AMST 101 Final

Tom Bradley

-First black mayor of LA

-He represented the possibility of a multiracial political coalition

-Brought black, Latinx, asian americans, and liberal white voters together

-His career demonstrated both the promise and limits of racial liberalism in LA, as many structural inequalities in policing, housing, and economic opportunity remained despite his leadership.

1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act

-Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
-Abolished the national origins quota system

-The act dramatically increased immigration from Asia and Latin America and transformed Los Angeles into one of the most diverse cities in the United States

Mary Ellen Crawford

-Anti-busing activist in Los Angeles

-White suburban activist associated with anti-busing and anti-integration movements

LAUSD

-Los Angeles Unified School District

-LAUSD became a major battleground over segregation, busing, racial inequality, overcrowding, and educational access. Conflicts around LAUSD reflected broader tensions over race, suburbanization, and public resources.

Ronald Reagan

-Former governor of California and 40th US president.

-Symbolized the rise of modern conservatism, emphasizing anti-government politics, tax cuts, law and order, and opposition to social welfare programs. His policies and rhetoric shaped suburban conservatism in Los Angeles.

Conservative Movement

-A political movement emphasizing limited government, traditional social values, anti-tax policies, and law-and-order policing. In Los Angeles, suburban whites often mobilized conservatism in response to civil rights gains, immigration, and fears about demographic change.

Bracero Program

-A labor agreement between the United States and Mexico from 1942–1964 that brought Mexican laborers to work temporarily in agriculture and railroads.

-The program exploited Mexican workers while creating long-term Mexican migration networks that shaped Los Angeles labor and community life.

1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

-Federal legislation that granted amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants while increasing border enforcement and penalizing employers who hired undocumented workers.

-IRCA allowed many immigrant families in Los Angeles to gain legal status while also intensifying immigration policing.

1980 Refugee Act

-A law that standardized refugee admissions and increased the acceptance of refugees from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War
-Contributed to the growth of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and other refugee communities in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Proposition 13 (1978)

-California ballot initiative that capped property taxes
-Drastically reduced funding for public services such as schools and contributed to long-term inequalities in public education and infrastructure
-Cornerstone of California conservatism

Ethnoburb

-A suburban ethnic community with a significant immigrant and minority middle-class population
-Zarsadiaz uses the concept to explain the growth of Asian American suburban communities in the San Gabriel Valley

 Latasha Harlins

-A 15-year-old Black girl killed by Korean American store owner Soon Ja Du in 1991 after being falsely accused of shoplifting.
-Her death became a symbol of racial injustice, anti-Black violence, tensions between Black and Korean communities, and failures of the legal system before the 1992 LA Riots.

1992 LA Riots

-A massive uprising in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers who beat Rodney King

-The riots reflected long-standing anger over police brutality, racism, economic inequality, deindustrialization, unemployment, and neglect of Black and Brown communities.

Daryl Gates

-The controversial chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978–1992.
-Gates expanded militarized policing, aggressive gang sweeps, and surveillance in communities of color.

-He became closely associated with police brutality and racialized law enforcement.

Country Living

-An idealized suburban vision centered on single-family homes, lawns, whiteness, safety, and anti-urban values
-The reason many OC communities have horse trails.

Judge Joyce Karlin

-Judge in the Latasha Harlins case

-Who sentenced Soon Ja Du to probation, community service, and a fine rather than prison time for killing Latasha Harlins.

Militarization of the LAPD

-The process through which the Los Angeles Police Department adopted military-style tactics, weapons, surveillance, and aggressive policing strategies.

Deindustrialization

-The decline of manufacturing and industrial jobs in urban areas. In Los Angeles
-Deindustrialization disproportionately harmed Black and Brown working-class communities, increasing unemployment, poverty, and economic inequality

Proposition 187 (1994)

-A California ballot initiative intended to deny undocumented immigrants access to public services such as education and healthcare.

-Although much of it was ruled unconstitutional, Proposition 187 fueled anti-immigrant politics and mobilized Latinx political activism.

 Mothers of East LA

-Latina activist organization that fought environmental racism in East Los Angeles.

-The group opposed the placement of prisons, incinerators, and toxic facilities in working-class Latinx neighborhoods.

American generational resources (AGRs)

-A concept from Zarsadiaz referring to advantages accumulated over generations, including wealth, homeownership, political power, and social networks.

-White suburban residents often used these inherited resources to preserve exclusionary communities.

 Madrigal v Quilligan (1975)

-A lawsuit brought by Mexican American women in Los Angeles who were subjected to forced sterilizations at County-USC Medical Center.
-The case exposed racism, sexism, and reproductive injustice in healthcare systems.

Ron Finely

-South Los Angeles activist known for planting community gardens in neglected urban spaces.

 Gangsta Gardening

-A movement and philosophy associated with Ron Finley that frames urban gardening as resistance against poverty, food inequality, and neglect in communities of color.

Palm Tree

A symbol of Southern California often associated with leisure, tourism, fantasy, and suburban paradise, although not native to California

Food Desert v Food Apartheid

-“Food desert” describes areas with limited access to affordable healthy food

-“food apartheid” is used because it emphasizes that unequal food access results from systemic racism, segregation, and policy decisions rather than natural conditions.

Racial Nativism

-The belief that immigrants and racial minorities threaten the identity, culture, or resources of the nation. In Los Angeles, racial nativism fueled anti-immigrant policies, suburban exclusion, and fears about demographic change.

Florence & Normandie

-An intersection in South Los Angeles where Reginald Denny was attacked during the 1992 LA Riots.

-The site became a national media symbol of urban unrest and racial tension.

United Neighbors Involved for Youth (UNIFY)

-A community organization focused on youth empowerment, anti-violence efforts, and neighborhood activism in Los Angeles.

-Groups like UNIFY emerged in response to inequality, policing, and lack of resources for marginalized youth.

Model minority

-A stereotype portraying Asian Americans as universally successful, hardworking, and economically prosperous.

-The myth obscures inequalities within Asian American communities and is often used to undermine discussions of racism against other groups.

Gente-fication

-A term blending “gente” (people) and “gentrification.”

-It refers to forms of neighborhood change in which Latinx or minority middle-class residents participate in redevelopment while still raising concerns about displacement and cultural loss.

Communal Family Obligation Code

-A concept from Estrada describing how Latinx street-vending families share labor and responsibility collectively.

-Children contribute economically alongside parents, not simply as exploitation but as part of family survival, mutual support, and cultural obligation.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

-A federal program created in 2012 that protects certain undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation and allows them to work legally.

-DACA shaped the lives of many immigrant youth in Los Angeles.

Street Vendor De-Criminalization

-The process of reducing or eliminating criminal penalties for street vending.

-Activists argued that criminalizing vendors unfairly targeted immigrant and working-class communities.

-Los Angeles eventually legalized and regulated street vending after years of activism.

 Rep. Jay Kim

-The first Korean American elected to the U.S. Congress.

-His election symbolized the growing political influence of Asian Americans in Southern California after immigration reforms transformed suburban demographics.

Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights

-One of the largest Buddhist temples in the Western Hemisphere, located in Hacienda Heights.

-The temple became a symbol of Asian American visibility and suburban transformation, while also provoking resistance from some white suburban residents.

Skid Row

-An area of downtown Los Angeles with a large unhoused population. Hernández connects Skid Row to the history of criminalization, poverty, policing, and the management of marginalized populations through incarceration and surveillance.

 Karen Bass

-The current mayor of Los Angeles

-Longtime political leader focused on homelessness, racial inequality, policing reform, and coalition-building.

-Bass represents contemporary efforts to address many of the structural inequalities explored in these books.