East Los Angeles

"Successfully debunks a number of misconceptions about the Mexicano experience in the United States. ... The story of the East Los Angeles barrio is not a pleasant one, although it does contain glimpses of a stubborn and resilient people determined to fight for their way of life."--Social Science Quarterly ". . . incisive and original ... a major contribution to urban history and the history of the Mexican-American people." --Rodolfo Acuna "Ricardo Romo has written a study of urban history from the bottom up ... Romo has told well the story of Mexicans in Los Angeles and their great contributions to southern California's cultural and economic development in the early twentieth century." --American Historical Review This is the story of the largest Mexican-American community in the United States, the city within a city known as "East Los Angeles." How did this barrio of over one million men and women--occupying an area greater than Manhattan or Washington D.C.--come to be? Although promoted early in this century as a workers' paradise, Los Angeles fared poorly in attracting European immigrants and American blue-collar workers. Wages were low, and these workers were understandably reluctant to come to a city which was also troubled by labor strife. Mexicans made up the difference, arriving in the city in massive numbers. Who these Mexicans were and the conditions that caused them to leave their own country are revealed in East Los Angeles. The author examines how they adjusted to life in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, how they fared in this country's labor market, and the problems of segregation and prejudice they confronted. Ricardo Romo is associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin.