Not too long ago, I overheard a young woman talk about how she did not want to venture to the east side of Bakersfield because "the east side is a bad side of town and all it ever has is crackheads and dogs that are loose and mean." As I am sitting and listening to this, all I could think about was how I was born and raised on the east side and this uninformed woman had just disrespected my home. As much as I wanted to open my mouth and correct her, I refrained due to my professionalism and self-respect. I will say that the east side is my "hood and barrio" and don’t disrespect what you don’t know, and to all my ride-or-die east siders, this one is for you.

First of all, let me explain that loose dogs and crack heads exist in any and every part of town. The only difference being that the loose dogs on the other side of town usually get picked up by the pound or other residents, whereas on the east side of Bakersfield, the dogs never get picked up. A majority of the families in the town have more than three dogs and can’t afford to neuter them either. As for the crack heads, the main difference would be some families that live in more well-off parts of town usually have the resources to help their family members and try and get them in recovery clinics or in a stable home environment, as opposed to staying on the streets. People who live on the east side tend to kick an addict out of the house because they don’t want the cops busting the doors down.

Let me be clear in saying that we are not all welfare kings and queens; I am sorry that a part-time minimum wage job is barely enough to support one person, let alone a whole family. I’m sorry if what I make is probably the amount of your car payment, but if there is assistance to help, no one should ever feel embarrassed to ask for it. We are not all "cholos" or "cholas" and we are not all members of gangs, it’s just the way we like to dress. I am always wearing my Cortez' whenever I get a chance, call me a "chola" all you want, but don’t hate on me because you would rather me look like everyone else. We speak English too, and yes we would rather have our family around than put our elders in nursing homes and have them live alone.

The point is this: as individuals we are proud of who we are and where we came from because it’s where we came from that will shape who we are, for better or worse. I was born and raised on the east side of Bakersfield and I still live there to this day. I would appreciate it if others would actually spend time on the east side before judging, and please don’t let a few dogs, crack heads, "cholos" or "cholas" scare you because you might be surprised that what we look like on the outside is probably not what you expected on the inside.