From the Washington Post news section:
In Black-led Compton, a Latino majority fights for political power
The city known for its Black culture has flipped majority Latino, but its leadership remains all Black. …
By Silvia Foster-Frau
May 15, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT… The city south of Los Angeles is known as one of the great hubs of Black culture, producing countless Black athletes, rap legends and other celebrities, from Serena and Venus Williams to N.W.A. and Kendrick Lamar.
But Compton is no longer a Black city. Forty years ago, the city’s population was 74 percent Black; now it is nearly 70 percent Latino.
… The city’s leadership still reflects its demographic past, with an all-Black city council and school board. It has never had a Latino mayor. Compton is part of a congressional district represented by a Latina lawmaker, but its first and sole Latino council member was ousted last year after being accused of election fraud.
Huh …
… In 2021, during the city’s last mayoral election, Latinos made up an estimated 38 percent of votes cast despite being 50 percent of registered voters, according to a Washington Post analysis of voter registration data from the political data firm L2. Black residents accounted for roughly 45 percent of votes cast, while making up only 32 percent of registered voters.
The entrenched Black leadership has also done little to engage with the Hispanic community, Latino activists say, while clashing over the need for Spanish-speaking government workers. That has resulted in a lack of murals and monuments dedicated to Latino heroes, they say.
“It’s a very pro-Black environment right now in the administration within Compton,” Diaz said. “It’s just constant events and movements that are pro-Black and not necessarily for all in Compton.”
… Some Black residents say they fought too hard for political power to relinquish it just yet — and that Compton’s Black leaders are still battling racism from other racial groups.
“It’s like Game of Thrones. We have to keep this power, we have to keep the little bit that we have, which is all we have,” said Nina Childs, a Black local activist and filmmaker. “And we’re not giving it up.”
The story of people of color calling on White leaders to cede power for more diverse representation is deeply rooted in American history. But Compton reflects a newer power struggle, which experts say the nation may see more of in the years to come as traditional White and Black strongholds grow more Latino and the Latino community demands more political representation.
The tension is driven by the continued growth of the Latino population, already about one fifth of the country, while the White population declines and the share of the Black population stagnates.
It’s a not so great replacement.
… Conducting conversations about increasing Latino representation with her Black counterparts without appearing anti-Black is already challenging, said Orozco.
Compton has been at the center of fights for power before. It was once a predominantly White, wealthy community that actors like Kevin Costner called home in the 1950s.
Kevin Costner wasn’t an actor in the 1950s. Heck, the two Bushes weren’t Presidents when they lived in Compton in 1950.
Black people were kept out by racial covenants that prevented them from buying homes. As those restrictions were lifted, Black families moved in and White people left. In 1963, the city elected its first Black city council member, marking the start of Compton’s rise as an iconic Black stronghold.
But as the city’s crime rate exploded in the 1980s, some Black families began to leave for wealthier, safer communities. They were replaced by Mexican and Central American immigrants, some of them undocumented, seeking cheap rent and working class jobs.
… Compton didn’t elect its first Hispanic city council member, Isaac Galvan, until 2013, after a lawsuit against the city argued that the at-large council positions discriminated against Latino voters. It led to single district council seats, and Galvan served for nine years until being ousted after a judge ruled he had rigged votes to win his 2021 reelection campaign. Galvan denied the allegations.
… Although about 65 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home, some government documents are still not translated into Spanish, local events rarely incorporate Latino cultural touchstones — such as mariachi troupes or papel picado — and Latinos are not represented enough in the artwork across the city, local Hispanic advocates say.
… Recently, President Biden signed a bill, introduced by one of the city’s two congresswomen, Nanette Diaz Barragán (D), to rename a post office after James Anderson Jr. — a Compton native who was the first Black Marine to earn a Medal of Honor.
So for once we have an extremely worthy black hero to honor, rather than a violent homeless bum or whatever, and the next group in line is sore about him.
