South L.A. to SOLA?

What’s in a name? A lot, if you ask people south of the 10 Freeway. First the area was called South Central. Then, because of the stigma of violence associated with “South Central,” the name changed to South L.A. More recently, city officials proposed changing it yet again to SOLA. And that’s not the only L.A. neighborhood that’s been re-branded in recent years. What does it mean to change an area’s name, and what effects does it have?

This segment first aired on 4/21/15.

Credits

Guest:

  • Fernando Guerra - professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University and director of its Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles - @LMU_CSLA

Host:

Madeleine Brand

Producers:

Matt Holzman, Anna Scott, Jolie Myers, Christian Bordal, Laura Swisher