Chavez Ravine

Years ago, there was once a small town called Chaves Ravine within Los Angeles, California and this town was a poor rural community that was always full of life. Two hundred families, mostly Chicano families, were living here quite peacefully until the Housing Act of 1949 was passed. The Federal Housing Act of 1949 granted money to cities from the federal government to build public housing projects for the low income. Los Angeles was one of the first cities to receive the funds for project. Unfortunately, Chavez Ravine was one of the sites chosen for the housing project, so, to prepare for the construction work of the low-income apartments, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles had to convince the people of the ravine to leave, or forcibly oust them from their property. Since Chavez Ravine was to be used for public use, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles was able seize and buy Chavez Ravine from the property owners and evict whoever stayed behind with the help of Eminent Domain. The LA Housing Authority had told the inhabitants that low-income housing was to be built on the land, but, because of a sequence of events, the public housing project was never built there and instead Dodgers Stadium was built on Chavez Ravine. Although Chavez Ravine public housing project was the result of the goodwill and intent of the government, rather than helping the people Chavez Ravine with their promise of low-income housing, the project ended up destroying many

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of their lives because of those in opposition of the public housing project and government mismanagement.

Chavez Ravine was a self-sufficient and tight-knit community, a rare example of small town life within a large urban metropolis, but no matter how much the inhabitants loved their home, their friends and family, they had to still had to leave. Because Chavez Ravine was a relatively large piece of land with a small population , it was chosen as one of the public housing sites by the Housing Authority of Los Angeles. The area was also quite blighted, but to the community Chavez Ravine was, in its own way, a Shangri La. "It was sad because we were like a big family: My cousin, my friends, my grandma," exclaimed Genevoi Bamboa, "My grandma couldn't come with us because there were too many people." Torn from their families and friends, everyone went their own separate ways and most of them would never see each other again. This housing project forced around 200 families to leave and relocate from Chavez Ravine, and as a result, "There would be generations of family that would never get to know each other," stated Amelia Chico. There would also a generation that would never be able to see where their mothers and fathers grew up, and the house where their parents and grandparents were born because most of Chavez Ravine no longer exists and lies under a baseball stadium. "When I saw the bulldozer, I knew I was never going to go to the Dodger's games and I was a Dodgers fan," remarked Amelia Chico. When people began tearing down and bulldozing Chavez Ravine some people were still living there and had to be evicted from their own property.

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Ironically, among the Chavez Ravine residents, there were some Dodgers fans, but because of what happened to their homes and community, some of them could never forgive the government and Dodgers Stadium for ruining their lives, childhood, and homes. Many of the

inhabitants were angry and resented government for forcing them off their property; they became even more distraught when the cheap housing that was promised never happened; instead, Dodgers stadium was built.

After the Housing Act of 1949, Los Angeles was given 110 million dollars for public housing programs, but there were still people who were strongly opposed to public housing. The organizations against the Housing Authority of Los Angeles which was in charge of the housing project was strong, but at the beginning of the project, there was a great deal of citizen support for the project. Even so, those in opposition: The LA Times Newspaper, C.A.S.H. (Citizens Against Socialist Housing), the Real Estate Lobby, and some property owners of Chavez Ravine continued to assault and attack Frank Wilkinson, the assistant director of the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HALA), and the Housing Authority of Los Angeles. Although the project was being supported by the president and the U.S. government, they relentlessly continued to attack and tarnish those in charge of the housing project and the idea of the project itself with television, radio, and newspaper propaganda. Still, the project continued and Housing Authority sent notices to the residents to coerce them and offer them money for the land; Frank Wilkinson also hired an architecture to plan the building of a couple thousand units worth of apartments on

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Chavez Ravine. One day, Frank Wilkinson was asked by a lawyer, "What organizations, political party, or otherwise have you belonged since nineteen hundred thirty-one?" Frank Wilkinson had retorted by refusing to answer the question. To be accused of being a Communist is one of the worst possible things back then because the United States was in the middle of the McCarthy Era, a time when the U.S. was under tense anti-Communist paranoia and suspicion. After refusing to answer the questions, "the program was essentially scrapped at that point" and Frank Wilkinson was fired from his job. After a lengthy court battle, Wilkinson's insist of the First Amendment's protection was denied, and he was sentenced to one year in jail. The citizen support for the housing project in Los Angeles crumbled and the dream of Los Angeles "becoming the first city free of slums" crumbled with it. No longer in support of the housing project, the citizens voted to have that public housing project canceled.

Even after the housing project was scrapped the LA government refused to give back the land to the residents and property owners who had their property coerced or forcibly taken from them. With the promise of low-income housing, over two thousand people were uprooted from their homes and relocated, but since the housing project had fallen through the floor, some of the choices the government had included giving the land back to the populace, or figure out another method to utilize the land for public use. "It's the tragedy of my life, absolutely. I was responsible for uprooting many hundreds of people from their own little valley and having the whole thing destroyed," sadly announced Frank Wilkinson. The government could return the

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property