Saturday:

A news report on National Public Radio today noted that by next year, Hispanics would be displacing non-Hispanic whites as the largest ethnic group in California, the most populous state in the United States. A SF Gate article highlights the diversity of California: minorities already constitute the majority of the state’s population.

Visiting friends and family in Los Angeles this week, the diversity was clearly evident. During my late morning walk around an inner city neighborhood today, there were a number of people coming and going from the local conservative synagogue. I heard some of the men disputing on the sidewalk in a language that I did not recognize (not Hebrew). One block down the street I passed the local Coptic Orthodox Church (with a sign in Arabic by the door) and then, a few meters further, the Guru Ram Das Ashram. In the corner park, a group of Hispanic men sat on benches sipping coffee and discussing something engaging, as a group of young African-Americans played a pick-up game of basketball on the court behind them. In the distance, there were signs with Korean and Chinese characters for several Asian businesses. Billboards with images of pop star Psy hawked a brand of soju, a distilled beverage from Korea.

What an amazing mix of people and cultures is this California! And LA is a particularly mixed up corner of this great state (so to speak)!

View from the landing of an apartment on an alley in West LA