Peña , Isabel 2019 History Thesis Title: The New O.C.: Race, Space, Immigration and the Re-making of Suburban California Advisor: Sara Dubow Advisor is Co-author: None of the above Second Advisor: Released: release now Authenticated User Access: Yes Contains Copyrighted Material: No The New O.C.: Race, Space, Immigration and the Re-making of Suburban California im baby by Isabel E. Peña Professor Sara Dubow, Advisor A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in History WILLIAMS COLLEGE Williamstown, Massachusetts May 20th, 2019 To home. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 1 Preface ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 Methods and Sources .................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter Outline ......................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 Reframing Suburbia: Racial and Spatial Legacies of Empire 1775-1975 ............................. 14 CHAPTER 2 In the Business of Community: Re-making Home in a Geography of Hostility ................... 31 Refugee and Immigrant Urbanism and the Built Environment ................................................. 31 Sanctuary on Fourth Street/La Cuatro...................................................................................... 33 Danh’s Pharmacy at the Crossroads ........................................................................................ 46 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 56 CHAPTER 3 Becoming Official: Negotiating Space, Naming and Belonging In Little Saigon and La Cuatro .......................................................................................................................................... 58 Re-Orienting Calle Cuatro & Negotiating Incorporation ........................................................ 58 Re-packaging La Cuatro: Fiesta Marketplace.......................................................................... 61 "We don't want for our beloved Little Saigon to be turned into a Chinatown," ....................... 68 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 78 CONCLUSION Immigrants in the Suburbs ........................................................................................................ 80 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 83 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 97 List of Illustrations Map 1: Orange County, California. .............................................................................................. 83 Map 2: Orange County Cities. ...................................................................................................... 83 Map 3: Revised Map of Little Saigon. .......................................................................................... 84 Map 4: Official Maps of Santa Ana, 2010 .................................................................................... 85 Map 3: 2016 Electoral Voter Map ................................................................................................ 86 Graph 1: Ethnic Breakdown of Orange County ............................................................................ 87 Image 1: USGS Aerial Photograph of Orange County 1970 ........................................................ 88 Image 2: Development on East Fourth Street, 1983. .................................................................... 88 Image 3: Development of Spurgeon Street into Fiesta Marketplace. ........................................... 89 Image 4: View of Fiesta Marketplace on Spurgeon and Fourth Streets ....................................... 90 Image 5: Merry-Go-Round at Fiesta Plaza ................................................................................... 91 Image 6: Mural of Virgin of Guadalupe at Fiesta Marketplace. ................................................... 92 Image 9: Erection of Three Buddhas in Front of Phuóc, Loc, Tho .............................................. 94 Image 10: Shoppers on the corner of Bolsa and Magnolia at 9am ............................................... 95 Image 11: Van's Bakery and Pho 54 on the corner of Bolsa and Magnolia ................................. 96 Acknowledgements This thesis began in a senior seminar taught by Professor Sara Dubow in the form of a research paper based on my observations of contemporary issues like immigration, hate crimes and shifting demographics around my home in Orange County, California. In the time since, I have expanded on these inquiries with Professor Dubow as my faculty mentor and thesis advisor. I am privileged to have enjoyed three years of her patience, persistence, encouragement, and endless curiosity. I am grateful for the countless hours of mentorship and for the trust she places in my work and in me. I am honored to have received the material support of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative and Research Opportunities at Harvard, and the Ruchman Student Fellowship at the Oakley Center for Humanities and Social Sciences. The continued work and advocacy of Molly Magavern has been a central force in the completion of this thesis along with the endless support of Bob Blay Stephanie Parsons, Sheila Thomas, Krista Birch, Gage McWeeny, and the Ruchman Family. The ideas that fill these pages were shaped by the scholarship of Professors like Lisa McGirr, who served as an early reader and advisor and whose feedback and guidance are invaluable to me. My sincere thanks to the many faculty who shaped my thinking; Professors Merida Rúa, Annie Valk, Jaqueline Hidalgo, Carmen Whalen, Roger Kittleson, Karen Merrill, and finally Ondine Chavoya, for taking me on as a research assistant after my first year. To the people and places of the Davis Center; Shawna Patterson-Stephens, Cecilia Del Cid, Angela Wu, and Tatianna McInnis—all women of color whose work is not only undervalued but underpaid. Thank you for working to make space for community and life. To 1 Rice House, Jenness, and Hardy House—spaces that held witness to more late nights than I care to admit, thank you for giving me shelter from the cold. I am humbled and indebted to the generations of scholars, activists, and academic exiles who fought and continue to fight for the validity and support of scholarship rooted in the lived experiences of communities of color and those from minoritized identities. To CARE Now and to my academic ancestors in ethnic studies who fight for the respect and dignity of Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, Queer and Trans faculty, students, and staff today—I honor you here. My Family—given and chosen—surrounded me with constant laughter, love, and light throughout this process. To the bold, brash, and beautiful Olaide Adejobi, Marianna Rodriguez, Cecilia Pou Jové, Moisés Roman Mendoza, Wintana Yohannes, Leo Martinez, Ryan Buggy, Katrina Martinez, Abbi Sanchez, and Edgar Vega. To my friends from home, Felicia Lozoya, Camille Orilla, Thu Doan. To my teachers Katherine Lo, Paul Chylinsky, and Kyle Walker whose service to the students of Loara High School can never be understated. And to those who followed my process on twitter, thank you for demanding the best of me. To my mother, Nora Irma Ayala, thank you for embodying the outspoken, loud, and beautiful resilience that runs through our veins. To my father, Juan Miguel Peña, who radicalized me at the age of four with stories of his home in El Salvador and for embodying the teachings of justice, respect, and good in everything you do. To my brother Vicente Easrnesto Lopez, I carry you in my heart in everything I do, I do not forget you or where we come from. To my sister, Cecilia Andrea Peña, who’s sharp mind, biting critiques, and absurd humor has been a guiding and grounding force throughout my time in the mountains. To the sweetest orange of all, Naranja. Finally, to the people and spaces at the center of this story, my neighbors, friends, teachers, and community leaders who continue to make a home for us—los amo y seguimos luchando. 2 Preface The words that fill the following pages are informed by and grounded in my own upbringing in Orange County, California. Growing up, Little Saigon and La Cuatro were constants in my life. For my family, weekend visits to El Carbonero on Fourth Street was a way to connect my sister, brother and I to the tastes of my parents’ home-country and to a community of Salvadoran refugees who similarly found themselves in motion. My classmates, friends, and teachers represented the multiethnic communities which house their own histories of displacement and space making. To me, Little Saigon and La Cuatro were spaces for immigrant families to seek out the comforts and communities