Is Los Angeles really mostly Hispanics? (law, office, education)

[PittNewbie]

Originally Posted by Jay100

If you don't know what an American is then you are either not really American or are very young or potentially playing dumb. An American (for those who don't know) believes in the following:

1. Capitalism
2. Democracy
3. Christianity (primarily Protestantism)
4. Rule of Law (derived from English Common law)

If you don't live your life to promote all of those things then you are not what I would consider to be an "American" in the traditional sense--you are something else or at least heading in that direction. Obtaining a green card or even being born here doesn't automatically make a person one, in my view.

How backward.

I, for one do not believe in corporate capitalism like we have in the USA nor do I believe in the religious rubbish. And you call this democracy where money corrupts and dictates politics?

I dont need approval from a backward mind to consider myself an American.

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by Jay100

If you don't know what an American is then you are either not really American or are very young or potentially playing dumb. An American (for those who don't know) believes in the following:

1. Capitalism
2. Democracy
3. Christianity (primarily Protestantism)
4. Rule of Law (derived from English Common law)

If you don't live your life to promote all of those things then you are not what I would consider to be an "American" in the traditional sense--you are something else or at least heading in that direction. Obtaining a green card or even being born here doesn't automatically make a person one, in my view.

#1 & #2 are great minus the corruption built into the system.

#3 is a load of crap

#4 is also great, but there are plenty of americans who don't obey the rules

i'm just hoping you were trying to be funny or something.

[Naomi Manischewitz]

Originally Posted by mading6

Wow, yes there are tons of Hispanics, Latins here in Los Angeles.

You can usually tell that the area is mostly hispanic/latin by the amount of garbage, trash, furniture, graffiti, abandoned shopping carts, people walking around pushing carts selling stuff, and Spanish only speaking establishments. Sorry to say this but it is TRUE!

I usually just read these posts, but I have to say, yeah I noticed this too. I have lived in the West Valley most of my life, worked in North Hills and Van Nuys, and went to school at CSULA having to exit City Terrace at times. All those areas were exactly what you described. I am starting to slowly see parts of the West Valley becoming how you described. My neighborhood used to be truly diverse in the sense that we really did have everyone represented and not one group was a large, noticeable majority. I now see everything you see in my own neighborhood. One of the most annoying thing to me is when someone puts their hazards on to park in a narrow street as they wait for someone creating a one lane, one way street. It's very common in urban areas in most of the world though I believe. I just hate how this creates so much traffic!

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by Jay100

If you don't know what an American is then you are either not really American or are very young or potentially playing dumb. An American (for those who don't know) believes in the following:

1. Capitalism
2. Democracy
3. Christianity (primarily Protestantism)
4. Rule of Law (derived from English Common law)

If you don't live your life to promote all of those things then you are not what I would consider to be an "American" in the traditional sense--you are something else or at least heading in that direction. Obtaining a green card or even being born here doesn't automatically make a person one, in my view.

This country was founded on Judeo Christian beliefs. Saying that let me qualify the statement. People left England and Europe to flee religious persecusion. They didn't want others to tell them what church to join or how they should believe. They didn't want to be told the interpretation of God from some king or other government leader. Most came for the opportunity of finding a place that they could worship how they chose to worship. The biggest reason for seperation of Church and State is so that the government would not force a beliefe system on anyone. Let them choose who and what they will believe in was the idea of the day. Not that beliefs were not forced upon a people. If you happen to have been born into specific sects you may be forced into the line of thinking that was being preached by that sect. If you didn't like it you could move on to another community.

Saying that to be an American means being Protestant, then you seem to alienate most of those American citizens within the nation. The Catholics are not protesting because they claim to be the true church and all others broke away from them. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are not protesting because they never broke from the Catholic church and claim to be the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ where the truth was restored to the Earth through Jesus Christ. The Jewish beliefe system is that they are still waiting for the Prophecies to be fullfilled and they don't claim that Jesus was what they were waiting for. All of them are as American as the anchor baby some illegal just had a few moments ago. (Not that I am for crossing the border to create an anchor baby.)

All people are welcome into this nation. Never read anywhere in the Constitution that stated a specific religion, save for freedom of all religion.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by SoCal35

My, my how sensitive we get when someone else makes a stereotypical remark about one's hometown.

