Ccllter, MacArth ur f llrlt flistrlcf
25. C, " OF "' ...... A T ~ • ....... TRo:.o ~ L .A . 257

development of the Police Academy was an unauthorized. even Iller! .
app ropriatio n of publi c land. the LAPD cowed th e City Co uncil Into ratl-
fylng th e sta tus quo. Th en In 19 89 One pri nt 3u ached to II larger po lice boner
Issue, fueled by the gang and drug crisis. pr ovided autho rity and funds fot
th e three-fold expansion of the Academy In the park. To suggest an analogy, '
It Is almos t u If the San Francisco police were to occupy Golden Gale Park",
or the New Yor k Police De partment to co mmandeer half of Central Park.
The INS, meanwhil e. has bee n tl'}'lng 10 shoehorn p rivatized 'm icrO'
prisons' Into unsusPecting Inner-d ty neighborhoods. F.lclng r~rd over·'
crowding In Its norm al facllitles. La Migra has co mmandeered motels .nd'
apartm ent s for openltlon by prlvate contracto rs as amcillary Jails for detained .
aliens - many of thein Chinese and Central Americans seeking asylum. Tbt .
disclosure of one of lhese ce nters caused a co mmu nity upr oar In f.l ollywood )
In 198 6. and again In early 1990 In the MacArthur Park neighborhood after :
an audacious escape by eight fema le detainees led by a Chinese pollUcal 'i
dissident. The women clalmed th at the detenti on cente r (an anonymous, ;
barr ed sto refront on the area', main shopping street) lacked basic hygiene ;
n
and that male guards spent the night In the women's cells.
The demand for law enforcement Itbtmroum In the a ntral city, how ever, .
will Inevitably bring the police agencies Into cOnflict with more than mere
community groups. Already the plan to add two hlghrlse towers, with 2,400
new beds, to Coun~ Jail on Baucbet Street downtown has raised the Ire cl
Angeles. on the edge of the Civic Ce nter and th e Hollywood Freeway.
or
Although this ten ·story Fed eral Bureau Prison 's facUlly Is one orthe most
visible new structures In the city, few of the hu ndred s of thousand s of
· commuters who pass It by every day have any Inkling of lIS fu~ cU on I I a
holding and tra nsfer ce nter for what hu been o fficially described u the
'managerial elite of narco- terrorlsm'. He re, 70 pe r ce nt of fede ral
Incarcerations are related to the 'War o n Drugs'. This postmodern Bastille
- the largest pr ison buil t In ill major US ur ban ce nter In generations - looks
Instead like a futur istic hotel o r o ffice block , with art istic charms (like the
high-tech tr ellises on Its brldge·balconl es) comparable to any of
, Downt own', recent architecture . But Its upscale ambience Is more than
mer e facade. The Inter ior o f the pr ison Is designed to Implement a
: sophisticated program of psychological manipulation and co nt rol: barless
windows, a pastel color plan , pr ison stafT In pr eppy blaze rs, well-tended
· patio sbubbery. ill betel-type reception area , nine recreation areas with
nau tilus work out equipment, and so o n. J1 In co ntrast to the hum an
Inferno of the desper ately overcrowded Co unty jail a few blocks away, the
Becket structure sup ernclally appears leu a detention than a convenno n
· cente r for federal felons - a 'd istinguis hed' addition to Downtown's
: continuum of secu rity and deSign . But the psychic cost of so much att enti on
to prison aest hetics Is Insidious. As one Inmate whispered to me In the
course of a tour, 'Can you Imagine the mlndfuck of being locked up In ill

planners and develcjers hoping to make nearby Union Station the center rJ '
a giant complex or-skyscraper hotels and ofTlccs. If the jail expanslon goet .
ahead, tourists and prisoners could end up ogling one another f~m opposed
hlghrlsu. One solution to the conmet between carceral and ~mmerdaJ
redevelopment b to 'use arch itectural camou nage to nneu e jail space Into the ,
skyscape. If buildings and homes are becoming mort: prison- or fortress·llke In :
exterior appeara ~, then prisons Ironically are becoming architecturally
naturalized as aesthetic obJects. Moreover, with the post-liberal sh lf~ rJ
govemment expenditur e from welfare to rep ression, cercee al struct ures haft
become the new frontier of publk architectur e. As an office glut In most paTtI :
of the cou ntry reduces commissions ror corpo rate hlghrlses, celebrity arch" .
