Texas governor Rick Perry's recent acknowledgement of the possibility of his state seceding from the union was boneheaded on many levels, and some say it was historically tone-deaf. But in fact it was historically quite accurate. Ever since the Civil War settled the question of a state's right to secede over the peculiar institution of slavery, the resulting Southern discontent has more or less driven national politics. The Southern strategy of the '60s birthed a new Republican Dixie base that was more explicitly white-conscious and racially conservative than the old. Today, gun-rights advocates are snapping up product all over the country, claiming that President Obama has a master plan to strip law-abiding Americans of their right to bear arms. Crazy, unless you consider that many Americans arm themselves to protect themselves against a criminal population they perceive as largely black (and Obama, of course, has more Secret-Service heat protecting him than any other president in history). And on it goes.
But all this goes on in sunny So Cal, too. In the land of no history we've retained quite a bit of it, though it typically manifests itself in more subtle ways than public declarations of secession. But the effect's the same. Something that's always fascinated me is the naming, or renaming, of our streets and neighborhoods. Compton Avenue used to run from Compton west to the ocean, until Redondo Beach and other South Bay cities quietly renamed their portion Marine Avenue in the '80s and early '90s, when Compton's thug reputation started rising in earnest. In the valley, Sepulveda became the more suburban-minded North Hills as part of an effort to disassociate itself from Panorama City and other increasingly Latino areas east of the 405. A few years ago, parents in middle-class Ladera Heights petitioned to bail out of the Inglewood school district in favor of Culver City's, which has considerably less racial stigma.
None of this stuff is advertised, which makes L.A. different from other places that wear their politically incorrect sentiments on their sleeves. Not us. So I have to keep an eye out. Any day now I expect to be driving south along Crenshaw Boulevard, only to have it vanish somewhere around PCH as it heads up into uber-exclusive Palos Verdes. Really, who would mourn its passing? Though it is interesting and very ironic to note that some years back, when outgoing L.A. city councilman Nate Holden proposed changing Crenshaw to Tom Bradley Boulevard, it was black people in the 'hood who shot it down. Turns out they had more affinity for Crenshaw than anybody knew. Boneheaded? Not really. If only we could all be so patriotic.
The image associated with this post was taken by Flickr user alonzoD It was used under user Creative Commons license.
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There's also an interesting tone among civic leaders in LA County's small municipalities. Most I've talked to staunchly declare they're not Los Angeles, even though they share some of the same issues. This may be leftover from a time a hundred years ago or so when Los Angeles was gobbling up unincorporated areas left and right. And from being in the shadow of L.A.
When I moved into my neighborhood it was nothing like it is now. My parents came to visit and as I drove them through the lower parts of Hollywood and Western, they locked the doors and slid down the seats. Flash forward 20 years and one subway station later, the area has public housing, a grocery store, and two Starbucks within 3 blocks of each other. We didn't change the names of the streets to disassociate ourselves, instead the city gave us a subway stop. The corner of Hollywood and Western became "Thai Town", and 5 blocks east it became "Little Armenia". Its not seceding, its an embrace of the community.
Great post as always. :O)