Unequal pieces of a shrinking pie: The struggle between African Americans and Latinos over education, employment, and empowerment in Compton, California

History of Education Quarterly

Volumn 49, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 507-529

  Straus, Emily E ^a  

^a STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT FREDONIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 70449494132     PISSN: 00182680     EISSN: 17485959     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-5959.2009.00227.x     Document Type: Article

References (114)

1. Bryan Cotton, "Hispanics Boycott Compton School," Los Angeles Sentinel , September 22, 1994, A1
2. U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census, Twenty-First Census of the United States, 1990: Area and Population (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1990, 645
3. Scholars do not agree on classifying Latinos as a race. Furthermore, in the U.S. census Hispanic is not a race, but an ethnicity. In this article I am using the term of race as the point of conflict. Part of this conflict includes the historical disinclination and construction of Latinos as "white."
4. Wilbur C. Rich, Black Mayors and School Politics: The Failure of Reform in Detroit, Gary, and Newark (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996, 5
5. Jeffrey R. Henig, Richard C. Hula, Marion Orr, and Desiree S. Pedescleaux, Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999), 118
6. Ibid., 120
7. For discussion of internal solidarity within African-American communities, see: Marion Orr, Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore, 1986-1998 (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1999
8. For example the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the NAACP working together in pre- Brown era school desegregation cases and the NAACP filed a friend of the court brief for the 1946 Supreme Court decision Mendez v. Westminster , which declared separate "Mexican schools" unconstitutional. Westminster School District of Orange County v. Mendez , 161 F.2d 774 (9th Circular, 1947); Victoria-María MacDonald, Latino Education in the United States: A Narrated History from 1513-2000 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 119
9. For example of scholarly work, see: Jack Dougherty, More than One Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004
10. Ronald Formisano, Boston against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
11. Jerald E. Podair, The Strike that Changes New York: Blacks, Whites, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis (New Haven: Yale University Press)
12. Daniel Perlstein, Justice, Justice: School Politics and the Eclipse of Liberalism (New York: Peter Lang, 2003
13. For more popular works, see, for example, Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (New York: Harper Perennial, 1992
14. Ron Suskind, A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League (New York: Broadway Books, 1998
15. Michael Fultz , " The Displacement of Black Educators Post- Brown : An Overview and Analysis ," History of Education Quarterly 44 (Spring 2004: 11 - 45
16. Dougherty, More than One Struggle , 9-33
17. For example: Ruben Donato, The Other Struggle for Equal Schools: Mexican Americans during the Civil Rights Movement (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997
18. Guadalupe San Miguel, Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001). Some work has been done on black-Latino relations, though not specifically in schools
19. For example, see: Raymond A. Mohl, "Blacks and Hispanics in Multicultural America: A Miami Case Study," in The Making of Urban America , ed. Raymond A. Mohl (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1997, 283-308
20. Nicolás C. Vaca, The Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict between Latinos and Blacks and What It Means for America (New York: Rayo, 2004
21. Albert M. Camarillo, "Black and Brown in Compton: Demographic Change, Suburban Decline, and Intergroup Relations in a South Central Los Angeles Community, 1950 to 2000," in Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States , ed. Nancy Foner and George M. Fredrickson (New York: Russell Sage Foundation , 2004, 358-76
22. Albert M. Camarillo , " Cities of Color: The New Racial Frontier in California's Minority-Majority Cities ," Pacific Historical Review 76 ( 2007 ): 1 - 28 ; Regina F., "Black Brown Cities: Black Urban Regimes and the Challenge of Changing Demographics" (unpublished paper presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, March 27-29, 2003
23. For works about disadvantaged groups in multi-ethnic communities struggling over limited resources see Joel Perlmann, Ethnic Differences: Schooling and Social Structure among the Irish, Italians, Jews, and Blacks in an American City, 1880-1935 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988
24. Ronald D. Cohen and Raymond A. Mohl, The Paradox of Progressive Education: The Gary Plan and Urban Schooling (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, l979
25. Daniel Perlstein, Justice, Justice: School Politics and the Eclipse of Liberalism (New York: Peter Lang, 2004
