Blogging Social Difference in LA: Week 4

"Us" vs. "Them" in Riverside, California... and Everywhere?

This past week midterms, work, and extracurriculars kept me trapped in Westwood and I was not able to investigate a location in Los Angeles.  I did have the opportunity to read several of my classmates' blogs about their own explorations and analyses of Los Angeles.  My post this week is in response to Gabriel's discussion of the concept of "us" versus "them" in Riverside.  Gabriel asked someone he knows who lives in Riverside to point out the poor neighborhoods and the people she called "crackheads" without telling her why.  By not explaining the assignment, defining the people or neighborhoods he wanted her to point out, or why he wanted her to point out the poverty in Riverside, Gabriel could see how someone who lives in a nice, more upper-class neighborhood in Riverside thought about social difference in her area.  He came to the conclusion that the "us" vs. "them" mentality exists in Riverside.  You can read Gabriel's post and see his pictures on his blog here.

I think Gabriel's idea for the post and methodology for investigating the "us" vs. "them" mentality was really originally and conveyed his point very well.  I would have liked to see a map of the area he photographed and where it is in relation to UCR and the nicer, more up-kept areas of Riverside.  I am unfamiliar with Riverside so I found it on Google Maps.

Here are maps of the area surrounding UC Riverside from Google Maps and Google Earth.  The neighborhoods within walking distance of UCR do seem organized and "nice" in the sense that they are clean and safe and that the houses are well kept without being extravagant.

The neighborhoods surrounding UC Riverside, marked on the map as location "A", look well organized, up-kept, and upper-scale compared to a vaguely defined "inner city" or "ghetto".

The "crackhead" neighborhood, photos from Gabriels' blog

Wilson, however, is talking about a population of the inner city.  I've never been to Riverside but from the pictures, I can definitely see that the area of poverty would not qualify as an inner city area.  The sizes of the lots, lawns, sidewalks, and houses are much more representative of a suburban area.  From the yard sales, vacant lots, and appearance of the houses though, some sort of "social disorder" seems to be present.  It is interesting that Wilson talks about the inner city becoming increasingly socially disorganized where this area of Riverside seems to represent a suburban area becoming increasingly socially disorganized.  Suburbs in the United States were invented as a safe, family, natural haven from the disorder in the city centers.  In this case, however, the traditionally planned, pure, organized, neighborhoods away from the inner city are falling into social disorganization and unlawfulness.

Gabriel’s post made me think a lot more about the “us” versus “them” mentality and how we consciously or subconsciously separate ourselves from others and how we define and deal with those “others”.  Reading his post along with Wilson’s argument for how to define and deal with the “ghetto underclass” made me aware that the “us” versus “them” mentality seeps into scholarly discussions and official discourse.  When reading specifically about the concept of separating ourselves from a less favorable other, the lesson seems outrageously simple; declaring someone else a less deserving, more base “other” is narrow-minded and wrong.  It goes against the concept of loving your neighbor as yourself or seeing human good and potential in those less fortunate or in different situations.  At the same time, the “us” versus “them” mentality seems so prevalent and so natural in human thinking and decision-making.  This brings me to the question that I don’t have an answer for:

Is defining a “them”, a group different and apart form an “us”, a bad thing? 

In “The Truly Disadvantaged”, William Julius Wilson explains the problems with what he sees as the politically liberals’ ignoring and denying inherent social inequalities, especially when they relate to race or ethnicity.  He says that the label “underclass” is necessary and realistic in defining and solving social inequality in the inner city.  Through his argument, Wilson essentially says that it is essential to define an “other” opposed to ourselves, in this case the “ghetto underclass”, to be able to correctly discuss and think about the impoverished populations in the inner city.  It’s also hard to tell if Wilson argues for such defining and labeling with the sole intention of better understanding social disorder and potential solutions, or if he even subconsciously wishes to separate himself from the unfavorable “underclass”, which he describes as having high rates of inner-city joblessness, teenage pregnancies, out-of-wedlock births, female-headed families, welfare dependency, and serious crime.  Are “us” verses “them” labels needed to truly describing situations and helpful when thinking of solutions? Or do they perpetuate biased, oppressive, close-minded, condescending thinking?

I will now keep my eyes open for the “us” vs. “them” thinking and what the mentality implies as I continue exploring Los Angeles, reading class material, attending lectures, and reading my classmates’ blogs. 

I ran a Google image search to try to find more pictures of poverty in Riverside.  All of the pictures I found, however, depict Riverside as a clean, upscale, destination.  Searches more specifically for "Riverside california bad neighborhood" and "riverside ca drugs" did not return any helpful results.  This is interesting because there is clearly one aspect of Riverside life that is being promoted (or acknowledged  to the general public, while another kind of life in Riverside is either intentionally hidden or there is no information about on the internet.  I also searched "Riverside califorina police department, and many officer portraits and suspect mug shots came up, proving that there is a strong presence of lawlessness and social disorder, usually indicating poverty and illicit activity, and social authority in Riverside.

Images associated with "Riverside, CA"

Riverside also has a strong and busy police force.

References:
Morse, Gabriel. "Week 3: Riverside." Web log post. Socioeconomic Difference in the LA Metro Area. N.p., 17 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://gabemorse.blogspot.com/2012/10/riverside.html>.

Wilson, William Julius. "The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy." The Blackwell City Reader. Ed. Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson. 2nd ed. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 186-92. Print.