Insider vs. Outsider Perspective

"LIVE IN COMPTON!"

Compton, CA. Two men were fatally wounded last night. The two men, Marcus Willard 20, and Reginald Davis, 19, were murdered while walking home after a late night meal at a local Mexican restaurant. Police say the shooting took place sometime around 11:30 p.m. in the south east section of the city. Neighbors heard gunshots and notified police. The two men were pronounced dead at the scene.*

Fiction: Compton is a dangerous neighborhood.

Fact: There are many reasons why the city of Compton has a poor image. There is a large courthouse that services the region of neighboring cities which

attracts a lot of negative attention from the media, there are many gangs in the area, and there are many pockets of unincorporated land within the city limits that are owned and controlled by Los Angeles County. Having the courthouse in Compton should be seen as a positive thing because of the work that is done there. The city of Compton is providing justice to the community. Instead, it associates the city with whatever horrific crime the media is covering that week. People then watch the broadcast and begin to associate crimes with the city of Compton, and before you know it, people start to think that there is a lot of crime in Compton. Along with justice, the courthouse provides free legal services and free assistance for those that need it.

Although the occasional crime does happen in Compton, the vast majority of the violence occurs between the gangs and is specifically intraracial. The ordinary citizens of Compton are aware of this and do not feel threatened. The city counsel is turning this city around. They are making the city of Compton a better place to live, work, and play by adding

new shopping centers, recreational centers, and parks. They have been creating new after-school programs to give the kids something to focus their attention on so that they do not turn to gangs.

However, this is not easy. There are many parts of Compton that the city counsel does not have control over. These unincorporated parts of town are associated with Compton because they are in Compton, but the county technically owns them. This ties the hands of the city counsel. They can not improve these zoned of pieces of land. They can only watch them deteriorate and bring more negative attention to the city.

Fiction: Compton has an African-American majority.

Fact: The city of Compton does have an all African-American city counsel. However, Compton is about 74% Hispanic and about 24% African-American. The reason the city counsel is not representative of the people is that less than 10% of the citizens vote. The hope is that this will not be the case in the near future as the citizens become more trusting of government.

Fiction: Nothing is getting done to improve Compton.

Fact: The city counsel has made tremendous strides in the last six years to rebuild the city. They have cleaned up many abandoned neighborhoods, erected new housing developments, and

opened up a new shopping center creating jobs and giving the community a nice place to spend their money shopping and eating. The city counsel has been "Birthing a New Compton" since 2003. It will take time, however, to see the changes take affect. They are continuing to bring in new businesses that hire Compton citizens and the revenue from the sales tax that is generated by the new businesses are collected by the city and will be reinvested back into the community. There is definitely a lot happening to improve the city of Compton.

Fiction: Compton is infamous, not famous.

Fact: While the rebirth of Compton will take time, there is quite a lot that its residents are proud of, as they should be. The area has rich history that is not acknowledged very often by others. Compton is always the butt of some cruel joke: live in a bad neighborhood? at least it's not as bad as Compton!; need a setting for a gangster flick? choose Compton; want to make a point about crime rates? just look at Compton.

As you can see, Compton has been unfairly characterized. And special interest groups continue to use the media, politics, and other outlets to present the area in a negative light while completely ignoring the positive. Yes, the city is the birthplace of many famous rappers but it was also home to:
-Past Presidents of the United States of America George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
-Venus and Serena Williams, two of the best female tennis players in the world at this time.
-Doris A. Davis, the first Black female mayor of a large city
-Many NBA, NFL, and other sports stars.

With the new initiatives taking place it will be exciting to see what Compton will become famous for in the future. Hopefully, many more people will get to experience the Compton that those who live there know and love. The city is on its way to being famous for its family friendly feel, steadily improving community services, diversity, and its unique position as a city where its residents can work, learn, and play together. As they say often, "When you live in Compton, you're part of our family".

*This news story is completely fictional.