26. Sieglinde Lim de Sanchez , " Crafting a Delta Chinese Community: Education and Acculturation in Twentieth-Century Southern Baptist Mission Schools ," History of Education Quarterly 43 , 1 ( March 2003: 74 - 90
27. Camarillo, "Cities of Color," 2
28. Alberto M. Camarillo , " Chicano Urban History: A Study of Compton's Barrio, 1936-1970 ," Aztlan 2 , 2 ( 1971: 79 - 106
29. Les W. Arnold, "A Promise for the Future," in Compton Journal Pictorial Review & 1945 Annual (Compton: Compton Journal, 1945
30. Josh Sides , " Straight Into Compton: American Dreams, Urban Nightmares, and the Metamorphosis of a Black Suburb ," American Quarterly 56 ( September, 2004 ): 583 - 606
31. Becky M. Nicolaides, My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965 (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2002
32. For discussion of declining inner suburbs, see Myron Orfield, Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1997
33. Barrows v. Jackson No. 517 346 U.S. 249 (1953
34. Shelley v. Kraemer 334 U.S. 1 1948
35. For Compton's Latino population, see: Camarillo, "Chicano Urban History." For discussion of Compton's racial shifts, see: Camarillo, "Black and Brown in Compton"; Josh Sides, L.A. City Limits: African American Los Angeles from the Great Depression to the Present (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, 125-29
36. Sides, "Straight into Compton." 18 David Franklin, "Compton: A Community in Transition" (Los Angeles: Welfare Planning Council, 1962, 28
37. Maxcy Filer, interview with author, June 23, 2005, Compton, CA, interview in possession of author.
38. Board of Trustees, Compton Union High School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Compton Union High School District Board of Trustees, June 25, 1963," Ed-P.S.R.- 81-94, Compton Unified School District Board Minute Files, box 3, California State Archives.
39. 1970 Census .
40. Catholic University Law School Center for National Policy Review, Trends in Black School Segregation, 1970-1974 , vol. 1 (Washington, DC: National Institute of Education, 1977, 130
41. Deena R. Sosson, "History and Evaluation of the Compton-UCLA Urban Research and Development Project," in Report on the Compton-UCLA Urban Research and Development Project, September 1968 to June 1969 , ed. Deena R. Sosson (Los Angeles: Institute of Government and Public Affairs, 1970, 16
42. Camarillo, "Chicano Urban History," 81.
43. Ibid., 90
44. Gilda Acosta-Gonzalez, interview with author, July 13, 2007, Downey, CA, interview in possession of author.
45. El Espejo 1977 , Manuel Dominguez Senior High, 1977
46. 1980 Census ; Camarillo, "Black and Brown in Compton," 365-66
47. Camarillo, "Cities of Color," 15-16.
48. Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles (New York: Verso, 1990, 304.
49. Ibid., 304-5
50. James H. Johnson Jr., Walter C. Farrell Jr., and Chandra Guinn, "Immigration Reform and the Browning of America: Tensions, Conflicts, and Community Instability in Metropolitan Los Angeles," in The Handbook of International Migration: The American Experience , eds. Charles Hirschman, Philip Kasinitz, and Josh DeWind (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999, 394-95, 403-6
51. Jonathan Musere, "Southern Californians' Attitudes to Immigrants: Blacks Compared to Other Ethnics" (MA thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991, 29
52. Sides, "Straight into Compton," 593
53. Michael I. Lichter and Melvin L. Oliver, "Racial Differences in Labor Force Participation and Long-Term Joblessness among Less Educated Men," in Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles , eds. Lawrence D. Bobo, Melvin L. Oliver, James H. Johnson Jr., and Abel Valenzuela Jr. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000, 220-48.
54. James S. Catterall and Emily Brizendine, Proposition 13: Effects on High School Curricula, 1979-1983 (Stanford, CA: Institute for Research on Educational Finance and Governance, School of Education, Stanford University, 1984, 9
55. Lorraine Cervantes, interview with author, October 20, 2004, Compton, CA, interview in possession of author.
56. "Bilingual Act of 1968," in Latino Education in the United States , 249-52
57. Abdul Karim Bangura and Martin C. Muo, United States Congress & Bilingual Education (New York: Peter Lang, 2001); "Bilingual Act of 1968," 252
58. Gaynor Cohen , " Alliance and Conflict among Mexican Americans ," Ethnic and Racial Studies 5 , 2 ( 1982 ): 175 - 95
59. Tom Gorman, "Compton Trustees to Submit Bilingual Education Proposal to Federal Officials," Los Angeles Times , January 22, 1978, SE9; "Compton 'Bilingual' Plan Leaders Named," Compton Bulletin , April 5, 1978, 4; "Group Plans Improved Bilingual Programs," Compton Herald American , April 6, 1978, 1
60. William Trombley, "Can Bilingual Education Do Its Job?" Los Angeles Times , September 4, 1980, B1.
61. Cohen, "Alliance and Conflict," 179
62. "Surplus of Teachers Becoming Shortage," Los Angeles Times , April 20, 1981, SB2; Maura Dolan, "School Districts Worry About Diminishing Supply of Teachers," Los Angeles Times , August 29, 1982, SE1.
