Giving tourists a look at gang culture (in Los Angeles)

[Frank Booth]

A group of civic activists, united by faith and a belief that the poor economy in the interior of Los Angeles is a social injustice, is preparing to offer bus tours of some of the grittiest pockets of the city, including decayed public housing, sites of deadly shootouts and streets ravaged by racial unrest.

After a VIP preview last weekend, L.A. Gang Tours expects to open to the public in January, giving tourists a look at the cradle of the nation's gang culture -- the birthplace of many of the city's gangs, including Crips and Bloods, Florencia 13 and 18th Street.

"This is ground zero for a lot of the bad in this city. It could be ground zero for a lot of the good too," said Alfred Lomas, a former Florencia member who has become a leading gang intervention worker in South Los Angeles and is spearheading the tours. "This is true community empowerment."

The nonprofit group plans to offer two-hour tours at an initial cost of $65 per adult, with profits funneled back into the community through jobs, "franchised" tours in new areas and micro-loans to inner-city entrepreneurs. Early routes will focus largely on South L.A., with forays through Watts and Florence-Firestone.

The concept appears to have no equal in L.A. -- for good reason, some might argue. It seems to echo, more than anything, the "slum tours" of such sites as India's Dharavi township and Rio de Janeiro's favelas. Those operations have been lauded as innovative economic tools and mechanisms for humanizing poverty -- and also attacked as exploitative and voyeuristic.

read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-southla-tours5-2009dec05,0,6167426.story

Might as well quit hiding we're turning into a third world country...

[NYC_SKP]

1. Another DU post has a youtube of German tourist visiting the Gaza strip to see the violence.

Kinda disturbing, both of these.

[Frank Booth]

4. I guess some good may come out of it in that it might open some eyes to

the realities of poverty in this country.

But more than anything, it seems like a modern day freak show.

[Blue_Tires]

14. It's not even about the poverty, sadly

Because there are still plenty of communities all over the nation MUCH worse off in the nation than south L.A...This I think is more about star power -- The L.A.-style gang culture has had 25+ years of mainstream pop culture glorification in movies, music, TV, and video games... Ironically this idea is more analagous to the tours of all the gritty "Sopranos" or "The Wire" urban sets and backdrops (which themselves were pretty popular a few years back...)

[JonQ]

5. Agreed

wholeheartedly. I'm not sure why people want to see the worst aspects of humanity on display.

[Hannah Bell]

13. society of the spectacle

[leftstreet]

2. Gross. Reminds me of those creepy fundraisers for new jails

where numbnuts actually spent the night - like it's fun!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I would hesitate to go on such a tour...

What are they doing about security and safety for their customers?

[Frank Booth]

7. Apparently they've gotten agreements from some of the gang representatives

to leave the tours alone. They're selling it by saying the tours will bring money into the communities.

Of course, once the money doesn't materialize, I'd expect all bets are off.

[Blue_Tires]

12. well in Rio's case

the tour money is flowing, but the lion's share still falls into the hands of the crime bosses, so not much has changed...

[realisticphish]

6. I'm torn with this

from one perspective, it's a way to help people understand the depth and causes of the problems involved

From another perspective, it's a vaguely racist freak show

In general, I'd vote no on this one

[Libertas1776]

8. This really isn't anything new

For hundreds of years alleged "civic" minded people, usually religious, rich, or both, would go on tours to the skid rows of their cities and see the squalor first hand.

[anonymous171]

15. Yep. They should hunker down in their suites and suburbs and forget the poor exist

[Javaman]

24. Exactly, that's were the term, "slumming" comes from.

it was all the rage by the upper class in the teens. Ironically, it also turned many of them in to opium addicts.

[Starry Messenger]

9. When are we going back to tours of Bedlam hospital?

This sounds bad.

[rwheeler31]

10. No

[zonkers]

11. A slippery slope, glorifying gangs for profit.

[Caliman73]

18. If you have ever been to South Central you'd know there's no glory there

I am more concerned about exploitation and a "freak show" mentality than I would be about glorifying the life.

[onethatcares]

16. maybe they can do them as a reality show and have

gang members actually rob the bus passengers. Won't that give Aunt Ethel something to write home about?

I saw some show here or there where the gangs were dealing drugs, but they were using the moneys to keep kids in school and fed.

Now that amazed me. The kids actually got a beating if they didn't do well on tests.

[Greyhound]

17. It will be interesting to see how the residents of these neighborhoods react to being in a zoo.

:kick:

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. They probably won't even notice

I drive into a neighborhood just like this to work every day. No big deal.

[mdmc]

20. --

[Javaman]

22. Read my post #21 nt

[Javaman]

21. Scene: South Central L.A.

Two African American men sit in the shade.

Man #1: damn it, here comes that stupid tour bus again.

Man #2: I'm really getting tired of this crap.

Man #1: don't I know it. Okay, ugh, do you want to be the good guy or the bad guy?

Man #2: does it matter? It won't matter to them.

Man #1: true. Okay, well, wait, crap. I just had it here.

Man #2: quick, it's rounding the corner.

Man #1: got it!

Man number one comes out of the house holding a plastic gun, obvious by the red plastic plug on the nozzle.

Man #2: How do I look? Mean?

Man #1: give me more pissed. Good that's it.

Man #2: Okay, show time...

Man #1 pulls out the plastic gun.

Man #1: this is this a stip up!!

Man #2: Ah what? I mean, oh no, don't hurt me!!

The group on the bus gasps. The bus passes.

Man #1: shit, I blew the line.

Man #2: I stip up? What the hell was that? (laughs)

Man #1: sorry, well, we still get our checks.

Man #2: yeah, I guess, I have to talk to my agent about this. Is this even SAG minimum?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. I haven't been so upset since Godfather's Pizza had a depression-era gangster spokesman.