Walter Mosley and James Ellroy: 1950’s Racism on Each Side of the Track

Hands down, I am a fan of James Ellroy’s chaotic, frenzied fiction. It is at times ridiculously over the top and gratuitous in terms of action (read hyper-violent), use of language, plot and overall story telling. Often his stories take place in a less than golden 1950s Los Angeles and usually the protagonists are officers of the LAPD. Nobody on the force wears a white hat. Though villains possess unadulterated evil, the heroes and their cohorts all sport varying shades of gray that fluctuates throughout a novel. A common characteristic is that the police use (and misuse) their power to coerce confessions from those they deem guilty or vulnerable. With the possession of a badge, many of Ellroy’s cops feel invulnerable to the world outside of superior officers and a few Hollywood socialites and politicos. Above all they have contempt for minorities, frequently throwing out racists epitaphs and coming down hard on any they may cross.

Walter Mosley, writer of the Easy Rawlins series (as well as Socrates Fellows and Paris Minton), looks at the African American hard boiled detective trying to navigate his way through Los Angeles. Cops are feared by the black community. To come forward with information on crime, Easy or Paris (both living in 1950s South Central) could find themselves easily sitting in jail beaten and bloody. For them, it is in their best interest to avoid the law and take matters into their own hands.

Mosley and Ellroy back each other up from different perspectives on the brutal and racist police culture of the 1950s. I should also note that both authors have occasionally created a respectful law officer or two as well, adding layers of gray to their novels. As for Los Angeles, the city is enormous covering around 470 square miles and in 1950 LA contained almost 2 million residents with many diverse backgrounds. Currently there are 9,600 LAPD officers and I can only assume that there were far less in the 1950s. Were officers acting out, fearful at feeling outnumbered and overstretched? Possibly, but that would be one of many issues including power, ignorance of others, unchecked aggression, an overall group think culture, etc., but this would be another blog.

I think that LAPD has come along way from the heavy-fisted fifties even before the Rodney King incident and definitely afterwards. Integration, community outreach, staff psychologists and other programs have helped. I highly recommend Miles Corwin’s “The Killing Season.” It is a non-fiction account of homicide detectives in South Central during the mid-nineties. The department is understaffed, underfunded, and the work hours are unending. Mr. Corwin also takes time to look at the effects of crime of the families of victims.