Loading ...Few things pose more pressing threats than rampant pot-smoking and disillusioned hippiedom. At least that seems to be the general consensus, considering Berkeley now apparently ranks as the 43rd most dangerous city in the country.
Sure, it’s a bit shady in this particular neck of the woods; but what about the conspicuous dearth of a certain dear neighbor of ours on the aforementioned list? Certainly if Berkeley even registers on the national radar for crime-heavy areas, one would think Oakland would be raising a few red flags. But no—and what’s more, Berkeley is actually considered the most dangerous city in California with a population over 25,000.
It would be redundant to point out that this really doesn’t make any sense.
Ace Ventura – When the Nature calls – Alrighty Then [YouTube]
Berkeley: crime-infested and dangerous to know? [SFGate]
Comments:
Jul 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Once again, sheltered, priveleged college students are quick to stereotype black and latino-heavy cities like Oakland as “dangerous” and crime ridden based primarily on the race of the people living there and the type of culture they take part in. I’m not going to say I haven’t done the same, but after two years of going to Cal and working in Oakland, I have to say such stereotyping is such a load of BS.
Jul 8, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Um, Ricardo, I see no mention of race whatsoever in this post. Can you please explain how this is stereotyping?
Jul 9, 2009 at 11:15 pm
In my experience speaking with other students my freshman year, and especially with middle and upper middle income students, the topic of Oakland usually elicited racialized responses or concerns about Oakland’s “safety”. So my comment comes from that context and my own feeling that the post and the article it links to reinforces that vague, unfounded fear. In any case, race doesn’t have to be mentioned in order for it to be a central factor in a string of media discourse. Various theorists have described the process by which society and the media associate certain words with other meanings or concepts, thereby turning them into codes for other things. In the absence of any actual crime data from Oakland, why do Cal students (especially new students) stereotype the city as crime ridden and dangerous? Now I’m not saying that race is the only reason why people on our campus see Oakland as dangerous, I think people perceive large, urban, poverty stricken areas as inherently crime-ridden, but I think it would be naive to think that Oakland’s racial make-up and strong urban culture isn’t a major contributing factor to the way students and the media perceive its safety. 
Jul 7, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Ehh Oakland aint that bad