City of Inmates

Exploring archives can reveal surprising and even shocking information. In researching the history of black L.A., one historian discovered that the first population to be targeted for criminalization and policing was actually the local indigenous population in the 1850s-70s. They were locked up and forced to work on public chain gangs or sold to local employers. The origins of mass incarceration in L.A. lie in the policing of native peoples for public order charges.