Comments on: LA Gang Tours: Somewhere Between Brilliant and the Worst Idea Ever

By: Representing Ourselves | Cervical cancer Blog

Representing Ourselves | Cervical cancer Blog — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:49:12 +0000

[...] LA Gang Tours: Somewhere Between Brilliant as good as a Worst Idea Ever … [...]

By: Sundae 1/31/10

Sundae 1/31/10 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:41:19 +0000

[...] LA Gang Tours: Somewhere Between Brilliant and the Worst Idea Ever – “The New York Times reports: ‘…after careful consideration, it was decided not to have residents shoot water guns at the bus and sell “I Got Shot in South Central” T-shirts.’ If these tours are striving to be legitimate educational experiences, that was probably a wise choice.” [...]

By: jesse

jesse — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:30:02 +0000

A very similar type of tour used to be conducted in the slums of NYC in 19th century (it’s actually where the term “slumming” came from), with the idea being largely the same — you can see what life is like for these strange and exotic poor people!

Of course those tours didn’t have the philanthropic bringing-the-money-in kind of veneer that this does, but otherwise it seems the same basic premise of the wealthy paying for a tour of the strange customs of their social inferiors.

While there is some potential that this is on the up-and-up and really will bring some money in, I think it’s more comparable to developing nations selling their natural beauty and “native” customs to tourists in a hope for money when there’s no other economy. And we know that hasn’t exactly helped out a lot of people…

By: Verlinkenswertes (KW 03/10) | Criminologia

Verlinkenswertes (KW 03/10) | Criminologia — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:37:11 +0000

[...] LA Gang Tours: Somewhere Between Brilliant and the Worst Idea Ever Have you heard about the new LA Gang Tours? The website details their mission as follows: (Public Criminologist, 10.01.2010) [...]

By: michelle

michelle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:02:21 +0000

That was my initial thought, as well. I believe the creators of the gang tour have good intentions, but it does seem voyeuristic. I often think the same thing about prison tours or one time meetings with inmate groups, too, but I have to admit that my college students seem to come away from those experiences deeply (if perhaps briefly) impacted. In any case, it’s an interesting entrepreneurial idea – we’ll see how it plays out.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:57 +0000

Yeesh — seems pretty voyeuristic to me. But I understand that the area needs money and “historical” crime tours are conducted in cities like St. Paul. After checking the website, I’m skeptical of claims that the tours would really “allow young people and children safe passage (gun fire free safety zones)” and “provide the framework to create a peaceful environment conducive to their physical, spiritual and emotional well-being.”