Watts Revisited. Forty Years Later, Dreams Deferred ©

"Forty years later, the schools in this part of town are among the lowest achieving anywhere in the city. Forty years later, the unemployment rate is the highest of anywhere in the city.” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

August 11, 2005 was the anniversary of the infamous Watts riots. There were celebrations, an acknowledgment that time had passed. Yet, for most living in this area, time has stood still. There was little or nothing to celebrate. Life in the neighborhood is virtually the same. For those living in this Los Angeles community, some forty years have gone by and little has changed.

The Watts area, a section of South Central Los Angeles, is still symbolic of life in the “slums” of America. Poverty leads to greater poverty.

Conditions today are as they were in August 1965, horrendous. Then, more than half the residents were unemployed. One quarter of the households were receiving welfare. In 2005, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa suggests circumstances are similar.