Latinx Files: Redlining is for the birds

One of my favorite simple pleasures is to take a stroll through Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights.

It’s by no means the prettiest public space in Los Angeles, or the best-maintained, for that matter. Yet there’s something about walking the roughly quarter-mile concrete loop around the park’s artificial lake that brings me inner peace. It’s seeing the families crowded around the elotera, hearing the clanking of boards from teens trying out new tricks in the skate plaza.

And of course, there are the birds that have claimed the man-made body of water (and the rest of the park, really) as their home.

Thanks to a friend who works at the Audubon Society and graciously responds to my “what kind of bird is this?” text messages (hey Nico!), I’ve learned that these include mottled ducks, Egyptian geese and snowy egrets. I’ve often wondered why they chose to live next to the 5 Freeway’s toxic fumes.

I was reminded of these birds while reading my colleague Dorany Pineda’s latest story about a new study that answers the “why do they live here?” question about a different group of birds in the same neighborhood.

According to the study, historically redlined nonwhite communities have less bird biodiversity than whiter, richer areas. Places like Boyle Heights have less tree canopy and as a result, attract more birds that adapt easier to urban life. In contrast, the landscapes of neighborhoods like San Marino and Pasadena attract birds like yellow-rumped warblers and acorn woodpeckers.

In other words, redlining didn’t just segregate people, it segregated the birds too.

“The legacy of our discriminatory practices is still written into the city itself,” said Travis Longcore, an adjunct professor with the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and one of the co-authors of the research paper. “Even though those practices explicitly are outlawed, this city is an accretion of its history, and it doesn’t just go away because time has passed.”

The researchers used the redlining maps from the Home Owners’ Loan Corp. — the Depression-era government program that largely benefited white homeowners struggling to keep their homes. They conducted bird surveys between 2016 and 2018 across various communities in L.A. and found that “patterns of income inequality, both past and present ... carry over to influence urban biodiversity.”

Although redlining is a thing of the past, Pineda’s story is another stark reminder that its racist legacy is still very much alive. The factors that led to house sparrows, common pigeons and ravens thriving in Boyle Heights are the same that contribute to nonwhite neighborhoods like it being more susceptible to extreme heat.

You can read Pineda’s full report here, which is part of The Times’ new “Climate California” initiative.

(Jackie Rivera / For The Times; Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times)

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From De Los

Becky G brings her full self to a sold-out hometown show: Becky G celebrated her first headlining tour by embracing everything she is, and it speaks to her “200 percenter” fans.

His shows are chaotic good. Get ready to feed off That Mexican OT’s energy: It’s been a busy year for That Mexican OT. The Tejano rapper’s track “Johnny Dang” has been on the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks since going viral.

Bad Bunny judged a ‘Shark Tank’-style competition for Latino businesses. Here’s what happened: Bad Bunny touched down in Cleveland this week for the Forbes Under 30 Summit, where he played the top judge of his own “Shark Tank”-inspired competition. Column by Suzy Exposito.

How a James Bond film made Día de Muertos absurd, in a fun way: The Día de Muertos parade is a sumptuous, extravagant delight. It might surprise some to hear that the parade stemmed from a single scene in a James Bond movie in 2015. Column by regular contributor JP Brammer.

From the rest of The Times

Nury, Kevin and Gil turn to the most weak salsa excuse of all for their racist remarks: In his latest column, Gustavo Arellano calls out Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo over their attempts to use their Latinidad in their efforts to rehabilitate their images a year after the racist leaked audio that rocked City Hall.

Edward James Olmos is teaching young Latinos how to succeed in Hollywood — and life: The revered actor-director got an Oscar nomination for playing an East L.A. schoolteacher. Through the Latino Film Institute he’s fulfilling that role in real life by letting young people of color tell their stories on film.

Tribal leaders and researchers have mapped the ancient ‘lost suburbs’ of Los Angeles: The “Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History” project seeks to illustrate major Los Angeles-area Indigenous settlements.

In the land of wine bars and super-rich, street art reminds Santa Barbara of its Latino roots: A historian in Santa Barbara conducts tours to show that Latinos, who make up more than a third of the city’s population, are central to its existence.

Elsewhere

Police put an activist’s family in handcuffs after he advocated for street vendors [From L.A. Public Press]

Joan Baez documentary delves into the legendary singer’s life — and the role of her Mexican heritage [NBC News]