In the late 1940s, middle class African-Americans began moving into the area, particularly in the western area. Kelvin Filer, a Compton Superior Court judge, grew up in the city, and remembers what it was like before the downhill slide. The round trip took almost a week. [21] In 2013, Aja Brown, age 31, became the city's youngest mayor to date. The homicide rate would peak in Los Angeles County in 1992, partly due to the Rodney King Riots, but since then crime has waned across the countysome think due to the end of the so-called crack epidemic along with more effective policing. As the Hub City it makes Compton strategically located along the Alameda Corridor, a rail passageway of 25% of all U.S. waterborne international trade, in addition to being a large industrial center for transit and distribution, business services, high technology, home and lifestyle products, metals, financial services, and textile manufacturing. Omar Bradley has since faced serious corruption charges. For many years, Compton was a much sought-after suburb for the black middle class of Los Angeles. From the mid-Forties, a slower wave of migration took Black people further west, into cities including San Francisco, Oakland, Phoenix, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles. It does not store any personal data. Really white. Although there are be supernatural spooks beneath the terror anthologys surface think Twin Peaks meets Get Out the real malevolent force at play here is racism. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 62,669 persons (65.0%). [13][14], In 1867, Griffith Dickenson Compton led a group of 30 pioneers to the area. The violence drove out families as well; between 1997-98, the city's population dropped by close to 6,000, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 2000, the Compton Police Department was disbanded amidst controversy and charges of corruption. "[66], Angeles Abbey Cemetery contains examples of Byzantine, Moorish and Spanish architectural styles. Not that the transplants were welcomed unequivocally. The image of Compton as a defiantly violent ghetto was crystallized by the rap group N.W.A., whose 1988 album, "Straight Outta Compton," went multiplatinum, even though it was banned by many radio stations; the record even attracted the attention of the FBI, which felt the group was inciting violence with its song, "F--- tha Police.". When the pre- approval expires, you'll have to update your paper work to get a new one. But it doesn't really matter. Marcellus Wiley - NFL player, ESPN football analyst and radio personality. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. By 1969, it had the highest crime rate in the state of California. Centennial High School was finally built to accommodate a burgeoning student population. Lampposts that once illuminated new cars and sale signs stood darkened, some tagged with gang graffiti. Tennis Doc Break Point' Is Playing The Long Game. "What I'm trying to do is implement very aggressive enforcement toward the gang-related crimes, but also open up the lines of communication with the community, to enhance the level of trust," says Sheriff's Capt. Some episodes of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air took place in Compton because Will Smith's friend, DJ Jazzy Jeff lived there. Compton is the 17th most dangerous small city in America. In January 1888, a petition supporting the incorporation of Compton was forwarded to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who in turn forwarded the petition to the State Legislature. Esquire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. It's full of singe-family homes and parks I'm an East Coast guy if that matters, so I'm used to the "ghetto" to be brick-build apartments full of section 8 people. Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. The city has a high poverty rate and is generally a working-class community. Middle-class families live in the city of Compton. So in that regard, Compton is unexceptional, but the virulence and the violence in which the Comptonites protected the whiteness of their neighborhood was much more acute than you would have found in the city of Los Angeles for example.". If you look at the census reports, in 1930 Compton had only one black resident, and before that it was a predominantly-white community. In 1963, the city elected its first black politician, Douglas Dollarhide, who would later become the state's first black mayor. The Domnguez family name is still applied throughout the area, including the Dominguez Rancho Adobe historical landmark, in the unincorporated community of Rancho Dominguez, located between the cities of Compton, Long Beach and Carson. It contains a historic marker and plaque placed by the Daughters of the Golden West in 1947. Visitors in this city are reminded to be alert while walking through or biking at day/ night times. In the early part of this decade, that figure had dropped to 44. Incorporated in 1888, Compton is one of the oldest cities in Los Angeles County. [81] The district is a participant of the FOCUS program conducted by the University of California, Irvine. Departures is KCET's oral history and interactive documentary project that thoroughly explores neighborhoods through the people that live there. