Demographic changes of enormous magnitude have altered the ethnic and racial composition of large cities and metropolitan suburbs across the nation over the past thirty years, especially in California. Many cities and suburbs that were once home to large majorities of whites are now places where ethnic and racial minorities form the majority. "Minority-majority" cities in California have emerged as a new frontier in ethnic and race relations, where African Americans, Latinos, and other non-white groups now fi nd themselves, many for the fi rst time, living together and struggling to coexist. Although confl ict, tension, and misunderstanding characterize this new racial frontier, historians and other scholars must look deeper to fi nd examples of cooperation and collaboration in these new "cities of color." This article considers three cities in California-Compton, East Palo Alto, and Seaside-as examples of the historical and contemporary forces that have shaped "minority-majority" cities and the relations between African Americans and Latinos in particular.
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February 2007
Research Article|
February 01 2007
Cities of Color: The New Racial Frontier in California's Minority-Majority Cities
ALBERT M. CAMARILLO
ALBERT M. CAMARILLO
The author is a member of the history department at the Stanford University. This was his presidential address at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch, AHA, in Stanford, California, in August 2006.
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Pacific Historical Review (2007) 76 (1): 1–28.
Citation
ALBERT M. CAMARILLO; Cities of Color: The New Racial Frontier in California's Minority-Majority Cities. Pacific Historical Review 1 February 2007; 76 (1): 1–28. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/phr.2007.76.1.1
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