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City of Segregation: 100 Years of Struggle for Housing in Los Angeles
A majestic one-hundred-year study of segregation in Los Angeles
Racism has been central to the way that the city of Los Angeles--and all US cities--have formed and grown. There is a long, ugly history of state-supported segregation, the violent local defence of white neighbourhood and racial boundaries with continuing police oppression, ever growing political and economic inequalities, the drive to neoliberalization and privatisation, and today's mass displacement of communities of colour in central areas--a process too often described as incidental. This book attempts to explain what Ruth Wilson Gilmore calls these death-dealing differences.
City of Segregation traces one hundred years of the struggle against segregation in Los Angeles; from the struggles that together ended de jure segregation in 1948, to the campaign that resulted in the 1964 prohibition of de facto discrimination and the 2006 fight to implement strict controls over private security forces and to preserve over ten thousand residential hotel units in the heart of gentrifying downtown. Gibbons contends that the study of these struggles, of the cycles of victory and retreat reveals the true shape and nature of the racist logics that must be fought if we have any hope of replacing them with a just city.
Racism has been central to the way that the city of Los Angeles--and all US cities--have formed and grown. There is a long, ugly history of state-supported segregation, the violent local defence of white neighbourhood and racial boundaries with continuing police oppression, ever growing political and economic inequalities, the drive to neoliberalization and privatisation, and today's mass displacement of communities of colour in central areas--a process too often described as incidental. This book attempts to explain what Ruth Wilson Gilmore calls these death-dealing differences.
City of Segregation traces one hundred years of the struggle against segregation in Los Angeles; from the struggles that together ended de jure segregation in 1948, to the campaign that resulted in the 1964 prohibition of de facto discrimination and the 2006 fight to implement strict controls over private security forces and to preserve over ten thousand residential hotel units in the heart of gentrifying downtown. Gibbons contends that the study of these struggles, of the cycles of victory and retreat reveals the true shape and nature of the racist logics that must be fought if we have any hope of replacing them with a just city.
240 pages, Paperback
Expected publication September 1, 2108
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About the author
Andrea Gibbons
8 books208 followersI pretend to a life of mystery given my two passports and nationalities, but grew up in the desert outside of Tucson, Arizona and spent many years in L.A. I'm more fascinated than afraid of things that bite, sting or have inch long spines, and my dad taught me the latin names for cacti. I have organized tenants, reveled in popular education, and uncovered and helped prosecute the figures behind slum housing empires. I've also picked jojoba beans, filed mining claims, sold bras in Glasgow, and edited some of the best books in the world (all Switchblade of course). Now I like to spend my time writing, preferably in pubs, though this has been much constrained by a debilitating stint in academia and current attempts to get free.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 23, 2024
i love a book with a thick ass notes section!!!
gibbons truly does it all by drawing on traditional theories within city planning and combining them with archival research from media sources within los angeles and with contemporary theories around racial capitalism. gibbons asserts that white supremacy and anti-Blackness have always been the backbone behind land's use and exchange values, whether that be in the time of segregation & racial covenants or today in gentrification and displacement. because the first two sections focus heavily on black organizing either in or surrounding south central, i would love an updated chapter on gentrification in the neighborhood.
gibbons truly does it all by drawing on traditional theories within city planning and combining them with archival research from media sources within los angeles and with contemporary theories around racial capitalism. gibbons asserts that white supremacy and anti-Blackness have always been the backbone behind land's use and exchange values, whether that be in the time of segregation & racial covenants or today in gentrification and displacement. because the first two sections focus heavily on black organizing either in or surrounding south central, i would love an updated chapter on gentrification in the neighborhood.
December 5, 2018
This book is SO GOOD. It's a must-read for anyone looking to understand LA's history of racism, especially when it comes to housing. We have this idea of LA as a progressive and liberal city, but Gibbons shows us so clearly that this is pure nonsense.
She details how segregation has been deliberately built ever since Anglo settlers violently conquered the indigenous populations of Southern California and took the best land for themselves. She provides so much evidence about how, after the turn of the Century (1900), the increasingly professionalized real estate industry worked hard to segregate LA's Black population and keep neighborhoods white so as to increase property values. They sponsored drives to blanket neighborhoods in restrictive covenants. They shared best practices on how to discriminate. And they even used violence when necessary.
Then she makes a brilliant turn detailing how segregation is being built in Downtown LA in the 21st Century. We should see the waves of capital being put into urban areas as a continuation of the strategies used to create WHITE SPACE in the suburbs -- just now, the capital is flowing back into the city, and the creation of this space is built on the mass displacement of communities of color.
She provides a ton of history/evidence/detail on how business interests in DTLA (mostly, the Business Improvement Districts, BIDS) work with the City and the Police to clear the area of unhoused and extremely l0w-income people. It's really some disgusting stuff.
READ THIS BOOK and tell your friends.
She details how segregation has been deliberately built ever since Anglo settlers violently conquered the indigenous populations of Southern California and took the best land for themselves. She provides so much evidence about how, after the turn of the Century (1900), the increasingly professionalized real estate industry worked hard to segregate LA's Black population and keep neighborhoods white so as to increase property values. They sponsored drives to blanket neighborhoods in restrictive covenants. They shared best practices on how to discriminate. And they even used violence when necessary.
Then she makes a brilliant turn detailing how segregation is being built in Downtown LA in the 21st Century. We should see the waves of capital being put into urban areas as a continuation of the strategies used to create WHITE SPACE in the suburbs -- just now, the capital is flowing back into the city, and the creation of this space is built on the mass displacement of communities of color.
