Final Essay
Many things have made LA what it is today. Like the history of it,the history of West Adams and Watts. Also the riots that have happened like the Watts riots and the LA riots. The three events that have had the greatest impact on South Central, LA are its gang history, the Crack Epidemic, and immigration. I believe that the gang history because now in LA there are many gangs and violence because of it. The Crack Epidemic because many people are addicted to drugs such as crack. Lastly immigration because LA is home to many immigrants.
The first event that had a great impact on making South Central what it is today is the Gang History. In LA gangs only started as protection from the white gangs but then evolved into something bigger. During the Civil Rights movement gangs started to fade and gang members joined the movement. The Black Panthers and the Brown Berets were groups joined by gang members but these groups were harrassed by another program the COINTELPRO. After the groups dissoved many gangs started again. Gangs attempted to make truces but the police and government did not allow it.This has changed La because maybe if the truces were done there would be less crime and gang s in South Central.
The second event that had a great impact on making South Central LA what it is today is the Crack Epidemic.The Crack Epidemic is a time in LA were crack cocaine was being brought by the CIA to get money for the war in Nicaragua. During this time many people lost jobs and sold drugs to support there families. Also many kids lost their parents because of drugs. This as had a great impact because many people now still use crack and some people are homeless because of it. Also many people went to jail for something that was brought by the government, crack. This has changed LA because this has caused crime in our meighborhoods.
The third event that had a great impact on the making LA what it is today is immigration.This is not so much of an event. People have come to LA because of problems in their countries or homelands. An example that we saw in class was the movie Innocent Voices, in El Salvador a war was taking place and little kids were recriuted to join the war at a young age. This would be a cause of why people would immigrate to South Central. Alos we learned that people immigrate because of money problems or in search for a better place to live. Some even to get an education. This has a really big impact on LA because alot of LA residents are immigrant. This has changed the population of LA and the races of people that live in LA.
So my three choices were the crack epidemic, the gang history and the immigration situation of LA.To me these are really improtant because these are the things that we see evey day and thing that we experience. I mean we see gangs violence and crime every day. Also we see people on crack or doing crack. Another thing, we see the people that live here and as we can see there are many Latinos in LA, but this does not mean that they are all immigrants. I hope that La does change but I dont think that it will change much.
