In Los Angeles, Politics Are More Complex Than a Racist Recording Indicates

Once synonymous with Black culture, South Los Angeles has undergone a dramatic demographic shift.

There is Catholic Mass in Spanish at the theater where Duke Ellington once headlined. In the halls of Thomas Jefferson High School, whose famous Black alumni include Alvin Ailey and Dexter Gordon, roughly nine in 10 students are Hispanic. On historic Central Avenue, ranchera music blares from the grocery stores.

But in the city’s Ninth District, which encompasses the stretch of Los Angeles once known as South Central, one element hasn’t changed: Voters have chosen Black candidates...