The Gentrification of South Central Los Angeles
A city’s attempt to clean up a region’s reputation caused the displacement of its people.
In 2005, I stood in the courtyard of my then-middle school talking to my classmates about the change. I felt confused, as well as an array of other emotions: shock, sadness, annoyance, anger, disgust. How could something I’ve known all my life be switched in an instant? In 2015, while looking up the history of South Central, I learned that the name changed before I had even heard of the switch that day in middle school. In 2003, the Los Angeles City Council voted to change what was and is still known as South Central to South Los Angeles. This change was the city’s effort to rebuild the Los Angeles working class community that faced division during and after the Los Angeles 1992 Uprising (1).
Changing the name from South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles was unsettling for the neighborhood, with residents having mixed reactions to the change. Some felt that it was a positive shift, sharing how removing South Central meant removing what they felt was a tarnished reputation and history. However, long term residents and locals like myself viewed this as another stage in displacement, an erasure of our home as we knew it. South Los Angeles is an attempt to clean up an image that resulted in the displacement of people.
We are not against bettering our communities. We would love a community garden and programs that benefit the youth and provide resources and jobs. We deserve grocery stores that we don’t have to travel long distances to or, for those who don’t have a car, having to rely on public transportation to make sure that their home is supplied with nutritious food and meals throughout the week. The issue is–the change has always been to benefit people outside of the community. It makes things look and sound a particular way so that others feel comfortable to make our home into what suits them best. It has never been about the locals. It has always been about capitalism.
“South Los Angeles is an attempt to clean up an image that resulted in the displacement of people.”
(1) The 1992 LA Uprising (also known as 1992 LA Riots) was a culmination of tension after decades of racial division in Los Angeles. The Uprising followed the murder of LaTasha Harlins by a Korean store owner and the beating and arrest of Rodney King in 1991.
Vons Market, South Los Angeles, located at 5029 S. Vermont St, 1945. Image courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library.
“It has never been about the locals. It has always been about capitalism.”
My family lives near the University of Southern California (USC), located within South Central. My brothers and I grew up going to USC’s University Village to enjoy watching affordable movies. We knew that, at times, we’d have our pick between Denny’s, IHOP, and Yoshinoya with our parents. We knew every once in a while we’d enjoy a trip to University Village’s Radio Shack with our tech-savvy father.
It’s gone now. While USC still claims to be a space the community can enter, the gates around the campus that exist now versus its former openness suggest otherwise. It’s a slow–but steady–way of moving people out. Our working class neighborhoods near USC, LA Memorial Coliseum, and SoFi Stadium—some of the last places in Los Angeles with affordable housing—are facing a crisis.
The name “South Central” isn’t harmful. The true violence is in cleaning up a neighborhood’s reputation through gentrification while houselessness and displacement continue to rise at alarming rates. Los Angeles’s houseless population has grown by 4.1 percent according to the AP News–going from 66,436 in 2020 to 69,144 in 2022.
Coliseum Hotel, located at 457 West Santa Barbara Avenue (later renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.), takes up the length of an entire block. Commercial businesses occupy much of the ground floor, including Curries Ice Cream, a grill and a medical office. Entrances to the hotel are found on the end and on the side of the building. Image courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library.
“The true violence is in cleaning up a neighborhood’s reputation through gentrification while houselessness and displacement continue to rise at alarming rates. ”
The name “South Central” is home. It’s Corridos, Mariachi music, and West Coast and LA rap played late at night to celebrate after a long week, or at the very least, a long day. Home is acknowledging your neighbors, or going into the nearest shop for a smoothie that’s way too sweet but always hits the spot. South Central Los Angeles is not just a name–it’s a widely known culture. And the people who live here deeply impact that culture. By changing the name, you’re signaling the removal of deeply held traditions. More than that, South Central is a political movement–from the jazz history that rules S. Central Ave to the King Jr. Hotel, historic churches, high schools, and homes to, yes, the 1992 LA Uprising too. South Central is not a reputation gone awry. It’s the home of rich Los Angeles Black and Latinx history and culture (2). Why do you think there’s so many of us (Black and Brown folks especially) committed to telling the stories of our home in all its fullness?
A part of me believes, albeit potentially naively, it's possible for City Council, white Angelenos, and transients to recognize the harm done and work to undo it; to honor people and their humanity. Until then, I’ll be at Jack in the Box continuing the tradition my parents taught my brothers and I when we were young, eating inexpensive cheesecake with hope on my side.
“More than that, South Central is a political movement–from the jazz history that rules S. Central Ave to the King Jr. Hotel, historic churches, high schools, and homes to, yes, the 1992 LA Uprising too. South Central is not a reputation gone awry. It’s the home of rich Los Angeles Black and Latinx history and culture.”
(2) AP Stylebook recommends the term Latinx/o/a/é generally to refer to people with origins in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Photo taken by Danielle Celaya
Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Shonette Reed holds a BA in Journalism and Integrated Media and an MA in Intercultural and Urban Studies. She enjoys art in its many forms, reading, cooking, and exploring. Shonette is also the creator of Resolute Magazine– a Christian BIPOC-centered arts and culture magazine.
Works Cited:
Johnson, Jason. "L.A. Riot or Uprising?: What Happened After Rodney King." Slate, 6 Nov. 2021, slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/11/la-riots-or-uprising-rodney-king-latasha-harlins.html.
Weber, Christopher. "LA County Homeless Numbers Up but Many More Went to Shelters." AP News, 8 Sept. 2022, apnews.com/article/covid-health-los-angeles-homelessness-government-and-politics-bc42f500e67201032714de7ed98c92c6.
