Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles

329 Pages·2004·1.89 MB·English

by  Eric Avila

Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight
American Crossroads
Edited by Earl Lewis,George Lipsitz,Peggy Pascoe,George Sánchez,
and Dana Takagi
1. Border Matters:Remapping American Cultural Studies,
by José David Saldívar
2. The White Scourge:Mexicans,Blacks,and Poor Whites in Texas
Cotton Culture,by Neil Foley
3. Indians in the Making:Ethnic Relations and Indian Identities around
Puget Sound,by Alexandra Harmon
4. Aztlán and Viet Nam:Chicano and Chicana Experiences of the War,
edited by George Mariscal
5. Immigration and the Political Economy of Home:West Indian
Brooklyn and American Indian Minneapolis,1945–1992,
by Rachel Buff
6. Epic Encounters:Culture,Media,and U.S.Interests in the Middle
East,1945–2000,by Melani McAlister
7. Contagious Divides:Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s
Chinatown,by Nayan Shah
8. Japanese American Celebration and Conflict:A History of Ethnic
Identity and Festival,1934–1990,by Lon Kurashige
9. American Sensations:Class,Empire,and the Production of Popular
Culture,by Shelley Streeby
10. Colored White:Transcending the Racial Past,by David R.Roediger
11. Reproducing Empire:Race,Sex,Science,and U.S.Imperialism in
Puerto Rico,by Laura Briggs
12. meXicana Encounters:The Making of Social Identities on the
Borderlands,by Rosa Linda Fregoso
13. Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight:Fear and Fantasy in
Suburban Los Angeles,by Eric Avila
14. Ties That Bind:The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and
Freedom,by Tiya Miles
15. Cultural Moves and the Politics of Representation,by Herman S.Gray
Popular Culture
in the Age of White Flight
Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles
Eric Avila
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles,California
University of California Press,Ltd.
London,England
© 2004 by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Avila,Eric,1968–
Popular culture in the age of white flight :fear and fantasy in
suburban Los Angeles / Eric Avila.
p. cm.—(American crossroads ;13)
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
isbn0-520-24121-5 (cloth :acid-free paper)
1.Los Angeles (Calif.)—Civilization—20th century. 2.Popular
culture—California—Los Angeles—History—20th century. 3.Los
Angeles (Calif.)—Social conditions—20th century. 4.Public spaces—
California—Los Angeles—History—20th century. 5.Los Angeles
(Calif.)—Race relations. 6.Whites—Race identity—California—Los
Angeles. 7.Suburban life—California—Los Angeles—History—20th
century. 8.Migration,Internal—California—Los Angeles Region—
History—20th century. 9.African Americans—California—Los
Angeles—Social conditions—20th century. 10.City and town life—
California—Los Angeles—History—20th century. I.Title. II.Series.
F869.L85A95 2004
979.4'94—dc22 2003019072
Manufactured in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-
free (tcf).It meets the minimum requirements ofansi/nisoz39.48–
1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).8
To my parents,Teresa and Edward Avila.

The metropolis itself may be described as a World’s Fair in
continuous operation.
Lewis Mumford
Cities,like dreams,are made of desires and fears.
Italo Calvino

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
1. Chocolate Cities and Vanilla Suburbs:
Race,Space,and the New “New Mass Culture”
of Postwar America 1
2. The Nation’s “White Spot”:
Racializing Postwar Los Angeles 20
3. The Spectacle of Urban Blight:
Hollywood’s Rendition of a Black Los Angeles 65
4. “A Rage for Order”:
Disneyland and the Suburban Ideal 106
5. Suburbanizing the City Center:
The Dodgers Move West 145
6. The Sutured City:
Tales of Progress and Disaster
in the Freeway Metropolis 185
Epilogue.The 1960s and Beyond 224
Notes 243
Selected Bibliography 281
Index 299