For my urban politics class, we went into Los Angeles to do a workshop at City Hall. The workshop was for students to learn how to work the structure of the local government to be better community activists. Much of the day reminded me of things we have covered in class.

First, we had the opportunity to sit in on a city council meeting (which are open to the public). Like the city, the council is very ethnically diverse. The staffers even made a point of telling us that first immigrant ever to be elected to a council position, who is a Mexican American, currently serves. For the few minutes we were there, they debated whether to fund trailers for immigrant day laborers in Watts. This reminded me of Whitewashed Adobe because, although the city benefits from Mexican labor, workers face poor working conditions, a second-class position and almost no protection from the government. Also, Jen Perry, who was instrumental in the dealings that destroyed the South Central Farms, still serves on the council.

After the meeting, we took the elevator to the top floor’s outdoor sightseeing balcony. This only reinforced how many influences are represented in LA. From one corner, you can see Union Station which features the idealized Euro-Mexican architecture discussed in Whitewashed Adobe. Take a few steps to the left and you can see both Dodger Stadium and the iconic Hollywood sign. Both White Flight and Racism on Trial address how the building of Dodger stadium resulted in the leveling of one of LA’s largest and most vibrant Hispanic communities. Lastly, from every angle of the balcony, I saw miles of imposing highways that stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction. As we’ve seen in many of the readings, these highways serve to connect the city and to divide it. From the top of city hall, it is easy to see how these overwhelming structures have such power in shaping the city physically and socially.

Finally, to top off the day, we walked three blocks to little Tokyo and got sushi for lunch. This made me think of consuming culture through food discussed in Ruiz’s Citizen Restaurant and the difficulties many Japanese Americans faced during and after internment discussed in Kurashige’s Shifting Grounds.