September 28, 2009

Oakland Gang Series Sends Wrong Messages

Posted by Jorge Rivas at 6:49AM

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Reprints
• Share

(This post originally appeared on RaceWire.)

Last week, the Discovery Channel aired "Gang Wars: Oakland," a series that, according the network, "opens a window to give a glimpse inside the lives of Oakland's gangs." However, the series played more like a myth dispenser about black and Latino Oakland residents and glorified cops.

Aimee Allison, host and producer of San Francisco Bay Area KPFA's Morning Show, has written a critical review of the show:

"The grainy night shots, closeups of semiautomatic weapons, wailing sirens and shot after shot of black and brown tattooed bravado is horror-flick fun to some -- but this is a harrowing reality for those of us in Oakland grappling with the persistent problem of violence.

And to make matters worse, the show claims there are 10,000 gang members in the city -- a number refuted by acting Oakland Police Chief Harold Jordan. Since the show producers haven't come up with where they got the inflated number, one can only guess that they lumped in people based on neighborhood or skin color."

Visit AlterNet to read the full article.