Crips And The Bloods Research Paper

Ask the average American to name a gang they are familiar with and chances are the response will be either the Crips or the Bloods. Over four decades ago, African American youth founded these gangs after many years of oppression, marginalization, and institutional racism. The Crips and the Bloods, who originated from neighborhoods of Southern California, have now spread across the nation with a presence in thirty-two states. They changed the American landscape forever.

In 1969, a young man in South Los Angeles named Raymond Washington, founded a gang called the Crips. Soon after, in response, rival gangs banned together to form the Bloods. In subsequent years, these two gangs divided Los Angeles into a patchwork of blue and red territories. These were not the street toughs of an earlier generation. Fist fights were a thing of the past. It was now all about gunplay. As one gang member put it, “it’s kill or be killed.” The Crips and the Bloods became involved in all facets of criminal enterprise including murder, drug trafficking, robbery, and extortion. Gang violence has killed and maimed

With the outbreak of the war there was an unprecedented need for workers in the factories of America to make the war stuffs needed to fight and defeat the enemy. Consequently, African Americans heeded this call and began to migrate to urban manufacturing centers like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The early 1950’s were a time of real optimism in Los Angeles. African Americans were reaching for their piece of the American Dream. Automotive manufacturing jobs were readily available. General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Goodyear, and Firestone had plants in South Los Angeles. Blacks integrated into the post war work economy. A blue collar job afforded a lower middle class to working class lifestyle. People were able to buy homes, cars, and save to send their children to