“Los Scandalous Skid Row” is a documentary that shows the lives of the drug dealers, homeless, and police officers that live and roam around the area of Skid Row. Skid Row is located in the fashion district of downtown Los Angeles and is home to over 8,000 homeless people. As one of the most poverty stricken and drug addicted sections of Los Angeles, it is sad to see that throughout the documentary most of the people hooked on drugs or selling drugs in Skid Row are people of color.
Many consider South Central Los Angeles to have a direct pipeline to Skid Row, which is why Skid Row is so heavily populated with African Americans. In the 1980’s there was a huge crack epidemic in South Central which eventually lead to the migration of people to Skid Row. The documentary shows how the police create a cycle where arrests are made on people in the area with no money or support, and then spit back out into Skid Row. Looking at the lives of the people in this documentary, it almost seems there’s been no change since 1992 for the poor people of Skid Row. Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s definition of racism is supported because of the people of Skid Row. As a place that has more people doing crack and heroin then any part of Los Angeles, the lives of these people are at stake, most of them being people of color.
- Joseph Duerr
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