Abstract
When we think of Latino communities in Los Angeles, iconic neighborhoods like East L.A. or Boyle Heights come to mind, not South Central. Media tends to depict South L.A. as a poor inner-city Black neighborhood ravaged by gang warfare, crime, and drug addiction. Urban ethnographers have been slow to document the dramatic social transformation facing South L.A. over the last four decades. In fact, many are unaware that Watts—once a majority African American community—is 75 percent Latino today. In South Central Dreams, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Manuel Pastor provide one of the first sociological accounts of this dramatic social, political, and racial transformation, asking, “How has this transition from a traditionally Black ‘inner-city’ neighborhood to a new sort of Latino barrio unfolded?” (p. 2).
At its core, South Central Dreams offers a compelling account of how Latinidad emerges in relation to—and sometimes in contention with—everyday Black American life and identity. Rather than taking the traditional approach of studying immigrant incorporation in an established ethnic enclave and examining the often hostile context of reception by White America, Hondagneu-Sotelo and Pastor explore everyday immigrant life in a historic African American neighborhood long marked by disinvestment and government neglect. They show evidence of an emerging “minority linked fate” among immigrants, their U.S.-born children, and African American residents that is borne out of overlapping experiences with racialization, marginalization, as well as coalition-building, resilience, and pride in their shared community.
Theoretically, the authors move beyond traditional theories of immigrant assimilation, transnationalism, and exclusion, and “toward reflective inquiry of what home means [to migrants] in the age of global migration” (p. 19). The introductory chapter establishes the concept of immigrant “homemaking,” defined as “an active process of creating a sense of security, familiarity, autonomy, and future-making activities” and its connection to race and place (p. 32). Rethinking immigrant “homemaking” as grounded in place helps us better understand not only how immigrants adapt to their particular neighborhood contexts but also how the neighborhood itself is transformed by their presence. As such, “homemaking” allows us to appreciate South Central Dreams as a book about the significance of race and place in shaping Latino identity, as well as how this coexistence shapes African Americans’ own sense of home and belonging.
South Central Dreams is an impressive example of collaborative social science research. The project uses mixed empirical methods including statistics, ethnography, and in-depth interviews and was carried out by a carefully assembled team of researchers who are from South L.A. or have ties to the area. The statistical analysis tells a new and compelling story of urban transformation due to immigration and economic restructuring, as do the nearly 200 interviews with Latino and Black residents and civic leaders. The appendix is worth a read for scholars and students seeking to learn about the complexities of managing large research teams and navigating contentious racial politics in urban communities.
The authors cover a range of topics that present an intimate portrait of Latino life—and survival—in South L.A. Chapter 2 presents a treasure trove of statistics that offers an in-depth look at the history of South L.A. and describes the demographic transformation that led to the “Latinoization” of the region. In the following four chapters, and through their remarkable storytelling, Hondagneu-Sotelo and Pastor bring to life these statistics with rich examples of ordinary racial encounters in the streets, public spaces, and marketplaces. We gain intimate knowledge of how Latino immigrants settle into their new urban environment and establish a sense of security and familiarity (echando raíces); how second-generation youth come of age navigating uniquely Black spaces; and the gendered experiences of men cultivating—literally and figuratively—a sense of belonging in public parks and gardens.
The final chapters discuss the state of Black-Latino coalition building, emphasizing the need to actively challenge anti-Black racism in the Latino community as the way to ease tension and build common ground. The authors’ careful attention to generational differences, regional context, and change over time prove useful for theorizing immigrant racial attitudes and anti-Blackness specifically. In my own study of Mexicans’ experiences with race across the Mexico/U.S. border (2022), I find that immigrants arrive to the United States carrying anti-Black baggage, with important implications for subsequent interactions with (or avoidance of) their new Black neighbors. While the authors find similar prejudices among immigrants in their study, they also find that the second-generation youth are breaking ties with this legacy of anti-Blackness, expressing closeness and familiarity with their African American peers. Most notable is the finding that second-generation Latinos shaped their immigrant parents’ views for the better, making them more tolerant of racial difference over time.
In the spirit of homemaking, I would have liked more exploration of African Americans’ sense of loss and displacement. The authors suggest that the Browning of the neighborhood is one of “expansion, not erasure,” explaining that “this transformation is sedimentation—one group building on another and incorporating rather than excising the past” (p. 31). Some long-term residents, however, may see it differently. To this end, future studies would do well to capture the stories of African Americans who left South L.A., either by choice or circumstance, to better conceptualize the phenomenon of Black loss and Black longing, and importantly, how to mobilize this sentiment for Black and Latino political power.
Ultimately, Hondagneu-Sotelo and Pastor achieve a remarkable feat: a rigorous and theoretically rich sociological study of race, place, and identity that simultaneously challenges age-old stereotypes of Black and Latino “inner-city” communities. The book’s range of topics from racial attitudes, demographic change, immigrant incorporation, civic engagement, gentrification, and solidarity politics should be of interest to scholars and students of immigration, race, culture, and urban politics. The wealth of data and lessons gleaned from the book should serve city leaders and activists seeking new strategies and models for building multi-racial and ethnic coalitions in our current era of unprecedented demographic change and class inequity.