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the community was a magnet for migrants seeking suburban tranquility and blue-collar jobs. The average household size was 4.15. [11] It is known as the "Hub City" due to its geographic centrality in Los Angeles County. The district maintains five alternative learning schools. How East New York Became a Ghetto. The emerging genre of extreme hip-hop in the mid-1980s was the so-called "gangsta rap" that the group did not invent, but came to embody. It's a question that haunts Ryan, Perrodin, and others who have helped bring Compton to a new plateau. The Compton Swap Meet is featured prominently in the remix version of the 1995 #1 song California Love. Yes, it has a reputation for being somewhat dangerous but it is also known for being a clean and safe holiday destination. [67], The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial sits in a plaza surrounded by the Civic Center, Compton Court House, Compton City Hall, and Compton Public Library. [23] This white middle class flight accelerated following the 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Unemployment shot up, along with the crime rate. These families had traveled by wagon train south from Stockton, California, in search of ways to earn a living other than the rapid exhaustion of gold fields. The arrival of black people does usually lower property values, but not, of course, because of any material difference, but simply because real estate is all about perception. The city now pays about $18 million for 79 deputies and a 38-man gang force; the precinct's strategy is to target the toughest gangs but devote significant effort to community policing. As Brown points out, Compton's crime rate has dropped over 70% over the past two decades. rapped Ice Cube on "Gangsta Gangsta.". Surrounded by an eight-foot steel gate, the once-bustling auto dealership had become a haven for the homeless; a place where people dumped trash, loitered, caused trouble. They were pushed by their home states oppressive laws, and pulled by a wave of industrialisation that promised well-paid jobs in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Baltimore. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. [20] Compton's growing black population was still largely ignored and neglected by the city's elected officials. Artesia station serves the southern part of the city. It was prime real estateexcept that, well, it wasn't. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. "I have wonderful memories of growing up here," says Filer. [17], The ample residential lots of Richland Farms gave residents enough space to raise a family, and food to feed them, along with building a barn, and caring for livestock. As you'd expect, many from the city are uneasy with the depiction of Compton's rough past in Straight Outta Compton, the film. [citation needed], Location within Los Angeles County, California, Location within Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. By 1906, lawyers Emmett Wilson and E.T. *Murder rate is calculated by dividing the number of reported murders by the total population; the result is multiplied by 100,000. This whole street was completely clear. In 1990, Compton had experienced a staggeringly high murder rate of almost 91 homicides per 100,000 residents. Although slavery was officially abolished in the US in 1865, the southern states enforced Jim Crow laws named after the racist cariacture of a dancing white man in blackface that allowed racial segregation and propagated the notion that Black people were second class citizens, which led to further sustained abuse, mistreatment and violence. The city became notorious for gang violence, primarily caused by the Bloods and Crips. Compton Station", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Compton,_California&oldid=1133293592, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 02:12. Cue the real horrors of THEM, the new Amazon series created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe. [50], From 1999 to 2004, Compton's murder rate averaged at around 49 murders per 100,000 annually. Current recall efforts are a direct response from residents of the accusations of corruption of the city's mayor and council. Many settled in Compton, a suburb in southern Los Angeles. This content is imported from YouTube. The Departures Richland Farms series is broken down into two parts as interactive murals: The Past and The Present. And the really scary thing is, it doesnt go away when you close the screen. Kumail Nanjiani Would Like to Play the Bad Guy, Chaske Spencer on The Magic of The English, The English Episode 6 Recap: Cherished, The White Lotus Haley Lu Richardson Talks Portia, THEM Tells a True Story of the Racist Horror That Followed the Great Migration, ESQUIRE, PART OF THE HEARST UK FASHION & BEAUTY NETWORK. [42] In 2015, there was a record low of 15 homicides while the homicide rate in the rest of the US increased. Their hateful message is designed to intimidate and threaten the Black family they see as encroaching on their neighbourhood. The administration was able to eliminate the huge deficit in one year by making cuts in every department. The goals of the program are to improve mathematics and science achievement by uniting the efforts of mathematics, science, education and research library faculty and staff with educators of the school district. But now its rare that you can find a sidewalk that you can pass, he says. 1 / 1. 68% of the people in Compton, CA are hispanic (65.8k people). In 2020 there were 54 murders in Compton. The people in those areas lived under a threat of violence constantly. [59], The City of Compton's Parks and Recreation Department operates and maintains a total of 16 playgrounds for a combined 118 acres (48ha) of active park space. How Compton Became The Violent City Of 'Straight Outta Compton'. The eastern side of the city was predominantly white until the 1970s. Like Get Out, the horror in THEM isnt just jump scares; its there in the poisonous, pervading experience of everyday racism, which is as destructive as anything supernatural. But the Watts riots of 1965 shattered that calm; white business owners fled so fast, as Filer's father, a longtime city councilman, once put it, "they were leaving their doors open." 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