Assignment #1

The articles I read dove into the racist history of Hawthorne and South LA. The first article talks about the history of California’s sundown towns and how that history still affects them today. Even though those towns aren’t sundown towns anymore, many black people still don’t feel comfortable living there. These sundown towns are still majority white, with only a small percentage of black people living in them. The second article talks about the history of race riots, specifically in South LA. The article talks about how race riots began with white mobs rioting against black Americans and lynching them. As the decades went on, race riots turned into black people fighting against the racial injustices in this country. They would attack businesses and materialistic things to hurt the economy. These articles are very important when it comes to understanding the education of students who live in these areas. The history of these areas still affect them today. There is a reason why predominately white neighborhoods have better access to education and opportunities that colored neighborhoods don’t. I really enjoyed the tone the author in the second article used. He had a very stern tone and often used cursed words. I feel like this tone is important when it comes to discussing issues about racism. People think racism isn’t that important or it doesn’t affect us because slavery ended a while ago, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The history of these towns still affect the children living in them, and this specific tone reminds people of that. Overall, these articles helps us understand why the education system is the way it is and reminds us that racism still exists, its just shown in different forms.