63. Scott Harris, "Schools' Bilingual Funds Imperiled," Los Angeles Times , November 17, 1984, B14.
64. oard of Trustees, Compton Unified School District, "Minutes, Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees, July 9, 1985," Compton Unified School District, Compton, CA (hereafter CUSD); Board of Trustees, Compton Unified School District, "Minutes, Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees, July 23, 1985," CUSD.
65. Victoria-María MacDonald , John M. Botti , and Lisa Hoffman Clark , " From Invisibility to Autonomy: Latinos and Higher Education in the U.S., 1965-2005 ," Harvard Educational Review 77 (Winter 2007): 474 - 504
66. Board of Trustees Enterprise School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Enterprise School District Board of Trustees, October 11, 1961," Ed P.S.R. 85-87. Compton Unified School District Board Minute Files, box 4, Compton Unified School District Board Minute Files, California State Archives.
67. San Miguel, Brown, Not White.
68. Daryl Kelley, "6% Raise for Teachers Rejected in Compton," Los Angeles Times , April 11, 1985, SE1.
69. K. Filer, interview with author.
70. Kenneth M. Ritter, "Compton Students 'Robbed'," Compton Herald American , January 15, 1986, 1, 3.
71. Board of Trustees, Compton Unified School District, "Minutes, Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees, September 13, 1988," CUSD.
72. Mike Davis, Dead Cities and Other Tales (New York: The New Press, 2002, 282.
73. City of Compton, "City Council Minutes, July 24, 1973" (Office of the City Clerk of Compton, 1973
74. City of Compton, "City Council Minutes, March 19, 1974" (Office of the City Clerk of Compton, 1974
75. "Compton Asked to Boost Latino Representation," Los Angeles Times , September 26, 1976, SE1. Also see "Group Questions City on Hiring Practices," Compton Herald American , October 14, 1976, 1; and "Compton Latinos Demand City Data on Hiring, Jobs," Los Angeles Times , October 7, 1976, SE1.
76. "Latinos to Picket Rites," Los Angeles Times , February 17, 1977, SE8.
77. Michele Fuetsch, "Affirmative Action Plan Urges Compton to Triple Number of Jobs for Latinos," Los Angeles Times , April 6, 1989, 1. For discussion of affirmative action plan and resistance to it, see Johnson, "Immigration Reform and the Browning of America," 403-6
78. M. Filer, interview with author
79. Although created to prevent cronyism, such tests were often biased against newcomers and outsiders to the system. See Christina Collins, " 'Ethnically Qualified': A History of New York City Public School Teachers, 1920-1980" (PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2006
80. Michele Fuetsch, "Latino Aspirations on Rise in Compton Demographics: Latinos Stream into the Area. Some Say the Black-Run City Is Hostile to Their Needs," Los Angeles Times , May 7, 1990, 1.
81. Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes, Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees, September 5, 1990," CUSD.
82. As quoted in Michel Fuetsch, "Compton Latinos Allege Hiring Bias in Education," Los Angeles Times , September 9, 1990, 7.
83. Kelvin Filer, interview with author, June 20, 2005, Compton, CA, interview in possession of author.
84. R. Michael Alvarez and Tara L. Butterfield , " The Resurgence of Nativism in California? The Case of Proposition 187 and Illegal Immigration ," Social Science Quarterly 81 , 1 ( 2000 ): 167 - 180
85. Frank M. Sifuentes, "Letter to the Editor: Conflicts Surface in Compton as Latino Population Increases," Los Angeles Times , May 17, 1990, 6.
86. Thorton, "California Department of Education report on the Compton Unified School District," 12-13. Compton High sent the most with nine, while Centennial and Dominguez sent two and three, respectively. 65 State of California: Assembly Bill Number: AB 33 , AB 33
87. P. Pascual, "State Appointee Takes over Compton Schools," Los Angeles Times , July 10, 1993, A1.
88. Cotton, "Hispanics Boycott Compton School."
89. Juan Carrillo, interview with author, June 22, 2007, phone interview, interview in possession of author.
90. "Audit Confirms Charges," Compton Bulletin , February 3, 1993, A1, A12; "Board Clarifies Action," Compton Bulletin , June 9, 1993, A1, A4; "Board Fired Washington," Compton Bulletin , March 17, 1993, A1, A16; "New Head for College," Compton Bulletin , March 3, 1993, A1, A2; "'No Confidence' Vote," Compton Bulletin , February 24, 1993, A1, A2; "Official Admits Wrongdoing," Compton Bulletin , February 3, 1993, A1; "State Queries College," Compton Bulletin , March 10, 1993, A1, A2; Bolden, "Compton Stepping up School Chiefs Search"; "Cronies Spare Jones; Dean Willard Is Sacrificial Lamb," Compton Bulletin , June 2, 1993, A1, A2.
91. As cited in Sabrina Hockaday, "Bringing Compton Together at Summit," Long Beach Press-Telegram , April 29, 1994, Compton-Race Relations Folder, Compton File, Compton Public Library; City of Compton, "City Council Minutes, April 19, 1994" (Office of the City Clerk of Compton, 1994
92. As cited in "If Compton Schools Were in South Africa, They'd Be Closed Down," Compton Bulletin , May 4, 1994, A1.
93. Ibid. For information on Harris see: "State-Appointed Administrator Now at Helm," Compton Bulletin , February 9, 1994, A1.
94. Advisory Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, of the State Administrator and Advisory Board of Trustees, Compton Unified School, February 10, 1998" (CUSD, 1998
95. Advisory Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Unofficial Board Meeting Actions, Regular Advisory Meeting of State Administrator, Compton Unified School District, March 14, 1995" (CUSD, 1995
96. Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Compton Unified School District Board of Education, April 26, 1988" (CUSD, 1988
97. Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Compton Unified School District Board of Education, May 8, 1990" (CUSD, 1990
98. Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Compton Unified School District Board of Education, November 10, 1987" (CUSD, 1987
99. Sarah Sentilles, Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton (Boston: Beacon Press, 2005, 5.
100. "Rally Protest Police Beating of Teen-Ager," New York Times , August 7, 1994, 25
101. Davis, Dead Cities and Other Tales , 276-77.
102. R. Michael Alvarez and Tara L. Butterfield , " The Resurgence of Nativism in California? The Case of Proposition 187 and Illegal Immigration ," Social Science Quarterly 81 , no. 1 ( 2000: 167
103. Sekou M. Franklin and Richard Seltzer , " Conflicts in the Coalition: Challenges to Black and Latino Political Alliances ," The Western Journal of Black Studies 26 , 2 ( 2002 ): 75 - 88
104. Steve Farr, "Prop. 187: Some Blacks See Illegal Immigrants as Competition," Los Angeles Sentinel , October 20, 1994
105. "Compton Schools," City News Service , June 8, 2000
106. Ian Hanigan, "Compton Regains Its Schools," Long Beach Press-Telegram , December 13, 2001, A9.
107. Advisory Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, of the State Administrator and Advisory Board of Trustees, Compton Unified School, August 28, 2001" (CUSD, 2001
108. Board of Trustees Compton Unified School District, "Minutes of Regular Meeting, Board of Trustees, Compton Unified School, December 11, 2001" (CUSD, 2001
109. Reid, "Calif. Returns Compton District to Local Control"; Hanigan, "Compton Regains its Schools," A9; Ian Hanigan, "Compton Regains School Control," Long Beach Press-Telegram , June 2, 2003. The state administrator, Randy Ward, stayed with the district to oversee test scores and finances, but the final decision-power now lay with the board of trustees. Local officials gained complete control in June 2003
110. As cited in Sam Roberts, "Hispanic Population Outnumbers Blacks in Four Major Cities as Demographics Shift," New York Times , October 9, 1994, 34
111. Similar tensions can be seen in other areas. In Miami, for example tensions arose between blacks and Latinos over competition for jobs and government contracts. For more information, see Wilson, "The Political Economy and Urban Racial Tensions," 5