tecta are rushing to design jails, prisons, and police statlons.)6
An C1ttraordlnary exa mple, th e flagship of an emerging gen re, Is Welton
Becket Associates ' new Metropolitan Detenucn Cen ter In Downt own los
Holiday Inn?'11
THE FEA R OF CROWD S
Ultimately the: alms of con temporary architecture alld the pollee converge
most strikingly around the: problem of crowd cont rol. As we have seen, the
designers of malls and pseudo-public space attack the crowd by homogenizing
It. They set up architectu ral and semiotic barriers to filter out 'undesirables'.
They enclose the mass that remains, directing Its circulation with behaviorist-
· ferocity. It Is lured by visual stimuli of all kinds, dulled by musak, somet imes
even scented by InvislbJe aromanzers. This Sldnnerlan orchest ration, If well
conducted, produces a veritable commercial symphony of swarming. con-
suming mon ads TTK»1ng from one cashpotnt to anothe:r.

C ITY OF OUAR TZ FORTRE SS L .A . 25 9

256

Outside In the str eets , the pollee task Is more d ifficult . The I.APD, true
to Its class war background . has always hated ceru lli kinds of p ublic
gatherings. h s early history was largely deemed to bludgeoning M"y Day
demon slrators , arrestin g strikers and deporting Mexicans and Okles. lOr
19 21 It arr ested Upton Sinclair for reading the Declarat ion 0
Independence in p ublic: In the 19 60s It Indiscrimina tely broke u p 10ve'I~J .-
d b mlly picnics In hatllc5 to co ntrol Griffith and Elysian Par .
;~lbcnnSclously It has prohably never recovered Imm the humiliation or ~
August 1965' when It temporarily was Iorced to surre nder the s!rcets to ~
rebellious ghett o. II
__~ ~Illl" • ---....,- ,

Whatever the reaso ns, the I.APO (and the County She riffs as we I
tM
ce ntlnue relentlessly to restri ct th e space of publi c assemblage and
freedom of movement of the you ng. In the next chapter we will examine '
some <Ictal! the history bf 'Operation HAMMER' and other Vlelnam·styl~
police tactlcs In So~th~ntral L.A." Bllt long befo re th e LAPD and t I
Sheriff. launched their ramou s anll ·gang d ragnets, they wer e operann
extensive juvenile curfews In non·Anglo areas and barricAding popul
bou levards to Ilrevent 'cr ulslng' (In Hollywood this d lr«dy abets t •
cu rrent gentrtlk atlon stra tegy). Alld now, of course, they are seall n~ e
rhood s and housIng proiecu under our local varian t of p
ent Ire ne1ghho I re latlo
. F. en gilded whit e youth suffer from this escalati ng po Ice gu ,
I ew . .v 1 f whe
of personal mobility. In the ers twhile worl d capita 0 teen agers, K '
millions overseas still Imagine Gidget at a h te-nlght surf party, the be dtl
are now closed at dark, patrolled by helicopt er gunshIps and pollee
. .
buggies. bll
• h d I ' he dual archlt « lural and police auault on pu c sp.
"waters e n 91 8 l
the rise and fan oh he ' Los Angeles Streel Scene' . I.aunched In I . "
~;:-day festlva1 at ihe Civic Center was Intended to publlcb.e Downte
revitalizatio n as well as to prOVide Mayor Bradley's versio n of the ua~u~
o tI ba rbecue. Th e LAPD were skeptical. Finally In 1986 , II te .-
e moc ra c d I rhful audience
failu re of the Ramones to appear as pr omise , t te !OU •
to tear up the stage. 111e IA PD hn medlately sent In a ph31anx: of
and nr,y helmeted officers and a mounlell unlt . In the two-
hun dred " 1 1th
mel ee tha t followed , angry punk s homhuded the police cava? w r '
I~lllred.
and boul es, anc! nl'teen officers :tllli thclr horses were me p ~ FfAll or CIlOIVDS
no....m o lVn
or the St reet Scene, a Braclley official. suggested thai more mlddl~,
260 CITY OF O U A R T Z
road ente rt ainme nt' might .ttract leu boistero us c rowds. The prestlgk>uJ '
Downtown Ntws counter-attacked, claiming that the 'Street Scene g1vu ,:
Dow nto wn a bad nam e. It Illes In th e face of , II th at ha s been do ne here In
the Ias~ thirty yean: It demanded ' reparations' for the wounded 'reputation
or Downtown', The Mayor" office cancelled the Scene."
