Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 10

"The 'Other' School"

For my final blog post I took a bus to the opposite side of town and visited the "other" school.  Even in the midst of finals, I decided to go to USC because I read an interesting article from the Los Angeles Times the day before that was about the area.  The article discussed how a Mexican Mafia-controlled gang, known as the Harpys-Dead End gang, was operating just north of USC and 18 members were arrested Thursday morning.  The gang took part in slaying, drug sales, extortion and robberies and if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison.  However, what I found most astounding and what turns this situation into a social difference debate is that the gang collected taxes from local businesses in order to ensure protection from the gang's activities.  

 

I normally visit USC a couple times a quarter because I have close friends from high school that attend the university.  I generally drive there with my own car, but this week I took a bus from Ackerman turnaround that stopped right in the middle of the USC campus.  I tend to avoid public transportation as much as possible, for I am very reliant on my own car, making me a contributor to the decentralization of Los Angeles (guilty).  Because I stayed into the evening, one of my friends drove me back so I would not have to take to bus alone at night.  Once I arrived, my friends and I walked around the northern part of campus to survey the area that the article mentioned.  Needless to say, we were not in Westwood anymore.  All the residential buildings had either fences surrounding the property or iron gates on the windows.  We didn't even feel comfortable wandering too far from campus, but I saw enough.

This article about the Harpys-Dead End gang can be categorized as a social difference piece because of the racial and hierarchical values that the gang portrays to the rest of society.  First off, the gang was run by the Mexican Mafia, so it can be correctly assumed that the gang was racially affiliated as Hispanic.  By distinguishing themselves from others, and in particular, other Hispanics, the gang then defines the meaning of the difference and thus further implements the textual position Stuart Hall describes as there being no real differences until they are created by human language and action.  

The gang also supports social difference by exploiting people occupying the area that they "control."  In the article a business owner came forward saying that the Harpys asked for nearly $200 a month in exchange for protection from the gang.  By imposing this ruler vs. peasant situation on local business owners, the gang exemplifies class differences among the various groups.  The gang essentially threatens non-associated business owners to pay a tax so they do not assault them or their business, a case Marxian thought would compare to the upper class using the city as a tool to exploit the working class.  

The article proves social differences can displayed through race and class in the gang society.  And after visiting one of these gang associated areas, I could not be more thankful that I go to UCLA and not that other school across town.  


-Britt