Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes a final visit to San Diego in 1964 that Seth Mallios finds particularly fascinating in his work as an archaeologist, anthropologist, and historian. King arrives at Lindbergh Field with plans to speak at San Diego State to speak against a ballot proposition that would overturn the Fair Housing Act, and King himself is being protested against and labeled a communist. He responds by saying it’s time for folks to pick a side.
“This is not the tone that you often hear from Dr. King, in terms of peace and nonviolence and everybody coming to their own decision in due time. He’s given people a sense of urgency. This is the San Diego Dr. King arrives in, that was known as the ‘Mississippi of the West,’” says Mallios, a professor of anthropology and university history curator at San Diego State University. “It was a place where African Americans were turned down for loans from banks, they didn’t live outside of three segregated neighborhoods, they were forbidden from working in places like SDG&E and Woolworth’s, and many couldn’t even try on clothes in department stores.”
Mallios, who wrote “Born a Slave, Died a Pioneer: Nathan Harrison and the Historical Archaeology of Legend” and led the archaeology project on San Diego’s first Black homesteader, will discuss his research on “Historical Racism in San Diego County” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Fallbrook Library. It’s a history of Confederate sympathy and support, racist policies and legislation, and settlement patterns that can still be seen and felt today. He took some time to talk about how San Diego earned its comparison to the South and why digging up these uncomfortable histories is part of the solution, rather than the problem. (This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. )
Q: On Tuesday, you’ll speak at the Fallbrook Library to share your findings on “Historical Racism in San Diego County.” When we last spoke in 2021, you were…
Read the full article here
