The San Diego Urban League

The United States of America was built on the backs of immigrants and racism. The fight for justice and equality persists to this day, but understanding the origin and historical context of our nation’s rooted racist ideals is imperative in moving forward towards equality. Regarding African American history in San Diego, the San Diego Urban League was at the core of fighting for justice and equality. The San Diego Urban League fought for more than those of African American heritage but for Mexican Americans as well. The organization focused on improving education, addressing discriminatory adoption practices, and providing numerous job opportunities to minorities. Starting as an insignificant group, the San Diego Urban League eventually found success by integrating minorities with the majority in the mid-twentieth century.

While there was not a large population of African Americans living in San Diego in the 1940s, there was an increase in population after World War II when African Americans migrated west for militant purposes. With this increase, in 1953, the San Diego Urban League was founded, and “unlike Urban League affiliates in other western cities, the San Diego Urban League offered services not only to African Americans, but also to Latinos”.1 The incorporation of both African Americans and Mexican Americans is imperative to San Diego as it borders Mexico. In fact, Mexican Americans have a history of directed, discriminatory violence paralleling that of African Americans: according to William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb, between the years 1880-1930, for every 100,000 Mexicans, 27.4 were lynched compared to 100,000 African Americans, 37.1 were lynched.2 Segregated schooling was also a major source of discrimination directed towards both African Americans and Mexican Americans. Later within the organization, Percy H. Steele Jr. emerged as a focal figure. Steele became the executive director of the San Diego Urban League and was a driving force to its success. The league aimed to open new doors of opportunity for minorities in San Diego. Its focus was education, employment, housing, and public accommodations.3 The San Diego Urban League started in a difficult state with little to no funding; however, with an absence of the NAACP in San Diego, the Urban League became a focused organization for the community.

One of Steele’s first accomplishments was in 1956 when he introduced a vocational education program. This program was open to children of all races and was successful enough to implement into public schools in San Diego. Steele also placed an emphasis on adoption. This project was a point of praise for Steele as it shined light on African American and Mexican American children up for adoption. “Adoption social workers in the 1950s and ‘60s were operating with procedures that reflected a supply-and-demand situation for white children.”4 The results are unknown regarding the number of African American and Mexican American children adopted, but Steele was able to have a few workshops surrounding the adoption of minorities. Lastly, the San Diego Urban League was most successful in their fight for employment opportunities for minorities. Particularly in San Diego, there was a lack of African American representation in white collar jobs. With the San Diego Urban League’s presence alone, more businesses and schools were willing to hire minorities. To this day, economics remain a focus for the league. As stated by current president and CEO of the Urban League of San Diego County, “We are working to create a better San Diego, person by person…to help more San Diego residents reach their full potential by receiving financial planning, coaching and other wrap-around services they need to get on their feet and get a good job.”5 Also in an interview with Al Abdallah, current Chief Operations Officer at the Urban League of San Diego, he advertised an event called “Financial Fitness.”6 This event was geared towards everyone who needed to workout their financial frustrations or even get some advice. To this day, the San Diego Urban League remains loyal in the fight for equal rights and opportunities for minorities.

While the accomplishments of the San Diego Urban League are important and impressive, it is essential to direct praise to the way in which these triumphs were achieved. Steele made sure that African Americans were not the only minorities addressed in the fight for equality. He placed an emphasis on the relationship between minorities especially between African Americans and Mexican Americans due to their relevance in San Diego and their paralleled history of directed violence. While integrating these two groups, Steele also fought to integrate the minorities with the majority. His aim was to make minorities the new majority but to make everyone the majority. In the vocational education program, Steele directed it towards children of all races, not just minority children. In fighting for employment opportunities, Steele involved both whites and minorities knowing true success involves every race being equal. The importance of the San Diego Urban League can’t be overlooked, and Steele’s legacy now lives on in those currently working within the League.

Although the San Diego Urban League is not well known, to this day, they still hold events for everyone needing assistance or support. While the league is directed towards African Americans, it reaches beyond to help anyone in need specifically regarding housing and employment. Percy Steele Jr. set the standards of fighting for equality in San Diego as exemplified through his promotion of education, equal adoption practices, and equal employment opportunities. San Diego is a diverse community, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t discriminatory practices in action. The San Diego Urban League knew its responsibility in equality to all just as we need to know today. The fight is ongoing, but first we must educate ourselves of our history in order to properly address the issues and discrimination facing those minorities of our country. We must voice the injustices we see in the world and specifically within our community. I believe in looking at the San Diego Urban League, we can find lessons of integration and hope in ending racism and working toward equality.

Percy Steele Jr.

1 Broussard, Albert S. “Percy H. Steele, Jr., and the Urban League: Race Relations and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Post-World War II San Diego.” California History 83, no. 4 (2006): 7-23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161838.

2 Carrigan, William D., and Clive Webb. “The Lynching of Persons of Mexican Origin Or Descent In The United States, 1848 To 1928.” Journal of Social History 37, no. 2 (Winter 2003):411-38. doi:10.1353/jsh.2003.0169.

3 Broussard, “Percy,” 7-23.

4 Spence, Matine T. “Whose Stereotypes and Racial Myths? The National Urban League and the 1950s Roots of Color-Blind Adoption Policy.” Women, Gender, and Families of Color 1, no. 2 (2013): 143-79. doi:10.5406/womgenfamcol.1.2.0143.

5 “Urban League of San Diego County Obtains More than 100K to Provide Financial Counseling in Underserved Areas.” Urban League San Diego County. Last modified February 6, 2018. Accessed May 6, 2019.

6 “Financial fitness with Urban League of San Diego County”. KUSI News. Video File. April 4, 2019. https://www.kusi.com/financial-fitness-with-urban-league-of-san-diego-county/

Works Cited

Broussard, Albert S. “Percy H. Steele, Jr., and the Urban League: Race Relations and the   Struggle for Civil Rights in Post-World War II San Diego.” California History 83, no. 4              (2006): 7-23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161838.

Carrigan, William D., and Clive Webb. “The Lynching of Persons of Mexican Origin Or Descent In The United States, 1848 To 1928.” Journal of Social History 37, no. 2 (Winter 2003): 411-38. doi:10.1353/jsh.2003.0169.

“Financial fitness with Urban League of San Diego County”. KUSI News. Video File. April 4,     2019.https://www.kusi.com/financial-fitness-with-urban-league-of-san-diego-county/

Spence, Matine T. “Whose Stereotypes and Racial Myths? The National Urban League and the 1950s Roots of Color-Blind Adoption Policy.” Women, Gender, and Families of Color 1, no. 2 (2013): 143-79. doi:10.5406/womgenfamcol.1.2.0143.

“Urban League of San Diego County Obtains More than 100K to Provide Financial Counseling in Underserved Areas.” Urban League San Diego County. Last modified February 6, 2018. Accessed May 6, 2019. https://www.sdul.org/single-post/2018/02/06 Urban-League-of-San-Diego-County-Obtains-More-than-100K-to-Provide-Financial-Counseling-in-Underserved-Areas