A LA Times Report
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.
The L.A. tour comes after months of planning, and is offered in a spirit of education and public service. Lomas, who will lead tours at first, plans to talk about important chapters in the development of the city’s core, such as how racist housing restrictions shaped ethnic enclaves and the formation of gangs.
Other aspects may raise eyebrows. Selling shirts painted on the spot by a graffiti "tagger" is one thing. But one backer said he also hopes to stage dance-offs between locals; tourists would pick a winner and fork over a cash prize. It wasn’t long ago that organizers decided against a plan to have kids shoot tourists with water pistols, followed by the sale of T-shirts that read: "I Got Shot in South-Central."
MB: I fully support any plans that have intentions of helping crime and poverty stricken areas; furthermore I feel that this plan may actually work. Americans are intrigued with crime; successful movies such as The Godfather Saga, Goodfellas, Colors, Dillinger, Scareface and others have proven America has a fascination with crime and gangs. However movies are not real, and no matter how effective the director is at getting a point across to its viewers the reality of crime and poverty can only be truly experienced if you have lived through it or seen it.
The point that should be made is that there is a market for this type of tour, and the revenues generated will be put back into the community. More importantly once people see first-hand how horrible these areas are, they hopefully will begin to pay more attention and help in any way possible. The only concern that I see is, how receptive the individuals of the community will be. People in the community will become embarrassed or ashamed as busses drive past them like animals at a zoo. Two scenarios will come from this; one, they will react positively and change to avoid future ridicule, or two they will react negatively and rob the bus.
Source:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-southla-tours5-2009dec05,0,6167426.story
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