I grew up in the SFV and I know people who live in Simi Valley including a good childhood freind who settled in Simi Valley with his wife and kids. He proudly proclaims the label "white trash" but he would never peddle the kind of stereotypical trash you spewed in your original post.

I really have nothing against Simi Valley....it's your attitidue that I found troubling.

No, I get annoyed when someone tries to invalidate another's personal experiences that they have actually witnessed on a daily (and nightly) basis. Perhaps you live in a neighborhood which is far different than the one I currently live in. However, I have given an accurate description of the area where I do live. I have a nice, thick folder containing over 350 incident reports for a period of 14 months. Neighboring buildings also have large files of these reports. Everything I've stated is fact, which can be backed up by the local Senior Lead Officer, tenants from over 10 different buildings, shop owners, local church pastors and visitors to the area. This is BAD area. Pretending it isn't will not make the plethora of serious problems go away.

If we want to get technical, Van Nuys is also my hometown. I was born here in the early 1960's, where my family lived in a house on Balboa, right across from Birmingham High School, where my sister was a student. My parents saw what Van Nuys was becoming even back then and moved the family to Simi in the mid-1960's. But, as teenagers my siblings and I all still hung out in Van Nuys on the weekends. So I am more than aware of what Van Nuys is really like and saw the changes with my own eyes.

White trash? No. Just someone who wants to live in a nicer, cleaner and safer place.

[SoCal35]

I love how you now try to portray yourself as the voice of reason. Again, your original post was quite disparaging towards all Latinos. It was only after I made the "white trash" comment that you qualified your remarks with "white trash", "brown trash", etc.

No doubt that many parts of Van Nuys have declined since the 1960's. Other parts are still nice (like the area around Balboa...so called West Van Nuys until it was renamed Lake Balboa). But I don't equate the area's decline to a specific ethnic group. It has more to do with the fact the area lost good paying blue collar jobs and is now more predominantly low income as compared to the '60's. The Van Nuys GM Auto Plant was a stable of good paying blue collar jobs back in those days...it closed for good in 1992.

Again, I appreciate you subsequent posts which make you appear to be a more reasonable person but I do wonder if you have a chip on your shoulder or are a bit paranoid. I quote directly from you agan,
"...now here's a real biggie...going into the local stores, shops or restaurants and having 98% of the other customers giving you hateful, dirty looks as if YOU are the foreign intruder of their domain."

I have lived in predominantly Latino areas and can honestly say your experience is VERY FOREIGN me me. I've always felt I have been treated with respect and never with hate. You'd be amazed what a smile and positive attitude will do regardless of ethinicty or language.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by SoCal35

I love how you now try to portray yourself as the voice of reason. Again, your original post was quite disparaging towards all Latinos. It was only after I made the "white trash" comment that you qualified your remarks with "white trash", "brown trash", etc.

No doubt that many parts of Van Nuys have declined since the 1960's. Other parts are still nice (like the area around Balboa...so called West Van Nuys until it was renamed Lake Balboa). But I don't equate the area's decline to a specific ethnic group. It has more to do with the fact the area lost good paying blue collar jobs and is now more predominantly low income as compared to the '60's. The Van Nuys GM Auto Plant was a stable of good paying blue collar jobs back in those days...it closed for good in 1992.

Again, I appreciate you subsequent posts which make you appear to be a more reasonable person but I do wonder if you have a chip on your shoulder or are a bit paranoid. I quote directly from you agan,
"...now here's a real biggie...going into the local stores, shops or restaurants and having 98% of the other customers giving you hateful, dirty looks as if YOU are the foreign intruder of their domain."

I have lived in predominantly Latino areas and can honestly say your experience is VERY FOREIGN me me. I've always felt I have been treated with respect and never with hate. You'd be amazed what a smile and positive attitude will do regardless of ethinicty or language.

