California Has Been in Upheaval for Centuries

New Sundance documentary sheds light on the Golden State's colonial history.

The Silicon Valley tech boom is behind a massive population upheaval in Northern California that has been going on for decades. Gentrification, soaring real estate costs and changes in workforce patterns are reshaping the demographics of that region—in many cases for the worse, punishing people of color and poor people. This pattern is sadly typical of California's history.
"California's complicated history is an endless story of displacement and change," Jenni Olson, director of the new documentary The Royal Road told AlterNet. "In the film I offer a few thoughts about this. I also recognize my own culpability in this gentrification."

http://www.alternet.org/documentaries/when-war-mexico-catalyzed-gentrification-california-nearly-200-years-ago