Introduction - Public Facing History Project

The history of Oaxacan culture in Los Angeles is an example of the impact that Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and Indigenous people have had in the United States. For so long, Mexican culture has been suppressed and rejected, unless it fit the American ideal (which it usually did not). In “Citizens of the Past?: Olvera Street and the Construction of Race and History in 1930s Los Angeles” by Phoebe Kropp, we see how Mexican culture was perceived and romanticized by Anglos. Despite the control that Anglos had over this space, Mexicans-Americans eventually reclaimed the space by developing their businesses and using Olvera Street as a social and political space. 

Looking at Oaxacan restaurants, markets and other shops in Los Angeles, they are a representation of the impact Mexican, Mexican-Americans and Indigenous culture has had in the United States. While not located in a single space (Oaxacan spaces are quite spread out), the creation of restaurants, markets, and shops demonstrates not only the strong presence of Mexican and Indigenous culture in a society that has rejected this for so long, but also the cultural and economical value that immigrants add to the country. This further connects to the themes we’ve learned through AMST as these Oaxacan spaces in Los Angeles are also a representation of indigenous culture and history, as many of these establishments were created by Indigenous Oaxacans. Indigenous culture is too often erased from the narrative of Mexican-American history.