Nope, no chips on my shoulder. As a matter of fact, the Latino tenants I get tend to be my BEST tenants. However, the general area I am in is run down, high crime and populated with a large majority of illegals and long-standing gang families. The parties which go on at the Latino houses behind the apartment complexes are incredibly out of control. When music is being played loud enough (at 2:00am) to shake an ENTIRE apartment building of very strong construction and keep all the tenants awake, that is BAD! When tenants are kept awake at all hours because half the residents in the houses behind the apartments have roosters which crow at ALL HOURS, that is BAD! The police don't just show up ion squad cars to stop these parties. They bring out the "ghetto bird." That should tell you something about MY area. And yes, shopping is an awful experience due to the rude and hateful treatment. Smile? I am the "Queen of Smiles." I smile at everyone, say "hello" or "good morning" and I am known for being politically active in my neighborhood in efforts to improve the living standards for ALL. I am the one walking up and down the sidewalk trying to get petitions, with one of my maintenance guys as a body guard because the local gang members have threatened me. The employees at my local shops are on a first name basis with me. That still does not negate the fact that the majority of shoppers look at me with hate. Just last Friday I had a girl no older than 12 years old giving me that look, simply because I was at the deli section before her and her family, which entitled me to be waited upon first. It was quite unsettling when she pointedly glared at me directly while waving a sheet of paper in the air trying to get the deli man's attention, who, I might add, was busy working a very sharp and dangerous meat cutting machine. I was so shocked at the look of animosity on such a young girl's face that I told my husband how shaken up I was by it. Honestly, if you had been there you would have seen it as well. My niece's fiance is Hispanic and even he hates visiting Van Nuys because he gets hateful looks for being with a white girl.

I talk to my tenants, and quite a few of the Hispanic ones also hate the area and consider it a personal embarassment to themselves and their people.

[SoCal35]

Originally Posted by Cyanna

Nope, no chips on my shoulder. As a matter of fact, the Latino tenants I get tend to be my BEST tenants. However, the general area I am in is run down, high crime and populated with a large majority of illegals and long-standing gang families. The parties which go on at the Latino houses behind the apartment complexes are incredibly out of control. When music is being played loud enough (at 2:00am) to shake an ENTIRE apartment building of very strong construction and keep all the tenants awake, that is BAD! When tenants are kept awake at all hours because half the residents in the houses behind the apartments have roosters which crow at ALL HOURS, that is BAD! The police don't just show up ion squad cars to stop these parties. They bring out the "ghetto bird." That should tell you something about MY area. And yes, shopping is an awful experience due to the rude and hateful treatment. Smile? I am the "Queen of Smiles." I smile at everyone, say "hello" or "good morning" and I am known for being politically active in my neighborhood in efforts to improve the living standards for ALL. I am the one walking up and down the sidewalk trying to get petitions, with one of my maintenance guys as a body guard because the local gang members have threatened me. The employees at my local shops are on a first name basis with me. That still does not negate the fact that the majority of shoppers look at me with hate. 1) Just last Friday I had a girl no older than 12 years old giving me that look, simply because I was at the deli section before her and her family, which entitled me to be waited upon first. It was quite unsettling when she pointedly glared at me directly while waving a sheet of paper in the air trying to get the deli man's attention, who, I might add, was busy working a very sharp and dangerous meat cutting machine. I was so shocked at the look of animosity on such a young girl's face that I told my husband how shaken up I was by it. Honestly, if you had been there you would have seen it as well. 2) My niece's fiance is Hispanic and even he hates visiting Van Nuys because he gets hateful looks for being with a white girl.

I talk to my tenants, and quite a few of the Hispanic ones also hate the area and consider it a personal embarassment to themselves and their people.

1) Ok...I see that you are letting an incident with a 12 year old girl shape your opinion. That strikes me as a bit crazy for a grown woman (you) to let the actions/attitude of a 12 year old girl get you so upset.

2) I feel like we are living on two different planets. Mixed dating is par for the course in 21st Century LA. I've dated plenty of Latina girls and NEVER experienced anything like that. I am sure there are bigots of every stripe who think people should not date outside their ethnic or racial boundaries. But that is a tiny minority of people in my experience (thankfully).

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by SoCal35

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when I read your post. Are you really that ignorant and narrow minded?

Americans believe in and are governed by the U.S. Constitution, NOT the Bible or a Christian God (or any God or Gods).

Exactly, where do these people come from? LOL

[Jay100]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Exactly, where do these people come from? LOL

Heheee! 6th+ generation CALIFORNIAN with enough education and credentials to dismiss any ignorant claims of "ignorance or backwardness or trash," etc.. How about you? I, seriously, am just SMH and at some posters' drivel. You "people" have some nerve but anyway, dream on lol.