But since the mid-1980s, African American political fortunes have waned. Their share of L.A.’s population has gone from 17 to around 10 percent, while Latinos have risen to 47 percent. That’s meant a quadrupling of Latino elected politicians, and a dramatic drop in the number of Blacks. Tensions between the two groups were on the rise, as Black politicians saw their power diminish. Had their time come and gone? Maybe not, now that the Obama phenomenon has redefined political power as something that goes beyond racially-based concerns, and embraces coalition-building as the wave of the future. As it was 35 years ago, Los Angeles’ experience may provide the model for African American politics.
We speak to two of Los Angeles’ top African American political leaders:
Yvonne Burke. Among her many historic ‘firsts’ are: first African American woman in the State Assembly (1966), first African American women elected to Congress (1972) and head of L.A. County Board of Supervisors (1992). She’s now retiring from that position, and reflects on the changes she’s seen over the years.
Karen Bass, who this year became the first African American woman voted to be the Speaker of the California State Assembly.
Also weighing in is Franklin Gilliam, Dean of UCLA’s School of Public Affairs, and one of the nation’s leading experts on African American politics.
Footage was provided courtesy of THE NEW LOS ANGELES. THE NEW LOS ANGELES was produced by Lyn Goldfarb, who is currently in production on a new documentary about Tom Bradley.
RELATED RESOURCES:
UCLA School of Public Affairs
UCLA Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials
WEB ORIGINAL:
We Videoed Your Vote - By Web Team - Leading up to election day, KCET, PBS and Youtube joined together in an unprecedented combined exercise in citizen journalism and democracy called "Video Your Vote."
FROM THE BLOG:
In Us We Trust - By Erin Aubrey Kaplan - Now we can ask: What does Barack Obama mean for blacks?
Redefining "The Bradley Effect" - By Joseph Angier - It's part of my job at SoCal Connected to be Californi-centric in all things, and that's rarely hard to do given how much of a bellwether we are to the rest of the nation.
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You guys tried not to go there but this is still Black on Brown battle royale, part 3782. I read somewhere that black folks are the only racial demo in Cali to shrink in real terms over the last 15 years; this is the real story. There is no power without a power-base and black LA's powerbase is shrinking. There is a reverse migration back to the south happening, and traditionally black neighborhoods are becoming brown. Back east, gentrification means white hipsters move into black neighborhoods and the black folks move out, but there is a missing step in Cali that involves the black and brown.
This past election shows just how racist the Black community is. From Oprah to just about every commentary I have heard, the talk is of electing a Black man to the presidency. I for one elected a Democrat to the highest office of our land. He is first and foremost a Democrat. Barack Obama is the most intelligent and compassionate individual who ran for office and hopefully he and his entourage will get our country on track.