Bloggind Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9

A response to Catherine Formusa's Week 8 - Baldwin Hills , "The Heart of Black L.A." post

Hi Catherine

I like the layout of your post as well as the content of it. It is one of the few posts that make you think about the location (Baldwin Hills). I have never been there but with the information you provided with all the pictures makes me feel more comfortable talking about it. I like the way you used multiple concepts from the lecture. Regarding the L.A times article I think it is common to vote for representatives that are somehow connected to your own culture. I guess it is part of the collective consciousness that people have. If you vote for the same person it makes you feel like you are doing something with all the people who share your culture (not individually). Even if you don’t agree with the candidate’s political views African Americans will vote for an African American representative, Armenians will vote for an Armenian representative, Mexicans will vote for Mexican representatives and so on. From my own experience it feels natural to do so, like a duty you own to support the person that has the same culture or floating signifier as the one you and your family have.

“I actually found myself wondering why there were only black people living there.”

I think I found the partial answer to that in the chapter 19 “The continuing causes of segregation” by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton. Even if the people who live there can find a better place that they can afford, they won’t do so because they have found a place where they belong (they are the dominant group if anything they could be the ones to discriminate others). “Discrimination against blacks is widespread and continues at very high levels in urban housing markets” (pg.180). Based on the pictures you have provided it looks like a relatively nice neighborhood so it’s a perfect way to avoid the prejudice if almost all of your neighbors are just like you. In a way it might be a forces isolation of blacks but hopefully, like the article has mentioned, the black president will solve that problem. I did some research and it turned out that Baldwin Hills was given nicknames such as the "Golden Ghetto" and the "Black Beverly Hills". Most of the segregation problems are centered on ghettos but since Baldwin Hills is “golden” and compared to Beverly Hills then maybe there is no problem to solve there.

Thank you for your lovely post. I enjoyed reading and responding to it.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 8

        Simplymap

 Since this last two weeks the lectures were focused on race and class differences i chose the variable form my simplymap to be the percentage of black population in  Los Angeles Metropolitan region to try to find any noticeable segregation of black Americans.

The light pink are would be the most segregated aria and the darker the less segregated it is. In the "Continuing Causes of Segregation" by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton , it was stressed that even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing act of 1968  prejudice and discrimination against blacks continued to this day. It is said that some "real estate agents continue to practice surreptitious but widespread discrimination."  Based on this map you cant make any assumptions as to why there are less black people living in the light pink area. One of the reasons may be because they don't want to live there, not because of racial discrimination or the fact that they lack the financials means to live there. Burbank and Glendale are portrayed in red and I know that there is little or no discrimination at all toward blacks. I think that because L.A. is so diverse in cultures and races that the discrimination and prejudice towards black Americans is low only because there are other minorities to discriminate against. In the South region of America the discrimination level is still high because there aren't many newcomers/immigrants that will bring new cultures with them. Not much has changed since the early 1900's in terms of population in the South. 

There is a strong link between levels of prejudice and discrimination and the degree of segregation and spatial isolation that blacks experience. Since L.A. is not a city that has a high discrimination level the segregation is also not high or that easily notable. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7

                                                                 Van Nuys to Burbank

     Race is a floating signifier as Stuart Hall points out. If race is a story that people tell each other then there is bound to be some conflict. Sometimes the boundaries of one race's story is not distinguishable from the others. Since race is historical it is hard to determine to which race did the story belong to especially if it is a some symbol from the BC. Some races battle over those cultural symbols or get into arguments when the meaning behind them is not clear. In the L.A. times article "Program Seeks to Reduce Latino-Armenian Tensions at School" by HILARY E. MacGREGOR , the racial tension is being analyzed in Grant High school.

      I did my second blog post on Los Angeles Valley College which is next to Grant High school. The article points out a couple of reasons which lead to a conflict that is still not solved( the article was published in 2000).

"One district official speculated that tension between the Latino and Armenian students may have originated from disputes over relief efforts in the mid-1980s after earthquakes in Mexico and Armenia. At the time, students from each ethnic group claimed that the other received more empathy and relief". I don't know how true that is but I know that now it is not one of the issues that leads to fights between the students.

       I think the fights break out when one of the racial groups points out the other's painful historical floating signifier. In the article it points out  the issues  addressed to help bring peace which are also the weaknesses of each race in my opinion. "students talk about the early decades of this century, when 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which is now Turkey, were killed. The Turkish government denies that the Armenian genocide ever happened.Then students talk of the history of immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America." If the weakness is well known it is easy to start a fight by stating a particular historical fact in an offensive way.People will go to great extents to keep their cultural symbols, stories,identity. Sometimes the conflict is unavoidable but most of the time there is a way to sidestep it.

