Geography of Fear

I WAS born and raised in Los Angeles. It's a city known for opportunities and dreams; a place where diversity and culture thrives. While Los Angeles may be diverse, it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is accepting of the diversity. For me, it seems like everyone sees diversity as a norm and that the only way to go around diversity is to stay within the same circle of familiar people. In other words, segregating between cities, people, and races is the only way to get around diversity. Segregated communities and hatred between races is no stranger to native Angelenos; it's a part of our reality.

In correlation to our past class discussions, we learned about the history of Los Angeles and how it was advertised to the rest of the world as the greatest place to live. People perceived Los Angeles as a place where all their dreams would come true; a place where endless opportunities lied ahead of them. Today, we are still able to brag about the opportunities and diversity of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is made up of many other cities and within these cities are sewn in streets that link to each other. Within these streets are territories where some people aren't allowed in or shouldn't be near. This is something that is hard to explain. In some areas or cities such as El Monte, San Gabriel Valley, Van Nuys, Koreatown, and so forth, racial tensions exist between Asians, African Americans, and Latinos. It's a territorial battle and it affects everyone. Migrant Angelenos may perceive Los Angeles as a tourist location; a place where each city shines on its own. To me, Los Angeles is a place or geography of fear...a place where racial tensions and territories affect the way we enjoy our wonderful city.

I would love to think about Los Angeles as a safe place, just as where I grew up. I would like to say that there is no such thing as racial tension and that Los Angeles is really the best place to grow up and live. However, I would be in denial if that were the case. Los Angeles is diverse in all aspects. It is diverse in culture, mentality, music, people, races, personalities, and so forth. All the negative and positive aspects make Los Angeles what it is today.

-- Stephanie Park

Caption: Shoes hanging on a gloomy day

Credit: Justus Hayes, flickr creative commons