In less than forty years, the city of Compton has gone from a sheltered suburb on the fringes of Los Angeles to a terrorizing image of American culture. The results of this transformation and the creation of “gangsta rap” are still well known today. Through de jure segregation, Reagan economics, the undermining of black prosperity, the NWA, and “Boyz n the Hood,” the city of Compton told its story and became a global image. This article will analyze the cultural change in Compton and the transcendent cultural effect it formed in America. Thousands of migrants in the 1920s and 1950s viewed Compton, California as the ideal place to settle and the ideal center for industrial workers. This vision did indeed come true for white Americans, although it did not last long. The problem facing the new neighborhood was the impending number of African Americans moving into the area due to the desire to leave the South, the growing population with higher incomes, and the Shelley v. Kramer decision, which effectively abolished racially discriminatory housing restrictions. With the increasing movement of African Americans across social and geographic context, the defense of whites increased. “Keep the Negroes North of 130th Street” was the slogan of Compton’s whites. What began as a real estate scheme to keep blacks out of the area escalated into wild actions after de jure segregation. The implications of Compton were severe, as African Americans were subjected to death threats, vandalism, and other scare tactics. However, some whites were willing to help by selling their homes to African Americans and, over time, so were blacks. A “panic selling” frenzy aimed at selling off whites' homes was in full effect; sell now or lose middle of paper......very surprised to find out what Compton was and I'm sure others would. Works CitedBryan J. McCann, (2014) on Who Owns the Land? Racialized violence and the prerogative of “self-defense” in the Trayvon Martin affair. Western Journal of Communication.Boyz N The Hood: A Colonial Analysis. James Nadell. Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 25, no. 4 (March 1995), pp. 447-464. Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784403 Straight to Compton: American dreams, urban nightmares, and the metamorphosis of a township. Josh Côtes. AmericanQuarterly. Flight. 56, no. 3, Los Angeles and the future of urban cultures (September 2004), pp. 583-605. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40068235 “NWA – Straight Outta Compton.” Rap genius. Np, and Web. April 21. 2014.