Oct. 26, 2022 - Historian James Zarsadiaz will discuss the impact of the growing number of Asian Americans in East San Gabriel Valley at the turn of the 21st century in an online lecture on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Zarsadiaz, associate professor of history at the University of San Francisco, will present “What’s `Allowed’ in the Suburbs? Asian Immigrant Settlement in the East San Gabriel Valley, 1980s-2010s” from noon to 1 p.m.
His first book, “Resisting Change in Suburbia: Asian Immigrants and Frontier Nostalgia in L.A.,” was published this month. In it, the award-winning historian explains how myths of suburbia, the American West and the American Dream informed regional planning, suburban design, and ideas about race and belonging.
Asian Americans moved toward becoming a racial majority in the East San Gabriel Valley, and, by the late 1990s, their "model minority" status resulted in greater influence in local culture, politics, and policies regarding the use of suburban space. In the "country-living" subdivisions, white homeowners encouraged assimilation and enacted policies suppressing unwanted "changes" — that is, increased density and influence of Asian culture.
To RSVP for the Filipino American History Month Lecture presented by Broome Library, go to the registration page. For more information, contact Colleen Harris at colleen.harris@csuci.edu or 805-437-3140.