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1920s Ad For Eagle Rock Promises 'All White' Residents
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(via Michael Kohlhaas, Reddit)
In 1923, Eagle Rock became a part of Los Angeles, and it was quickly developed and marketed to the masses. In an ad that will make your palm hit your face, the Greater Eagle Rock Club promoted the neighborhood as one that was home to "the white or caucasian race," exclusively. The ad showed up in papers like The Sentinel, which a decade later noted that as a result "a real boom was started for Eagle Rock." Here's the text:
Eagle Rock has had a steady and natural growth without exploitation—and thus presents a firm foundation for a very remarkable development during the next few years. EVERYONE is talking Eagle Rock — because: The advantageous location of Eagle Rock is unexcelled! Eagle Rock is a corporate part of the great city of Los Angeles! Our hills and dales provide the most favored of 'view' homesites! Favorable restrictions help create a community of beautiful homes! The residents of Eagle Rock are all of the White or Caucasian race!
Over time, of course, Eagle Rock has seen many ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and has been considered "highly diverse"—recently, the population breakdown was: Latino (40%), followed by White (29%), Asian (23.9%), and Black (1.9%). In more recent years, the area—which is next to the now-hip Highland Park—has become more gentrified and populated with young professionals and creatives.
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Hollywood, 1925. (Getty)
This Eagle Rock ad is just one in a history of racist ads promoting areas protected from "metropolitan development." In a 1924 ad for Hollywoodland, residents of L.A. are urged to "protect your family by procuring a home place in the Hills of Hollywoodland—secured by fixed and natural restrictions against the inroads of metropolitanism."
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