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Los Angeles has emerged from a small pueblo in the Spanish colonial backwater to become one of the most recognizable and populous cities in the United States. Los Angeles is an idea, the butt of many jokes, and a topic of serious academic inquiry. Historians have studied Los Angeles for over a century. In terms of historical scholarship, Los Angeles sits at an interesting spot. It's history can be explored from Indigenous, Spanish, and American points of view, it can be on a colonial or modern reading list, regionally it is the Spanish north, American West, and Pacific Rim. When looking at race relations in Los Angeles, we see a diversity that is characteristic of the American west, and contrary to the racial dichotomy in the American South.