Empire Strikes Back Analysis

Nicole Hendricks
USP 107
Final IDs
Professor James Ingram

“Empire Strikes Back” Mayors
Source:
Lecture 18
Meaning:
An “Empire Strikes Back” mayor is referring to the white republican mayor that often times comes into office following a minority mayor. In cases such as the “Empire Strikes Back” mayor, the minority mayor has failed to hold forth to the issues that he was intended to solve upon being elected.
The minority mayor was elected in order to improve racial tensions. Yet, the minority mayor must somewhat somewhat “dilute” his stance in order to appeal to multiple ethnicities, rather than just his. Professor Ingram compared the stance of a minority mayor to ethnic food in the United States. Just as the ethnic food has to be made “blander, sweeter, saltier, and less authentic” in order to appeal to everyone, a minority mayor has to not take particularly strong stances in an attempt to appeal to all different races. This is what gives the minority mayors their nickname of “Darth Vader.” They are black on the outside in order to appeal their race, and white on the inside because of his “diluted” policies.
Significance:
The “Darth Vader” mayors are an example of the use of systemic power. Instead of focusing more on those who consume, the mayors are pressured by the system and society to focus on those who produce. This inhibits the minority mayor from addressing the issues that he was initially elected to solve.

Bastards of the Party
Source:
Lecture 17 and 18 film
Meaning:
This film, directed by former gang- member Cle Sloan, shows how racism between whites and blacks during the civil rights movement played a significant role in the formation of many Los Angeles gangs that we would see today. T...

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... difficult to assemble and even more difficult to retain. In order for an inter-ethnic coalition to remain successful, they need to appeal to multiple intra-ethnic coalitions, including their own.
Significance:
In order for a politician to make his way up the ranks, he usually needs to build a strong intra-ethnic coalition followed by inter-ethnic support. This can be a difficult task because the the politician has to please everyone, which makes him seem “bland” to his original supporters.

Pension Crisis
Source:
Lectures 13 & 14 and Chapter 3 of Paradise Plundered
Meaning:
San Diego has an unfunded pension liability of $2.1 billion. There was the choice of either cutting public goods and services or raises taxes in order to pay for them. There are three events that played a significant role in the pension crisis. The first of these being Proposition 98.