Its dem ise ' Ugge l ll the consolidation of In official consensu, about "
crowds and the use of space In Los Angeles. Since the restructuring of
Downtown eliminated the social mixing of c rowds In normal pedestrian
circulation, the Street Scene (Iron ically named) remained one o~ the few
cam wel-ltke occ u lon. or places (along with redevelopm ent -thre atened '
Hollywood Boulevard and Venice Boardwalk) where pure heterogloula :,
could Ilcurhh: that Is lc say, where Chinatown pu nks, Glend ale skinhe ads, .
Boyle Heigh ts lownders, Valley girls, Marina designer co uple s, Slauson ';
rappen, Skid Row hom eless and gawkers fro m Des Moines co uld mingle :
together In relative amity.
Until the Anal exti nction of these last real pu blic Sp'~1 - with their
democratic 'ntoxlc. Uons, rls1c.s and unscented odors - the padncatlo n or
Los Angeles will remain Incompl ete. And as long as this Is the cu e, the
various Insecu re elites, like the yupp le.allens In Joh n Carpente r's The)' !iwl, .
will never know when some revolt may break ou t, o r what stra nge guise it
may wear. On Halloween eve 1988 - a week be fore the law-and -order .
climax or th e Bush campa ign - the LAPD att empted to disperse 100,000 '
peaceful revelers on Hollywood Boulevard. Police ho ru s charged Into
crowd. while sqUid cirs zigzagged onto cu rbs, pinn ing terrlned o nlooken ..
against Slorefron t windows. Dl5playlng what the pollee would laler ,
characterize as 'a complete lack of respect for the splrh of the holid ay', part
of the crowd angrily fo ught back, toulng hol lies and smuhlng the wlndoWi
of the Brown Derby~ By midnight the rioters, mainly costumed, were I
looting storefronts. T he next morn Ing's TImeJ ca rried the follOWing '
de scriptio n, evoca tive of Nathanael Wu t:
At one ecuvenlr store, the Holly Vine Shoppe, looters smu hed windows and took '
sluffed anlmab, Holl~ postcard., Hollywood pennanu and baseball Cipi
emblazoned 'u,PO'.'
CITY OF QU A.A 'rZ
2. 2
F ORr ... 1! 8~ L.A. 261
NOTES
I. See N. tlo,ul Commilln Oft ,he CluR• • lld P~(nllon ofVIokn« , To£ua6,ljm)wllfu. To [mw..
Domntt<- T~ (RttJ ~,..}. W.... I"C''''' D.C. 1969.
.
2. -nw prdoIem. 01.............. uw:l""""""'*"" In ~nt ....1(..... Ind ....bfct.oky In doe Chu IC"''''
0( ,"",1'11: JPIC" cn-II~ wilhl n lhem. .te hOI wnlqwe to _ .hopp!.., "" nt(. tX>( IopttKnu. II III
co_"fIllet IIlII IM ........ m cky If I "' hok ~.h""' • • l( nMnqr '0 b.(al< down InlO .p«lillKd.
!linck-III( f'Kdncu - lM ",n""'nlry cMnfUl. lM Inc!ulltill tMllt. d", 1NuI( cvrnpIo:•• lhe "0...1"1
Kh.t1OlC •• • tact. ~ by InN" "I. -W(tte: . . .. 0( dudop"...", uw:l ...... _~ by "'f'tdalbc
"C'tf'dn ~ I.,..... 01 ~ I". n ", « I"" I"",,,.n famlllr ...h OIhtr....,.., ~nu
COlI",.,..
