User talk:Jalexk

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Hello,

I noticed that you erased my articles in "Downey, CA" on "Immigration" the majority of my "Crime" section as well. I currently live in Downey and have lived their all of my life. Currently I only return on the weekends mostly, as I am living on campus at Loyola Marymount University. I love my city, so in no way what so ever do I mean to give my city a bad name. My topics were cited with direct links to websites and articels where I took the information from. I'm not writing anything false, nor am I trying to write slander regarding the city of Downey. I agree that certain things you put in, such as the parenthetical reference to the Ohio "civil rights" group information, was legitimate and fair, but I do not feel that deleting my material was justified. I am contributing to talking about my city, and I am using direct sources to back up my material. I would really appreciate it if you were to please stop deleting my articles. Please write me back.

>> I do not believe that the "Center for Immigration Studies" is a legitimate source as a citation, nor do I concur with your observations. I have lived in Downey for more than ten years, and members of my family have lived there for more than fifty years. The comments made in your contribution border on racism, cloaked in a thin veneer of authenticity. Here are some observations:

• "Residents are beginning to overcrowd apartments and rental houses" this is an unsupported generalization -- what evidence is there of this? Downey's code enforcement is extremely strict and very responsive to complaints.

• "This new growth has become the target of conflict with older African American communities, which do not take kindly to the new foreigners" -- again, what is the evidence of this. One, there is not a large African American community in Downey, and two, how can anyone generalize that they do not "take kindly" to recent immigrants?

• Is Downey a "Sanctuary City"? Has this been verified with the City or Downey Police Department?

• The whole passage "...although Downey has become popular home for displaced gang members moving in from nearby inner city neighborhoods. By the 1950's as Latino street gangs began to become more organized the movement to Downey as well as other cities in southeast Los Angeles county, such as Paramount and Long Beach, expanded. The city has never been very affected or known for gangs, yet drive-by shootings have been reported in the area as early as the 1960's..." is a generalization about Downey derived from an article that does not refer specifcally to Downey.

I ask you to stop using Wikipedia as a place to post your personal views about the nature of the city, and some recent demographic shifts, and stick to the facts.

>>I am not a racist, nor am I trying to use wikipedia for my own personal bias. The fact that you do not feel that my sources are legit does not give you the right to erase my entrees, no offense. I am currently going to the Downey City Hall sometime this week to verify the sanctuary status of Downey, how can I verify my findings to you? Do you live in Downey? If so, let's set up a time to meet at the police station then.

Side Note: For the past 19 years I have lived in the city and I have been well aware of my surrounding environment. Overcrowding apartments? Right there's no published evidence in support of this, I give you that much, but look at the corner of Stuart and Grey Rd and Lakewood Blvd. I actually made over 2,000 flyers for the immigration march and boycott on May 1st, 2006 and one of the main areas I passed them out was there. I met a man who had come from Mexico in the 50's and we talked and he surprisingly asked me how long I had been in the U.S. Then he told me he had been involved in supporting such movements such as the Chicano Movement, and had been an avid support of the immigrant rights movements since the 70's...But that's off topic.

Sure, this is my own personal experience, so since there are no FACTS on overcrowding in Downey then it's fair enough to omit that.

No Downey does not have a large African American community, so what? Nobody said that the city did, the fact is that there have been some established commuinities off of Imperial Hwy, so there is truth to the article. Have these communities had problems with immigrants? I myself have not encountered anything specifically but based on the article I cited maybe there is reason to believe otherwise. Just because you yourself cannot state whether or not they "take kindly" to immigrants doesn't mean you have to erase my entire article.

Crime, well the article was not specifically about Downey but it did mention a movement in gangs toward the city. Although there is a generalization in the area, I mentioned this when I wrote "By the 1950's as Latino street gangs began to become more organized the movement to Downey as well as other cities in southeast Los Angeles county, such as Paramount and Long Beach, expanded. The city has never been very affected or known for gangs..." So what gives? I mentioned other cities that also saw this phenomenon occur, I never said it was specifically geared toward Downey. But is Downey a part of it? Of course. Hence the creation of GOOD. The fact that Downey created a community lookout program (GOOD) because of "accelerated gang activity" says a lot. (By the way, my article on GOOD was linked from the city of Downey itself, so yes Downey DID see an increase in gang activity.) Downey has never started any gangs other than the Downey Gang (Zoot Suiters) involved in the Sleepy Lagoon trial after a fight with the rival 38th St gang. After the Downey Gang broke up the city morphed into a series of neighborhoods which moved in from the outside. No gang specifically has roots in Downey, but the fact its that there was an acceleration in gang activity and it HAD to come from somewhere. I even mentioned that Downey was NEVER notorious for gangs, it's just not a gang city, but that doesn't change the fact that some gang spread from the inner city into Downey. Reword it however you like, but please look over what I wrote.

On a side note, and JUST a side note: See for yourself, turn on Dunrobin off of Imperial Highway and tell me if you don't see the 18th street gang tagging across from the apartments on the corner. Sure, the city comes and cleans it up all the time, but they just tag it up again. Drive by night after night and tell me that you have NEVER seen them congregating around the area. This is just one example, did I add this though? No, because there is no specific article on it. Another example would by the Compton Varrio Tokers 13 tagging off of Woodruff by the Stonewood mall near Cecilia St. The tagging has been washed from the wall but you can still see the black "CVT" outline as well as several names of members who hit up the wall.

Look, I'm not trying to bash my city, once again. I had sources ok, I'm sorry if you don't feel they were "legit" but you can't tell me I'm using Wikipedia for my own personal bias when you are erasing my entrees based on your perception of my sources. All I'm saying is that you should look over what I wrote, reword it add or take away certain things but don't erase what I write over and over again. Thanks.