Drivers' Education on Crenshaw Blvd.

I remember this song from my childhood. I was too young at the time to detect (or even relate to) the apparent satiric nature of the song and its supposed "ambivalence toward the American Dream." According to the song's Wikipedia article, "["I Love L.A."] celebrates living the dream ... while giving a nod to those who have been unable to fulfill the dream.... Newman also presents this dichotomy by incorporating the names of L.A.'s Century Boulevard, Victory Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Imperial Highway and 6th Street into the lyrics of the song. Traversing any one of these roadways from end to end will reveal some of the wealthiest and some of the poorest areas of the city."

If this interpretation of the song is true, then I can totally relate now that I'm an adult. Add "Crenshaw Blvd" to that list and you've got my situation spot on. Crenshaw Blvd. starts from the commercial Mid-Wilshire district and ends in the affluent and bucolic Rolling Hills Estates. Along the way, it traverses neighborhoods that represent the entire spectrum of middle class livelihoods. My neighborhood would be towards the lower end.

I live near the stretch of Crenshaw made popular by the movie "Boyz in the Hood" and similar films--the street most readily associated with "gangsta rap." Although I've seen seedier areas along Central and Gage Avenues, I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if a suburbanite were nervous about visiting me. So when my friend from Montebello asked if it was safe for her to come to my house, I wasn't TOO insulted. I myself have driven in questionable neighborhoods to visit friends, so I understood where she was coming from. I, personally, managed to keep those feelings to myself so as not to offend the gracious hosts/hostesses, but not everyone is me so, whatever.

Surprisingly she was willing to come and even park her car on my street so that we could ride in my car towards a restaurant in the Mid-Wilshire area. As we drove down Crenshaw we witnessed a car narrowly escape a collision as it unexpectedly made a wild U-Turn across several lanes of traffic from it's initial position parked on the side of the street. It was obvious, to me, that the collision wouldn't happen, but my friend went into hysterics as if death and destruction were sure to unfold before our very eyes. It didn't.

Later, we were sitting at a red light on Venice Blvd. where she noticed a large group of people (maybe 50 or 60) standing randomly on a corner near a strip mall. I admit it was strange to see a large group of people standing in a location far from anything that might accept such a large crowd (a church, a concert, a bus stop, etc.). But the people themselves (mainly adult Latinos) didn't look suspicious to me. In fact, they reminded me of the work-bound people I see during my morning coffee-runs, departing one bus and frantically rushing for the next bus before it speeds away--far from the gun-toting gangsters she was likely expecting. Needless to say, I wasn't nervous, but my friend made this barely detectable--but I still noticed it!--charade of making sure the car door was locked while we waited for the light to turn green.

Finally, we made it to our destination in Mid-Wilshire where she could eat and relax a little. But on our way back home we noticed another car exhibiting erratic behavior. I made a comment to the effect of "Man, people sure are driving crazy tonight," after which she responded, "Yeah, I've noticed that when you're in the more uneducated areas, people tend to drive crazier."

Uneducated people drive crazy? Really? I'm aware of several stereotypes associating bad driving with specific groups of people, but "uneducated" isn't one of them. In fact, my friend comes from the group that inspires most of the "___-s are bad drivers" jokes, and her city of Montebello is teeming with people of that persuasion. I could have pointed this out to her, but I didn't. For one thing, I'm not quit-witted enough to think of a comeback that quickly. And even I were, it isn't in my nature to "give a person a taste of their own medicine." More importantly, I believe blanket generalizations are simplistic and just plain false.

Like her comment about uneducated drivers. I work (and drive) in an academic community, which by default should have one of the highest percentages of educated drivers in the city. Nevertheless, I've seen some stunts that left me dumb-founded as to why anyone would operate a several-ton vehicle in such a manner. Heck, I'm working on my second master's degree myself, and I once ran into a parked Frito Lay truck! At the time, I was young, impatient, and more prone to do stupid things. That would be the stereotype that came to mind if I saw erratic driving behavior: young and stupid. I'd assume this, particularly at nighttime when the identity of the driver is obscured--which was the case when my friend and I were in the car.

My question is, why did she assume the people in my area were uneducated? Again, I'm working on my second master's degree and I live here. And I'm not alone. My neighbor just across the street from me graduated from UC Berkeley. Don't get me wrong. I know these are anecdotal examples and I'm aware of the abysmal numbers of college-degreed people living in South Los Angeles. Still, although we may (or may not) be worse off than Montebello, they're not doing so great either. Their statistics are skirting below California's average right along with ours.

Some may think I should have "put her in her place," but again, it's not my nature. All my life, I've avoided the neck-rolling, finger-snapping, "sistah-girl" caricature people associate with black women. It's partly genetic; both of my parents are mild-mannered. But I also just hate bad attitudes and I resent being associated with them. Besides, my mild disposition has an advantage in that it apparently makes people feel comfortable enough to be frank with me. As off-putting as their remarks may be sometimes, I at least know where they're coming from. Moreover, I've found that when you "choose your battles" sparingly, people tend to listen to you more when you actually have something to say.

My friend's comments could have been uncharacteristic and may never happen again, so I'll let it go this time. But if future conversations yield more slights against my neighborhood and its inhabitants, I might have to "educate" her in my own reasoned way. If it continues, I'll simply ban her from visiting my home. I never want it to get to the point where I'm name-calling and stereotyping her ilk. Like I said, it's not in my nature, and I resent when people make me act against my nature. Besides, acting like that might make me appear ignorant. And the last thing I want is to give her a another reason to believe people who live here are "ignorant"--or, in her words, "uneducated."