I bike through a good portion of South Oxnard nearly every day to get to school. I grew up in Lemonwood before moving close to the heart of the city by Five Points and La Plazita. South Oxnard is a culturally rich community, and I am incredibly proud to have been raised here. 

The truth, however, is that even within my own city, the neighborhoods I call home aren’t respected. I’ve spent years hearing people call places like Lemonwood “ghetto, trashy, and dangerous.” There are social media pages dedicated to glorifying vandalism and turning legitimately pressing community issues into memes at the expense of families like mine. Above all, I’ve had the displeasure of watching elected officials invest much more into North Oxnard while South Oxnard’s neighborhoods can’t even get proper sidewalks. 

The state of South Oxnard, from the graffiti covering the alleys to the broken glass covering every intersection, is not merely delinquency at its purest form. It is a cry for attention from hundreds of young adults who are trying to live a better life than what is offered to them. The logic makes sense if you think of it from their perspective: do just enough damage to your neighborhood so that your supposed leaders finally decide to give you the same treatment as other areas. 

Instead, they punish any form of dissent because it is a lot easier in the short term. The doctrine of criminalization is deeply rooted in South Oxnard and similar communities, but leaders seemingly ignore the fact that violence breeds violence. The quick willingness to take harsh measures to turn confused adolescents into examples only makes other young adults view their peers as martyrs or nuisances and the adults taking the measures as public enemies. 

South Oxnard’s young adults need to stop being underestimated. We know that those who vandalize are guiding our futures in a negative direction, but it’s events like the Hueneme cafeteria fire and CI graffiti incidents that bring them attention they may otherwise never get from any adults in their personal lives. What South Oxnard needs is a combination of better electoral leadership and reinvigorated mutual aid. The young adults of South Oxnard need outlets to express their dreams and even their nightmares. Their thoughts should not be appropriated by turning graffiti into unpaid murals, but there should be programs for youth to showcase their creative talents in a positive light. 

If peers in my community received positive attention, there wouldn’t be broken glass on the sidewalks or smoke in the cafeterias. If South Oxnard was funded with more centers for cultural engagement and living aid, my peers wouldn’t have to risk their livelihoods for the sake of finding a sense of security. Our culture is not about damaged streets and lost identities. It is about unity, resilience, and change. If we are not empowered, we will find a way to empower ourselves. If elected officials wish to make Oxnard different from any other Southern California city, they must start by finally paying attention to the voices of South Oxnard. Give us more economic aid (the rent control we asked for would set the right tone), give us well-maintained parks, and give us an opportunity to speak out without being labeled as instigators.

I say this with my younger nephews and nieces in mind: don’t hope that South Oxnard becomes apathetic. People like me care too much about the generations that come after us. We can prevent vandalism from becoming violence by investing in the community now. I will continue to do my part as a community member, and I fully expect my elected officials to react urgently to these community demands.