1ot.01l lhe buI know .1_ _ ht.., 0( , .... d1Iol mll.. , rmne'll """-'c:h abul lhclr own: !Bl rry
MdlllAd, SIxwI", MIJIb..· ""MI.., dnJ Dtllgn. london 198 5. P. 109 .)
l . O . OtoIrrty 11oofcett. ·freft. lclt u w Ol_ e<i: UMleape ...rdIket;t\l te N Conwrt_ ln J.tf_·,
Jt-...J ~ .....m- ''''-' 62: 4 (Mlm. 1976); .nd Manl"r~ TMni, 'The OI0ttd.0llled
Mountl ln: ~ SIryac-r'l'"" . lld Iht ClIr', ln Clotzlo Ouod. (I . at. J1If ,fmrtfn,n Orr, ClIrnbr1dv,
MN" 1919.
4. DPld Ih ...... m. 7M ~f1 Tloar Jr . N( w Yor'" 1979. p. 102.
S. loa "'ncdn n-s. 4 N_ Inbt , 1971. X. p. 1 J. $t( . bo SlIm H all Capb .. 1-4- ,..., .. CrllhI
LIot ., e-.,., ~ -'....,.ltmurr. Slnt. Monk:. 1989.
6. e-mor'. Commlu lon On lho: los Anrkl J..l0l.. ""Itnu In lilt C"J' - An EnJ(If Jreinnlnfl. 1m
A ~ltl19U
7. 11'\ 1M u ri, 1970. lloe ;otk:t dfCUIIllJ;~ """"",,,n 01 1,"" C~nltll 0" AuodMI OII UouI . n
'1_1",,1It .... fnotN!on·. Thty 1I, p bwIne1111lnl 'to trport 10 ttoe poItt 1M pn:1t'fltt0( U!1
I'O"J'I of J'OI'''I lIad. In doe .,.,,, The ... aee JOI'''C ~ ~ the 'I" ol lWdft .lld
~1ICOU1lI~,td In I'O"J'I 0I 1'nOte IhI" t'Il'O I"",,, ••~ ~".
24 ~, 1972. 1. 1'-' .)
ct.._
~'lMnn. boIh boJI . " d &Irh. On( r"l W ( . ... ~ . . r1nl' .Ild Ihe OIhe, we
1lMI1If1IIed.· (toe
hil i . WIl!on
In n.nn.
• Ct-lIIrtftcat1oa In t"" CN!: \I 'J.eapnluriOll'. In • CIIIttIpIu: . ... UMd . maldnt the ~" met 01
1M . ro......,. C'Ofrl<IoI- .... uptem.! ~·lInld..,lltnu. Hili. I,"" CMc C~nt(l" and Uttle Tokyo,
II... eM. Iw Ipfnl _~ lhan SIO mllllon IftcIudnt thI: Stlk 10 build I,"" 'Rooft"" h .... Offttt
luddlnt. bIod: -fIJ r.om!he nImn' 0I 11l1rd ..... ltoadwfIJ. ..... 1tmUh._"r brlbl"l thI:
U ~ ~ _ Mhdon S 6 ~ 10_ I l l """,",,,-cImIek _
cMI ...._ rrom I,"" ~""" . ...iIdboc In Inknckd . ohodl troopa 10 p"""
ol tfw ....IIW-hood. ,"",, ),(l00
t,"" 1I.lf~-"
oI 11llnt .nd IlrGlltwl, . wMte ~~. I" Yenln flu I"K'<flwed fun lw. ...lIIlon. In I",luldlu fro...
1M ClI.A 10 Inn.f"",, 1M Ihmo h1norlc 1I1UCtU.( 1 Ioe __ ('1 M Sud bu ry Ill ....... Million DalI..
1Mll u uod Ct ..... C_.... Mat1t(l) Info 'Cu lld Cftlt nISoplare ·. n... ~"I C( hI" ' -
4btvuN .. lIoe1n1 - ~. ' MaI...,. 1n ritallatJon' ,,"-1M """C'"......... nd I"" s,..1~.
