Around 1960 near USC in Los Angeles

What is strange to me about telling this story is that likely my cousin 5 years older than me attended USC on scholarship starting in Fall 1960. This likely is the summer before he attended USC on a scholarship.

My Father was an electrical Contractor and I was learning the trade as his son at age 12. So, he was training me as to what to bring him from the Truck which was an electrical utility truck with a body built with many bins for the storage of various electrical components for wiring a house or business anywhere in the Los Angeles area based on local electrical codes.

So, my father was rewiring a Catholic Nunnery next to USC at the time. But, this was also a black residental area across a busy street next to us. I noticed rocks hitting the sides and windows of the utility truck where I was gathering parts to give to my father as he had directed me too. When I saw a rock hit the back window of the truck cab I went into my father and told him people were throwing rocks at me and the truck and asked him what I should do?

He said, "We don't want a riot with police coming and people being shot here. So, you just gather the parts for me and we will finish this job and hopefully they won't hit you or the truck window and break it with the rocks, okay?"

I did as he said and I dodged the rocks and was hit by a few but not on my head or face so it wasn't that bad because the rocks were not very big because they couldn't throw big rocks that far.

Eventually we left after the job was completed with many pits in the rear window of the truck and utility body and a few red marks on my back and legs where I had been hit with rocks.

I never threw a rock back at them because my father told me not to. Now I fully understand why my father was saving lives. Because he knew if he called the cops likely there would have been a riot and people could have died in that situation.

This is jus how different things were then compared to now.

Police then either NEVER went into Black neighborhoods at all or even if they did they would go in with 10 cars often with guns blazing. This is how it actually was then.

Which is a far cry from what things are like now in Los Angeles.