Why Violence is a Problem

Irvin Padron

Humanities 9

Ms Portugal

12/21/18

Why Violence is a Problem in The Bay Area

There is a lot of violence in The Bay Area. This affects everyone in the city or area because they fear that they might be next to be affected by crime. People see it everyday and it’s a problem because there are lots of shooting, gang affiliation and homicides happening in the Bay Area everyday and people want to raise awareness to these problems. Violence is a big problem because it points to the problems Oakland has had with the police and it affects the youth living in the city.

Violence is a big issue because of the lack of support for the police because they have had a lot of controversy. Most people arrested are people of color but most of them are African Americans. For example in a article titled “Oakland crime issue goes far deeper than racial profiling”, It talks about how mostly African Americans are mostly arrested. Johnson says,¨ 8,228 of the 9,491 robbery suspects last year were described as African American. 844 of the 1,091 firearms assault suspects were described as African American. 1,034 of 1,439 people suspected in assaults with weapons other than firearms were said to be African American. 27 of the 32 suspects arrested last year for homicides were African American. 41 of 79 suspects in unsolved homicides last year were described as African American. Thirty were listed as “unknown” race or ethnicity” ( Johnson). Chip Johnson has worked for the SF Gate for a while and he is reliable because he write about a lot of politics and seems to be an expert on it as well. In this news article it talks about how crime in the Bay Area might be deeper than race and that most crime is done by African Americans in Oakland. Oakland has a lot of cultures and most people living in Oakland are African American and in fact they make up 28% of Oaklands population, however, they are over represented which comes from controversies between this population and the Oakland Police in history. In an Interview with an Oakland resident, and school counselor named Rodrigo Sandoval he explained that ¨ African Americans and Latinos [are affected the most] because it’s a systemic issue where they are  not given the proper resources to be successful.¨( Sandoval). This is true because most people involved in violent activities were probably not given the proper resources to do better in later times in life and can cause even bigger problems.. Plus this can affect their future in a bad way to where they can commit felonies. In conclusion there is a lot of violence in the Bay Area because of racial profiling and the lack of support of the police and false arrest they cause.

Not only does crime also affect adults they also affect kids in schools as well and that could be a problem for them. It can cause problems because it can affect their learning and could possibly traumatize the kids as well. In an titled “Violence Causes Ripple Effects for Thousands of Oakland Students” by Zaidee Stavely it talks about a 14 year old boy who was shot and killed on New Years Eve and they interviewed a close friend of the boy named Diamond. Diamond states “It was hard focusing in class, just knowing that Lee was not sitting by me, Lee was not there, it was an empty seat,” says Diamond. “I was hurt inside, I was angry, I was sad. So many mixed emotions going on. Just, like, confused, like, why it happened?” (Diamond). This is showing how it affected a student and it also said Diamond got his first C after the shooting, this shows it can also affect their grades. After the shooting happened almost 200 kids had to receive therapy and Diamond was one of the kids who had to receive the therapy. In an interview with an Oakland Resident, a Psychologist named Ricardo Esquivel Vargas he shared that  “ violence mostly affects children because they observe what happens and think its ok and socially acceptable.. It takes a community to raise a kid and if violence is around then again the kid will think is acceptable.” (Esquivel) This is true because the kid will think that what happens around his is socially acceptable and that could lead him to do violent activities. This can show how violence can influence kids into making terrible decisions in their lives and possibly getting incarcerated. In conclusion Violence can affect kids with their education and can also affect their grades. Some might be traumatized and might need to acquire some help like getting therapy to be normal.

In conclusion violence in general is just terrible because it can affect the person and the people around the community to feel unsafe and can affect kids as well with their education and can cause some traumas and violence can cause some mixed feeling with different people.

Work Cited

Johnson, Chip. “Oakland Crime Issue Goes Far Deeper than Racial Profiling.” SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Mar. 2014, www.sfgate.com/bayarea/johnson/article/Oakland-crime-issue-goes-far-deeper-than-racial-5355633.php.

I chose this article because of how he was writing it and giving good evidence and giving other people’s perspectives is great

Esquivel Vargas, Ricardo. “Violence Interview.” 15 Dec. 2018.

I interviewed this person because he has lived in Oakland and has seen violence happen

around him and he is a psychologist.

Sandoval, Rodrigo. “Interview with Roro.” 11 Dec. 2018.

I interviewed Rodrigo Sandoval about violence and has lived in Oakland and knows what happened when he was growing up.

Stavely, Zaidee. “Violence Causes Ripple Effects for Thousands of Oakland Students.” KQED, Zaidee Stavely KQED, 26 May 2015, www.kqed.org/news/10491230/violence-causes-ripple-effects-for-thousands-of-oakland-students.

I chose this article because it gave different peoples perspective and tells us the aftermath of what happened after the shooting and how they were all affected differently.

Print this page.