Segregation In Los Angeles In The 1920's

Los Angeles in the 1900s was changing at a very rapid pace. African Americans from the South were migrating to the major cities of the North in search of opportunity. In the 1920s, the first wave of migration largely bypassed the city of Los Angeles. But starting in the 1940s, the second wave of migration caused Los Angeles’s population to skyrocket from 63,700 to 350,000 by the year 1960. This mass-migration caused many demographic problems in the new racially diverse city. The first sign of lingering segregation was that Blacks and Hispanics were still not allowed to buy real estate in certain areas of the city, even though it was illegal. This caused a completely uneven distribution of race across the city. Another factor in this problem was new house construction. Suburban house constructors like Davenport saw the opportunity for an increase in house sales in suburban areas, so they used unsettled land in cities like Compton to create a blue-collar paradise. The houses were of lower middle class quality and were great for African American workers who recently moved to the city. The third factor for the uneven distribution was a process known as blockbusting. Realtors would sell empty houses in white neighborhoods to black families, then convince the rest of the white neighborhood that the black community is infiltrating this area. All the white families would move out and the realtors would sell the newly empty
This influx of African Americans caused unrest in the previously predominantly white city. White gangs were created, and blacks were harassed, beaten, or even killed, just because they were black. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the LAPD had become corrupt due to the newly appointed Chief of Police, William Parker. William Parker mandated that the LAPD adopt policies that were separate from the federal government, and enforce them. Blacks were arrested and beaten just for the LAPD to show