9. In rdkd"'l 0111,"" prol>km oh he 11lI:~ ..l..,IOCi. 1dllU ftCl! bdw«n lhe ""k( mlddl( d NItI . nd
the JI lek poor. OKI. N(wrn.n. IM .~"_n Iheo''''1 of 'd(f( ".lbk lf"~', "111( ' for the rtd~ ,"n,
ordc .( d ""~1I1on 011.... poor tn I"" . . bu1bin taIdnr1.II Iaoncbcape. II( 1nIIR.. ~r,
1>rln&I"I ''''' poor and lloe Wad Into I"" roW' Ilk) IIIU. be coechIntd 'OIl • 1'&fIe1)'controlled
I'"
quota 1mb' tMI Is --mtellnl"l 101M middle d .....nd n lllrft 11m. C'OfIllnu l"l aocW
dom'n. ftCl!. fCom",., n'" oj ' nr' ..II. CI ,d(n 0tJ' 19111 . pp. 19-25.) Swch 'tlghdy cont roll~
q_ u ', of COUfl ( • • re p. lfChdy 1M 11"1(1:1' f. "".~ bJ .~~ IoprnenI' ee Mlu IIh Lo, An~u'l
II t"",,, h.yt bHn lOrnd 10 lJw:Iu..... ..... u ,.....Ion
0110- .... " "...... 1_ hou"'''1 III Ihdt
f'"'Iec'Ied "urioan ¥I11~.'. It 1ft".. lrIcoM(h-1Ibk10 ~"" .. 10 IMM aeenctn. IW the ..!ban
"""' ''' el. .. .. C"P"bI( or•
.,lulnl..,I,"",. 0..... <han! Mtchbo,hood. or .....1nc ""1 ""+« 'n I,""
d( n,," lon of p..bllc Inlt re.,. Thl l I. ....h, lhe w""" 'n. poor . ,( , 'wflJl lhe ·p,obl( m'. Ih( 'blIp'
In Ttde¥elopmt nt. whtk lloe &Ildnl rnIcIdk dultl .Iw.,.,tpn:",,1It·' ",lllh lf lon·.
, lt O R l Ht! 88 L. A . 263
27. cr. ~ N,.". I Noort",bu ' 987: Ind Ick"".lon Int ("~w. Fo.. w......
Mudl 1990 .
t U . loI Anrlf:. 1Imrl. n lui, 19119.11. p. 2.
· n. QuoIed In 1'''' C.... on 'Wl lkd In'. l.oe Aneekl 11..... .. OcroM , 1919.11. p. I . 1M m 11 for
..alb Iu . Wo c...p "p wkh I,"" 1+oIIJ'-ood u....a- ol e""",""," who . te pb nnl"1 10 11 off
II... loa. 011,""famou. 'Hollywood SIp ' on Mounl m . III "",II u Ifllu",.., ,,,,,, 1ondtIlfCton . nd
'tIdKl.lftn,lIl fK( .
JO. llmrl, 15 NO"~ .I 19. 9.
· U . Quotnl In l hldl WIN' l m.. ·W ( . nd Sound". loI ""relu 1lrnn, 19 A"CUM 19111. 1V. p. , .
n.t
n. WlIII . ... Cllnn'''''''''' Ind To6dTI~. •... SUmmaryol lhe H. 1kftM P.c-port', h l h C1IIif, I"'''''
19n, p. J I.
JJ. l'1\( followlnl MCllon I. bll~d on LAPD publk lly . 1Id Inl( ,mw, wllh ~ ..on Ml. (See 11'0, Don
~. 'II(\1llNndt,' , " ...M£•.".",." , 11 M
.,
19119. pp. I. 12.) Durln.Mtu. ". 0I 19119. ( hr.t
Arm1 UI.Ikt norin .,nl.. f!om rM FIf'II Sprd.1 o,." lloN CommIUld In Fon '''a.
Non h
Cuotlnl . condWCI~ • oc"". ol atmuill td helkopl( ' Un.,11I . nd blllM:' ..... 'wnltu HID
'''' K'' ~' '' 'Th( A,m, d« llned to r .n, fu.lher <ku l" aboul lhe lroopl . nd (q .... p_,,1
InYohotd or l,"" " 1I" r( .,,11 purpoH:Orlhe l,.lnlnl.'(loa ""rein 1lrM II FdtN.ry 19119.1, I'- 2) .)
I" lloeU M;! -e. 01 A.,ro.. Cutillo. Inck, ol l.<n MoJu. (doe Ea. L.. o\nc<:l(1 C""'P flchrtoc
fun ,"", pthon C'OIItll\IC'flon): 'It Iftm. t1k( 1""" "- .....ltine OUt U n Into • ~ ....I c:oIon,'. (Loa
A nee~' 11",,., J A"CUM 1988, II. p. q
, . 1lrrM'1. 2J Il n...l .,. 1990.
