Southern California

On April 29, 1992, nearly 20 years ago, an all-white jury acquitted four white Los Angeles police officers in the case of Rodney King, a black motorist who suffered severe injuries after a brutal beating from the LAPD. South Los Angeles promptly exploded into riots that lasted six days, leaving more than 50 people dead, […]

Latino and Hispanic: they’re terms that a lot of Americans are asked to choose between when identifying themselves on the census, in official paperwork, and in everyday conversation. But according to a new poll by the Pew Hispanic Center, most adults of Latin American descent prefer not to use either. Instead, the respondents said they […]

Today’s political candidates are increasingly savvy in their attempts to targeting Spanish-speaking voters. But as attempts to court Latino voters have become increasingly commonplace, so have cultural blunders. A noteworthy example from a past election: When Gerald Ford was running in 1976, he bit into a tamale at a campaign stop without first removing the […]

There’s a pier in San Diego where sea lions gathered which was thought a nuisance by the locals. But that attitude turned around when tourists also began to gather there to see the sea mammals up close. From San Diego, Jo Ann Mar visits southern California’s latest tourist attraction.