Hard to believe, but my thirtieth high-school reunion is this August--Gardena High School, class of '79. Go Mohicans! (note: the mascot is now the Panthers, 'Mohicans' a casualty of the movement some years back of public schools to scrap team names and images that denigrated Native Americans. I completely understand, but miss the original nonetheless). Such a personal milestone is mind-blowing. But even more stunning is the fact that my GHS experience is turning out to be far and away the most racially integrated experience I've ever had on my home turf. With its almost equal mix of Japanese, white, Latino, black, Pacific Islander (Samoans constituted most of our football team's defensive line) and other Asians like Chinese, Filipino and Korean thrown in for good measure, Gardena High was a bastion of diversity long before the word came into vogue. And it was diverse in an organic way that other schools across Southern California could only imagine. In the late '70s, as the rest of L.A. was waging political battles over busing and court orders to desegregate--let alone integrate--I was going through high school assuming that the very mixed atmosphere at GHS was the norm, or at least a blueprint for the future.
I was wrong about that. I was also wrong about Gardena High: it didn't stay diverse. The atmosphere I took for granted turned out to be the last chapter of a brief, blissful era in which working- to middle-class folks in a modest part of the South Bay all found themselves in the same school at the same time. As the city of Gardena prospered and modernized, and as neighboring areas like Compton and Harbor Gateway got rougher, whites and Asians opted out of the local schools; today, GHS is almost exclusively black and Latino, like so many other inner-city campuses that underwent 'resegregation.' (A distressing word indeed).
Yet the history and possibility of Gardena lives on. I was thrilled to recently discover through an article in the Daily Breeze that a documentary about the city and its singular racial history, called "Freeway City: The Story of an L.A. Suburb," has been made by a young filmmaker named Max Votolato. It's a curious pairing of worldly artist and provincial subject. Max's mother was born in Cairo, his father is from Rhode Island, he grew up in South London, and he's only lived in L.A. eight years. But Max says he finds in Gardena many small-town qualities that make small towns everywhere so iconic, but with a big-city backdrop that makes Gardena utterly unique--being a magnet for Japanese immigrants, for example, or a haven for casinos when L.A. county had none. "It was really a center of gravity for the Japanese--Gardena was very well known in Japan," he says. "The demographics have fluctuated, but I believe the spirit of the place stayed the same."
The nostalgia bonus for me is that the documentary's executive producer is Brian O'Neal, one of Gardena High's more famous alum of the last thirty years. O'Neal (class of '74) fronted the rock band The Busboys in the 80s; they broke through with the hit single "The Boys are Back in Town," the signature song from the Eddie Murphy movie "48 Hours." Brian still performs with the Busboys, and he's doing original music for the documentary in addition to being executive producer. Tall, lanky and still youthful at 52, Brian lives in Studio City these days. But you can't take Gardena out of the man. "There's a presence and an influence I associate with the town that's still there," says the former student body president. "For me, Gardena really was diversity personified. Once your mind is stretched by an idea, it never goes back to its original dimensions."
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Nice remembrance, Erin.
I, too, grew up in Gardena. I had a friend at Amestoy Elementary who told his mother that he wished he had black hair and brown eyes like all of his Japanese friends had. He was a blond-haired kid of German ancestry.
Hello Erin. What an inspiring recollection that also contextualizes the trailer I have seen on line for this interesting documentary. Like Votolato's earlier 'Italian Americans in Federal Hill', about the ethnic community of a characterful Providence neighborhood, 'Freeway City' appears to present an approach that is honest, respectful and affectionate, yet free from the dead hand of municipal boosterism!
GP: Very well said. People don't exactly think of Gardena when they think of definitive L.A. cities (Bev Hills and Santa Monica are slightly better known), but it is very illustrative of who we are. thanks for the feedback.
Deke: that's funny about your German friend wanting to look "normal" like the Japanese. but that's exactly the value of real diversity--the norm is measured by different groups. Kevin O'Neal told me he was a better student because he was competing with the Japanese, and the Japanese were more culturally savvy because they hung out with blacks. those were the days..
I also went to the Dena in the late 70,s. It was a great time.The school had some of the same problems as others did but you were able to meet all kinds of people and as for the gangs then we were for are neighborhoods but we were not trying to be everybody killers. Gardena was an overall great experience.
What a wonderful time in my life. As a 1974 grad and current teacher at GHS, I am still very proud to say that I attended Gardena High School. Not only was there such diversity, but school pride. Today, obviously, the school is not the same, but I still love Gardena. I encourage ALL alumni to get involved and give back to the school and community in your own way. We need your help.
you go Shirley Ann
As a prior graduate (1974) of Gardena High School and close friend of Brian O'Neal, I support his effort to highlight this great city of Gardena. Although I resided in Carson, I attended Gardena High School for my 11th and 12th years and had a fantastic time there. I wish Brian and others in this documentary the best and also as a media producer myself residing in Brisbane, Australia with my family, I hope to see the finish product out here.
I'm reading these comments and thinking "Just how high did these guys get back then?" I have an entirely different view of GHS (class of 74). If "diversity" means getting your ass kicked for walking into the "wrong" bathroom - well then maybe you do have a point. Or if it means getting knocked out by a wood-handled umbrella while walking to your next class - then I am truly enlightened! Otherwise this is all a bunch of white-wash (Can I say "white-wash"?)
I remember Brian O'Neal - no doubt a good guy. But the picture painted here is a view through a whole lot of cheesecloth!
I just went to that class reunion. Yes indeed, Gardena was a mishmash of racial diversity. (me, happa chick.) Most of the people I knew didn't show up to the reunion, so I didn't see anyone I don't already see regularly. (read, virtually no japanese showed, and hardly any whites.)
Most people I know from Gardena days moved next door to Torrance, their kids attending Torrance schools (which look a heck of a lot like Gardena did back in the day.)
It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but it was probably unique for its time. The Japanese american community there practiced its own form of reverse discrimination - I think it would have been interesting for the film maker to address that instead of simply doing the obvious.
However, still looking forward to this documentary in its entirety.
Hey, I'm eating "El Pollo" as I'm reading this...yes as a Grad ('74), I can truly say that the Big-G was a unique place where all ethnic groups got along VERY well. If you looked for trouble, you would find it, but back then School Police were like the FBI. My mother taught Brian music in grade school (she still gets a kick saying that), and I plan see the Doc. The big thing I remember is that the football team went undefeated in our Senior year, and took the City Title. It helped to bond everyone together I mean, I'm a Black dude high-fiven' my Asian buddies! Way to go Shirley! I remember the dude they always called Sly. Thanks for the memories!