            Most Armenian parents want to avoid the fights and send their kids to Burbank High School where the Armenian students "can stay with their own group" and not get into conflict with other ethnic groups. It is not only about the conflict but the need to protect the cultural values which is a  rather hard to do in the " the melting pot" known as Los Angeles.   Burbank is a really safe city. It is worth driving the kids every school day to Burbank because the parents don't have to worry about the kids accidentally getting in the middle of a fight. It is also possible to take a bus there. I took the 154 bus on Thursday at around 1:04pm from Van Nuys( Oxnard Strret). It took me about 50 minutes to get to the First Street bus stop next to the mall. The inside of the bus was cleaner and safer then I imagined it would be. The people were mostly middle aged , some seniors, some college kids( I saw them board from the Fulton stop next to LAVC), a young mother with a cute kid with a bow on her head. The  Burbank High School is a walking distance away from the Burbank Town Center( mall) on Magnolia  Boulevard.  The weather was nice so it was a quite enjoyable walk from the mall to the BHS and along the N. 3rd street and the N San Fernando Boulevard. It is always clean, well lit and full of people, not only because of the mall and the restaurants, but also because of the  three AMC theaters  located a safe walking distance from each other.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 6

Otis College of Art and Design

        One place I have never visited before is the Otis College of Art and Design. I have wanted to visit it since last year when my best friend transferred there. We could not match our schedules but since it is a part of my project I tagged along with her to her Saturday class.  Otis is full of creativity.  By looking at the shape of the buildings you can take a guess on what is going on inside of them. I did not see many students around because it was Saturday but from what I heard, all the students are different but friendly. You can’t find two people with the same clothes or the same hairdo/color. Some background information and the history of the Otis College can be found on their very artistic website. The main building is divided into seven floors according to all the different departments and majors the college offers.  I did not go to all of them I mostly explored the graphic design floor with my friend because graphic design and animation is her major.  The hallways are decorated with the works of the students, so even if you don’t go into any actual classroom you can see some magnificent pieces of artwork.  I guess one way to see the difference in the society is to look at the works of the multicultural artists. I liked almost everything there with the exception of the artworks that were too abstract for me understand the meaning behind it. The outside of the buildings is also decorated with different graffiti designs. Here are some pictures of the inside and the outside of the main college building.  

                                                                                                                                                    

 Los Angeles is one of the most researched 4 ^th urban revolution city. One of the characteristics of the 4^th urban revolution: Post metropolis is the Post Fordism.” Post Fordism is essentially the rapid movement of capital, the increased mobility of the capital, short term contingent labor, outsourcing, increased socio-special specialization”(Wilford Lect.2 slide 31).  To make more profit the work is shifted to places that offer cheaper labor and tax breaks. In the video it points out that creativity can’t be outsourced, that innovation stays onshore. The entertainment business is a big part of Los Angeles and the Otis College’s graduate’s creativity does not outsource to a cheaper place but mostly stays in the Los Angeles region.

Otis College of Art and Design Prepares Creative Professionals to Enrich our World

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 5

Sherman Oaks Galleria

       This week I have decided to explore the  City of Sherman Oaks. One of the most visited places in Sherman Oaks is the Sherman Oaks Galleria. It is located on the corner of Sepulveda and Ventura Blvd. It is so a great place to spend your day because you can get everything on your agenda for the day done. You can start by having breakfast at one of the many restaurants they have , then make a deposit at a near by bank, work out at the gym, have some lunch , shop for a while then watch a movie at the Arclight cinema and afterwords have a cocktail or two at the bar inside the cinema complex. The galleria is always full of life especially during the weekends. I think one of the social facts that brings all these diverse people together in our society is the Friday night movie tradition. I agree with Emile Durkhiem we need some participation in collective culture. It is a way to tie us together because individuals do not exist in isolation and we need some way to connect with the society we live in.

            Sherman Oaks Galleria has Arclight cinema on the fourth floor. So by the time you reach the fourth floor you have already visited the bank, ate, shopped and gone to the gym. It is really popular in so the tickets are almost always bought in advance online. The membership offers a lot of benefits like a cost reduction on the tickets or exclusive deals to see some movies like the Harry Potter(1-7),  The Batman or The Twilight Saga(1-4). They have a full day showing of the movies one after the other each time the final movie is out. There are many reasons why Arclight is one of the best cinema houses in L.A.. Here are the reason they have listed on their website.

 Here are some pictures I took to help get the feel of the typical Friday night at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.