Racism in San Gabriel Valley has come with consequences. Click the link to see the consequence, scroll down to see the story.
The story of racism in SGV starts with the conquest of the indigenous and end with separation from racial minorities. The future of racism in this region is up to us.
Land Distribution
From 1771 to 1821, Spain ruled over the area that would become the SGV. They stripped the Kizh of their land, was responsible for many Kizh people dying, and would enslave a great number of them to tend to the land and expand the operations of Mission San Gabriel Archangel. The Spanish government gave out land grants and these areas of land, also called rancherias, were used to produce profits from the land. The lands given by the Spanish government were given by light-skinned individuals, usually of privilege or connection to the government. When the Mexican government took over, they too preferred lighter-skinned Mexicans and individuals of European descent in their land grants. Finally, the U.S. took over the land and through segregation, restrictive covenants, and outright violence prevented minorities from owning land in the region, especially Black Americans who were still under the institution of slavery when California became a state. At no point in SGV history have Black Americans and indigenous people been in a position of equal status with regard to accessing land.