IuIdt r..- 1M W(lto" 1«"'(1 u.mp~ dlKuued '"".~ . _,"", fttonlboy.", Ionll""'.nce I. 1M
_ P....". pofk:e . ad Iil l fKlhry dtIle-l "" ,,*., SImi, OMoI lht C'OIIH:.....lwe hie" prIQ!'
0( 'I""'......rn-n'.m'.
,. The DtI(nllo" C~nlu 'l ",phtl l 'he! Shu t' H:( m. d(.I,...,d wIlh (t d( ..llourllll ln mInd: '~
"',",lIllon \I or I ~ , . ..ehl'ta....1 oIu T' ....h 110 u lt m.1 d,u lC1t rblka oI t,"" Indlllonal
• ... . . . " .OC'"m K~I • •• ""phul~ . Il 'ntn.IYe ohon·u"" ~1I1on u!"""'nc( IUId
• ~Kd ~"Ion"ICIMl1ft fOl . tt Inmlln.. ••. The ml" km h 10 p.O'I!de d....pr(l rbl delll"",
, 'Il'II hllf( I nd hUm. m:CI ' ( . CUllcdr, . nd cont'ol: 10 m.lnul n I poIlIl" (nv lronm( nt fo. <kll lll«.
end 1'111". • • .'
Thuh 10 LJndtn C.ollm..... E.uCVlM MIM lhI 10 tM Wit....... I 10'' .Ilk 10 IOU' I,""
• ~ropoIlran DtI l'M.... C(n1(1" In Oaobe. 1919.
• 1M 'HAMME'" "'1' onlJ be . mild pr(nl""llon 01drxonl . n me....'(. 1( t lo be Inlro<!..ud In
i "'" Wl r on df\ll" For ~arll,"" .11( . nl l'« P' ( II hll r( mln<kd ",.Ihll U lleme m•., ll l llw pl ....
. .lied by lloeh nt'(O" 1" t,"" .fr (nn.1I old... 196 7 00011011 hbitnlon.,,~ l1li1 11M , cult ,"
, .., .... Anned Foral U - " U by Ilillonil 1", ", and lou ll_ en~ AJ. 11m '-edmond
or tM ..., ~ u pilln.: 'Cal'\(onll.l WII om: 01 1M _ ( nlhulll'lk: p.nldp .nll 'n d....
ilallon . 1pfOltlm. J.(I... n n 196R I nd 197J , thr m.}or t U.d R •• codt ·nl m«! Cl bI( Spl'e u I.
n lAd Ill. look pll "" In C, 'lfotnll . brln..... IOC" I " poIk:e .nd mlltllry otl'ld ll. (' 0'" ICTOI. I""
" " ( lOr onnIru n . Ild wu C.ntU I t I .p«bI M. ncl-l enort . M Inlnl ctftt( ..... " s ." lull
Obtopo.' (9 $(pr~mk. 19111, p. 11.1 A n rllM Oh MR pI.n•• I.btMd C n P1oIl . wu .e«MI)'
......,a1~ U pin 0111.., conll......MJ'pllnnl.. for dYII"'.lItbl nca 'n I,"" h ofl he hOfMPOllI...
<W lh( blllM:. hlp MIUOIlri ln S. n F•• nd.co (lbld.). $111ft"" of lhe t..\rD rflff.lly bel'"c ,bll
.....r. comp.d ,<;n,,", plannl.., hu lonc ....Illed 10 dol.. wIIh d'tII "'",urt..nea 'n 1M eMl IO..
....... . ..... potdbly _ . 10 u~ . "' nu .1 mlllfl". ocaop ilioa _ . te U 0I1ttc1l m c dtnolty•
. lox"",1n 11~. 22 s.-pl(mber .lI. p. 1. l nd n $(pr mlbt•• n. p. I, I9I6; .nd . tp rinl of'ttonc
Orl.oJ·, 'Troubl( II Srrn t s.:(n~" Do..,.,.._ No"". 2 March 1917. p. 11.
~1nOI. 'Hollywood Hl lloweu : Sonw C....e "' Villd l ••• nd l OOl( II·.lGI .........1eI1J1lir..
~. 1911. II. pp. .. a. Alto IIII~ wIlh ~~ ..... .....