She provides a ton of history/evidence/detail on how business interests in DTLA (mostly, the Business Improvement Districts, BIDS) work with the City and the Police to clear the area of unhoused and extremely l0w-income people. It's really some disgusting stuff.
READ THIS BOOK and tell your friends.
December 16, 2018
Fantastic book.
I would describe it as somewhere between “Color of Law” and “The New Jim Crow” with a specific (and illustrative) geographic focus.
The writing is clear and cohesive, the arguments are sound, focused and delivered with unwavering confidence. References are plentiful and relevant. As the title promises, Gibbons tracks history of spatial segregation and housing discrimination in Los Angeles over the past century up to present day. She heavily relies on newspaper publications, interviews and various academic works in building her chronological narrative, pausing to tie together and contextualize different stages of struggle for equality and housing justice. Her precise summaries (the clarity of her writing is impressive!) and the resulting description of the general arc of history in LA housing struck me as the strongest point, it helps solidly pin present-day gentrification of Los Angeles (and other US cities) as a successor of now abandoned overt segregationist practices.
This is a well-structured, well-written information-packed book. Seems to me, it is most likely to be picked up by people with at least passing familiarity with the subject matter, but it is so clear and articulate, I would recommend it to anyone. It could absolutely serve as an introduction to the topic of segregation and discrimination in housing in the US.
I would describe it as somewhere between “Color of Law” and “The New Jim Crow” with a specific (and illustrative) geographic focus.
The writing is clear and cohesive, the arguments are sound, focused and delivered with unwavering confidence. References are plentiful and relevant. As the title promises, Gibbons tracks history of spatial segregation and housing discrimination in Los Angeles over the past century up to present day. She heavily relies on newspaper publications, interviews and various academic works in building her chronological narrative, pausing to tie together and contextualize different stages of struggle for equality and housing justice. Her precise summaries (the clarity of her writing is impressive!) and the resulting description of the general arc of history in LA housing struck me as the strongest point, it helps solidly pin present-day gentrification of Los Angeles (and other US cities) as a successor of now abandoned overt segregationist practices.
This is a well-structured, well-written information-packed book. Seems to me, it is most likely to be picked up by people with at least passing familiarity with the subject matter, but it is so clear and articulate, I would recommend it to anyone. It could absolutely serve as an introduction to the topic of segregation and discrimination in housing in the US.
July 15, 2021
Andrea Gibbons’, “City of Segregation: 100 Years of Struggle for Housing in Los Angeles,” traces the plight of African-Americans and other people of color’s subjugation to de jure segregation and other unequal and unfair housing practices and policies in Los Angeles, California.
Segregation, gentrification, displacement, resegregation and criminalization are some of the strategies used to protect and guarantee that African-Americans remained within the red lines and denied loans.
Gibbons does make mention of other races, but unless there were racially restrictive covenants stating that they could not purchase or live in certain areas, they could at times enjoy the same privileges as Whites.
There is so much relevant information in this book that a review will not suffice. I would recommend this book to everyone because it is very important and well-researched and written.
Segregation, gentrification, displacement, resegregation and criminalization are some of the strategies used to protect and guarantee that African-Americans remained within the red lines and denied loans.
Gibbons does make mention of other races, but unless there were racially restrictive covenants stating that they could not purchase or live in certain areas, they could at times enjoy the same privileges as Whites.
There is so much relevant information in this book that a review will not suffice. I would recommend this book to everyone because it is very important and well-researched and written.
January 5, 2024
I'm not sure what I expected from this book but it reads like a college textbook with very involved laws and statistics. I got half way through and had to give up once the book hit the 1960s historical chapter. Very informative what I did read though.
April 20, 2021
wish it was both less and more overt in its argument making. reads like a dissertation in that it pulls a ton of well-known theories and lenses from writers like Davis and Lefebvre and Harvey but doesn't put a ton of work in both applying those theories and creating new thoughts of its own. could've been slightly more analytical.
yet, probably the most essential history of LA I've ever read, super clear, super easy to understand and gage how fucked up this city is, and just really, really well-written and documented. y'all should read asap
yet, probably the most essential history of LA I've ever read, super clear, super easy to understand and gage how fucked up this city is, and just really, really well-written and documented. y'all should read asap
April 4, 2021
Apart from the obvious gift for cut and clear writing and accompanying analysis, Gibbons' work is what anti-racist writing in the 21st century, inspired by that of the 20th century, needs to look like for readers and movement-makers everywhere. More at jimbotimes.com, but for now, highly recommend this book for anyone who cares even slightly about understanding Los Angeles and California housing policies.
January 31, 2025
an interesting if poorly written history of racial segregation in LA and struggles against it. the overarching argument is muddled if there is any; the prescriptions for movement work at the end are about as Verso 2018 as it gets and almost cringeworthy in retrospect. I did enjoy learning about the early fight against racially restrictive covenants in the 30s and 40s and the details of CORE's activism in town in the 60s.
March 4, 2020
The peasant mentality brought up to the city: somehow people don't just have a claim to live in a particular place, they have a social duty to stay where it is bad so their suffering could fuel armchair revolutionaries who need to form a better committee.
December 28, 2018
An amazing book. It showed me so much that I didn't know, and made sense of things that I did know but didn't understand.
January 25, 2021
Poor finish and even worse definition of “neo-liberalism”.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews