Several recently released reports paint a new, disturbing picture of reality in Southern California, a reality that has been quietly transformed over the past decade. Not the usual image of sunshine, wealth and opportunity—but sharpening social polarization, record levels of poverty and manufacturing decay. For decades, poverty was lower in the entire state of California than in the rest of the country. Now that relationship has been reversed.
“We’re beginning to resemble much more a Third World society where a class of people are stuck at the bottom,” said Ruth Milkman, director of UCLA’s Institute for Labor and Employment. She has been leading an ongoing study of the north-south divide between the industrial development of Northern and Southern California.
In May 1992 social tensions beneath the surface exploded in riots following the Rodney King verdict. The media marked the tenth anniversary with optimistic reports of economic revival in many parts of the city. Things have gotten better, they claimed.
However, recent reports issued by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the Public Policy Institute of California, the Census 2000 data and UCLA’s Institute for Labor and Employment expose these optimistic assertions.
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