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47 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.4 stars, three books in one, January 28, 2004
This interesting work on San Diego, one of the few Republican cities in the United States, basically consists of three works in one, of varying quality. The third consists of a series of accounts of people from the other San Diego, overseen and edited by Kelly Mayhew. We here from a founder of CORE, a teacher at San Diego college, a Vietnamese refugee who has now become a peace activist, some environmental activists and trade unionists, as well as several surfers who are trying to stop environmental degradation. These accounts are interesting, but they're not footnoted and they show only parts of the picture of San Diego without revealing the whole. The second book consists of an account by Jim Miller that demonstrates the conservative elite's contempt for free speech. The value of this section depends on what you already know about California history. If you have read "City of Quartz" and other works by Mike Davis, you will not learn much. If you haven't, you will learn about how vigilantes supported by the city elite used strong-arm measures to keep the IWW off the streets of San Diego. The "respectable" conservative press smirked at beatings, tortures, sexual assaults, while calling for lynch law. You will also learn how powerful farmers used fascist methods in the thirties to keep Mexican immigrants in line. This included using actual fascists of the KKK and the Silvershirts while assaulting the Communists who tried to help and threatening their lawyers. We also learn of the city campaign against Herbert Marcuse, easily the most distinguished teacher the University of California at San Diego ever had, and the University administration's mealy-mouthed failure to assist him. (They decided to rehire him, then instituted a mandatory retirement policy that only applied to him). We also learn of threats against the small anti-Vietnam movement and the small alternate press, as well as the city's racist past. It is the first book, by Mike Davis, which is the most valuable as it gives a history of the San Diego ruling class. Like California Republicans in general, the San Diego elite is fiercely anti-Liberal and anti-Democratic, even though San Diego's prosperity depends on copious government spending (the military). Also not unlike Republicans elsewhere, the San Diego elite affects a high moral tone, even though they are also the main supporters of Tijuana's free spirited economy and the beneficiaries of the investments of Hoffa's Teamsters and the Midwest mob. There is also a steady stream of corruption in San Diego's history, from the unscrupulous transactions of John D. Spreckels in the beginning decades of the last century, to the elaborate ponzi schemes of C. Arnholt Smith in the sixties and seventies. One mayor in the eighties had to resign because of massive campaign fraud. Another mayor in the seventies barely escaped conviction. Powerful friends assisted them in many ways. Nixon probably assured one mayor's acquittal by preventing a key witness from testifying. A Nixon appointed judge fined Smith $30,000, to be paid over 25 years with no interest, for a bank collapse that had cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation more than all the other bank failures up to that time since 1933. Davis notes how the San Diego elite wines and dines the military brass, while the army rank and file has to struggle to get decent jobs and affordable housing. (The military subculture also encourages a docile and uncritical population, though Davis could have expanded this point more). Davis also notes the selfish, short-sighted city planning, designed to benefit various real estate lobbies. The result has been beautiful land marred by freeways and "concrete commercial sprawl," with residential areas built with no schools or libraries and until relatively lately no supermarkets. We also learn of the false dawn around Pete Wilson, who appeared to offer an environmentally friendly form of "clean" government, but who instead engaged in cosmetic reforms, encouraged converting rental apartments to condominiums and sold city land at below-market prices, regardless of possible conflicts of interests. Although the City elite has changed over the years, the essentially conservative regime and one-party press still continue, with special favours to San Diego's greedy sports teams being the hallmark of the nineties.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indespensible San Diego History, October 17, 2003
By A Customer
This is an excellent, in-depth San Diego history. Davis, Miller, and Mayhew offer well-researched, hard-hitting indictments of this city's dark past, yet at the same time inspire hope in readers and San Diego citizens in their recognition of dedicated activists, and regular folks. Having lived in the city since 1989 and having been frustrated at not finding any history but "sunny" vacation-land tales, I was intrigued with these perspectives--labor, racial politics, the shady manipulation of land development.
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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent work on a rarely looked at topic, April 2, 2005
I have lived in San Diego for many years, and as of this moment one of the authors (Kelly Mayhew) is my professor at San Diego City College. So I write this not only to address the topic but one of the three authors.
San Diego is an incredible city, but the history gets lost. When we go to the harbor, how many people know these things: (a) That Chinese labor was one of the most important ingredients to creating our lovely city, and yet the only major indication of that is "China Camp" next to Denny's on Harbor Drive? (b) Seaport Village is a joke; created to whitewash our city and pretend that our harbor's roots don't rest in Portuguese and Chinese immigrants. (c) The harbor itself went up to what is now Front St, and a plaque on the sidewalk discusses this very thing. (d) Broadway, before known as D street, as it is wedged between C & E, was changed because the mayor bought a house on D, and thought that having his own address on "Broadway" instead of "D" sounded more elegant.
I wont even get into all of the other elements of this book, and the amazing things that I learned from it. It has not only helped me to see the history of San Diego, but also to truly understand its present and future. I can assure you that if you read this book, you can really appreciate the fact that things haven't changed very much. The motivation and model that San Diego's boosters have designed over one hundred years ago is still alive and kicking today.
Kelly Mayhew is an extremely knowledgeable and competent author. It is true that this book is rather biased, but the foreword says so right to that point. Furthermore, anyone with an even cursory understanding of journalism knows that objectivity is not attainable, and you're left with two options. One, is pretending that you are being objectionable and completely free of bias, and telling your audience to believe you because you're somehow the pinnacle of equity. Or, you can announce your bias right off the bat, letting the reader know where you're coming from, and be honest about your intentions. Mayhew et all have chosen that path, and I applaud them for it.
One other aspect of this book that I found very refreshing is that it is written by three authors, all of which "took a stab" at nearly the whole subject of San Diego history. True, they focused on different events and from different lenses, but the outlines are roughly the same. This allows you to get three slightly different versions (all three are easily in the realm of "left leaning"), but more importantly three different writing styles. The first author, to me, was quite informative, but a bit like reading stereo instructions; not that engaging. The other two authors (including Kelly Mayhew) were much more engaging for me, and I felt like I had three books in one sometimes.
In short, this is an excellent book. The authors do not attempt to hide their positions when discussing topics. Again, having lived in San Diego for well over a decade now, this book is far and away the single greatest source of history for my town that I have discovered.
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