Tired of People Stereotyping Hispanic Neighborhoods (Los Angeles, Inglewood: apartment, low crime, lawyers)

[hogwatch]

I am Hispanic and used to live in Los Angeles. The one thing that really got my skin crawling of anger when I lived there was when people generalized neighborhoods by their ethnic make up especially neighborhoods who have a predominantly Hispanic population. I understand when people say South Central Los Angeles, Huntington Park, parts of South Gate, Bell, all predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, are bad areas because they are relatively speaking. But when people say Downey, Montebello, Whittier, the San Gabriel Valley are ghetto-I think they might be thinking that any neighborhood that is predominantly Hispanic is ghetto or "bad"--when that is not the case with these neighborhoods. Many Hispanic accountants, lawyers, teachers, firefighters, police officers, and business owners live in these areas. I can even say some folks label predominantly African American neighborhoods like Baldwin Hills as ghetto when it is clearly not one. From my experience most folks that label these neighborhoods as "bad" happened to be "white." White people seem to think that the only good areas in Los Angeles have to be predominantly "white" to be considered a good/decent neighborhood-which is not true. Most white people are afraid of walking in brown and black neighborhoods that are middle class so they just simply label it a ghetto due to that fear. If I am wrong about this please correct me. Thanks

As a side note-My wife and I both make over 150k a year and are already set for retirement at the age of 38. We both have college degrees. I have several friends that are Hispanic and earn similar salaries/or businesses living throughout all these predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. The reason I reveal this is so the reader will not think I am some "cholo" who lives with 10 other people in a 1 bedroom apartment.

[MattClyde]

The reason I reveal this is so the reader will not think I am some "cholo" who lives with 10 other people in a 1 bedroom apartment.

hahaha that made me laugh
You are right many people do generalize neighborhoods based on race. I have family in Whittier and that place isn't a ghetto. It's no Bel Air but most places aren't. People also categorize neighborhoods as ghetto areas if the majority of people are black. It is such a shame with all of the profiling.
Still there are some areas that are mostly mexican that I would not go to: East LA, USC hospital, South Gate.

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree that people are often too quick to jump to conclusions about neighborhoods, and yes, often there does seem to be a racial element to it (I think the same thing happens in the "is public transportation dangerous" debate, or the "LA has no public transportation" discussions), but find it pretty ironic to turn around and make the same sweeping generalizations about millions of people of a different race. Some white people are racists; some aren't. Some are afraid to explore different neighborhoods; some aren't. In any case, I am in complete sympathy with the frustrations of having perfectly fine middle class neighborhoods overlooked, but find the message loses its power when its delivered along with such a strong dose of similar stereotyping.

I'm not an LA native and that may well make a big difference in the way I perceive things, but for what it's worth I don't think that, generally speaking, the posters on this forum only recommend white majority neighborhoods (and my friends and relatives haven't done so, and many, although not all, of them are white); still, I'm sure there are places that get overlooked if only because forum posters don't live in those areas. That's yet another reason it's good to have people with experience living and working all over the LA metro area.

[CALGUY]

My suggestion would be to see what a neighborhood is like, take a drive through one, and let that neighborhood speak for itself.
Bob.

[Fontucky]

Anyone who labels the "Black Beverly Hills" (Baldwin Hills) as "ghetto" is either a stereotyping ass or has never been to L.A.

They do the same with Inglewood.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by hogwatch

The reason I reveal this is so the reader will not think I am some "cholo" who lives with 10 other people in a 1 bedroom apartment.

So you're uptown, huh. That means 10 to a two bedroom apartment, doesn't it?

That aside, I think people tend to equate ethnicity with class rather than taking into consideration educational levels and professionalism. Financial status usually has far more to do with social status and neighhborhood than skin color, or it should!

[Cyanna]

I think people have valid reasons for stereotyping. It may not be fair, but these beliefs and feelings are based on facts. This was an interesting read...

The Immigrant Gang Plague by Heather Mac Donald, City Journal Summer 2004

[Fontucky]

"HTO (Hispanics Taking Over)"

Aptly named.

[killer2021]

I admit I use race heavily when evaluating an area. I kid you not, look at the data here. If the population is predominantly black or hispanic (ie. 80%+) the crime will be through the roof, schools will be terrible etc. Meanwhile if you take an area with 80%+ white or asian community it will have best schools, low crime etc.

Its pretty much a fact here. Black and Hispanic community = ghetto while white and asian community = pleasantville

Statistics don't lie.

You should look up the, "whitetopia" communities, places with 90%+ white population.

Here is a popular one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d...o#Demographics

[Fontucky]

Yeah, but the Mexican food sucks in those places.