Opinion: In today’s pages: East L.A. is born, O.C. history is retold, South L.A. gets a grocer
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Columnist Patt Morrison recounts East Los Angeles’ repeated attempts to become its own city:
[H]ere in ‘East Los’ 20 years ago, Richard Anthony Marin — Cheech, short for ‘Chicharron,’ Marin — starred in the comedy ‘Born in East L.A.,’ about a Mexican American mistakenly deported to Mexico; some things, as recent headlines prove, do not change....East Los has been trying to become its own city since Cheech Marin was a teenager. The first time, about a week after the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961, the bid lost by 340 votes. The second time, in 1964, cityhood supporters couldn’t get enough signatures on the petitions. The third time, in 1974, the idea got clobbered by East L.A. voters and buried so deep that it hadn’t been undertaken again in more than 30 years.
Contributing editor Gustavo Arellano explains how Orange County has whitewashed its history, ignoring Latino influence. And UC Davis’ Daniel Sperling agrees that carbon taxes are a fine idea, but also advocates new robust carbon standards.
The editorial board notes that BBC journalist Alan Johnston has spent 100 days in captivity, and wonders if Hamas will act responsibly and arrange for his release. The board praises British grocer Tesco for opening a store in South L.A., and marvels at the idea of a presidential debate with video questions culled from YouTube.
Letter writers disagree with Cullen Murphy’s op-ed claiming that the Roman Empire provides an instructive example of how to handle immigration. Anaheim’s Dorothy Bucklew puts the difference simply: ‘[The Roman Empire] did not welcome immigrants because it used slaves from its conquered territories.’