Boyle Heights

How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy

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Pub Date 25 May 2021 | Archive Date 15 Nov 2021

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Description

The radical history of a dynamic, multiracial American neighborhood.

“When I think of the future of the United States, and the history that matters in this country, I often think of Boyle Heights.”—George J. Sánchez

The vision for America’s cross-cultural future lies beyond the multicultural myth of the "great melting pot." That idea of diversity often imagined ethnically distinct urban districts—the Little Italys, Koreatowns, and Jewish quarters of American cities—built up over generations and occupying spaces that excluded one another. But the neighborhood of Boyle Heights shows us something altogether different: a dynamic, multiracial community that has forged solidarity through a history of social and political upheaval.

Boyle Heights is an in-depth history of the Los Angeles neighborhood, showcasing the potent experiences of its residents, from early contact between Spanish colonizers and native Californians to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the hunt for hidden Communists among the Jewish population, negotiating citizenship and belonging among Latino migrants and Mexican American residents, and beyond. Through each period and every struggle, the residents of Boyle Heights have maintained remarkable solidarity across racial and ethnic lines, acting as a unified polyglot community even as their tribulations have become more explicitly racial in nature. Boyle Heights is immigrant America embodied, and it can serve as the true beacon on a hill toward which the country can strive in a time when racial solidarity and civic resistance have never been in greater need.
The radical history of a dynamic, multiracial American neighborhood.

“When I think of the future of the United States, and the history that matters in this country, I often think of Boyle...

Advance Praise

"Overflowing with research, oral histories, policy analysis, and urban history, this book by George J. Sánchez shows not only why Boyle Heights is so important for understanding Los Angeles, but why it is so important for understanding race, culture, and urban policy anywhere in the United States (and arguably the world). This is an extraordinary work of history."––Josh Kun, Chair in Cross-Cultural Communication, USC Annenberg School

"George J. Sánchez's research on Boyle Heights inspired me to take pride in my community and to see the value of my barrio and recognize the historical context of our fight against gentrification. As a Mexican American I was able to see my place in history and the importance of our contributions to US history." ––Josefina López, Writer of Real Women Have Curves and the Founding Artistic Director of the Casa 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights

"George J. Sánchez’s history of Boyle Heights is a moving, intimate, sweeping, and intellectually rigorous account of the ethnic diversity and popular resistance to be found in one community in the heart of Los Angeles. This is an essential new addition to the canon of California history."––Héctor Tobar, New York Times bestselling author of Deep Down Dark and The Last Great Road Bum

"Overflowing with research, oral histories, policy analysis, and urban history, this book by George J. Sánchez shows not only why Boyle Heights is so important for understanding Los Angeles, but why...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780520237070
PRICE $29.95 (USD)

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