A FBI report stated, “An estimated 1.4 million people are active in more than 33,000 street, prison and outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country.” In book, “If I Grow Up” written by Todd Strasser discusses that life in the projects is not easy. DeShawn, a young boy who lived in the projects with his gramma and his sister Nia, wanted to get out of the projects, but he thought there was no way out. So after DeShawn started to see that there was no hope for him he decided that there was no hope and made a decision that would forever affect his life, he decided to join the gang. For then on he made poor decisions that caused him to be put in jail.
How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.
The array of neighborhoods in the center southern California holds nest to the notorious Crips and the Bloods. The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America starts with the generation before the blue and red covered the streets. Thorsten Sellin’s pioneering on conflict theory best describes the development of the gangs. There were two waves of cultural conflict that led up to the Bloods and Crips. The primary culture conflict derived in the 1950s, segregation defined norms that strictly separated blacks and whites.
In the film Crips and Bloods Made In America by Stacy Peralta, the history of the two south L.A. gangs is discussed in depth. The current disadvantages these modern gangs are faced with can be traced back to the oppressive and segregative history of America towards people of color. In the 60’s the black community was extremely strong and had a plethora of leaders who united and led their fight against inequality. Even in the face of white flight and segregation (Schneider, Escape From L.A.) the community had thriving social programs, cultural hubs, and vocational opportunities that was beneficial to its members (Film: Crips and Bloods).
Most of the gang members come from a poor and unstable upbringing. Many of the youth who are a part of the Crips have dropped out of high school and are
He goes on to further explain how African Americans living in that time only formed gangs to create an atmosphere of unity amongst those who felt detached from society and/or their community. Shakur also speaks about his joining of a gang , and the actual nature of these gangs which were not territorial. Since the valuable positive organizations decreased,street gangs came back full in effect. In the late 1960s one of the most violent and unlawful African American gangs in Los Angeles were formed, the Crips. Two South Central High school students named Raymond Washington and Tookie were the original creators of the Crips.
In America, a teenager can be easily drawn into witnessing a family member being stabbed to death, trafficked into drug/gang cults, or receive severe damages to his/her physical body. Commonly, these kinds of circumstances call the responsible leaders in our community to action, but in the forgotten part of America, they continue uninterrupted. During the late 1980’s, the United States ranked as a developed nation with a competitive capitalist economy and better living standards for the higher social class. Their promises to defend critical human rights remained unrivaled around the globe; yet the United States still possessed areas with lower class people compressed into high rise projects and who struggled to overcome poverty, violence, and prejudice. The lower class people were often given very little to no resources or the
As gangs increased, so did the fear in the neighborhood, giving way to deadly consequences. Unfortunately, the majority of these consequences were taken out on the African American community and young black men were given an unnecessary sentence over a struggle with the world of illegal drugs. In an article examining the structure of an African American house hold during the Crack Era, Eloise Dunlap determines a line between the struggling family and drugs. She states there were “…increasing concentrations of poverty during the 70’s and 80’s, particularly among African Americans...” with “Poverty and joblessness associated with…drug and alcohol abuse…” Not only is the use of drugs affecting their safety, but it is now ruining their home life and economic stability as well.
Since African Americans from lower income households don’t have legitimate opportunities available to them but they still want the nice cars and lives that everyone dreams of, they resort to crime because that’s the only way for them to achieve material success and avoid being labeled a failure. The only way for many of them to “make it” and live out “The American Dream” is a lot of times only possible through
Greg Boyle once said “You can’t reason with gang violence: you can’t talk to it, sit it at a table, and negotiate with it.” A big problem with the US educational system is that they don’t do anything to stop gangs in school. The gangs inside the school and outside the school are constantly influencing the students making them more violent and aggressive against each other and teachers. In the memoir, Holler If You Can Hear Me By Gregory Michie, Michie and his students face gang problems inside and outside the school.
The idea of a biker gang in the 21st century seems insane. How are there “turf” wars? Hasn’t all of the turf in the USA been divided, divvied, and assigned? Not the case, according to the article America’s Biker Gangs published by TheWeek.com. The article, published in June of 2015, details the history, growth, and continued issues associated with the deadly gangs in the US.
In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.
In poor neighborhoods conflict is often resolved via violence because that is the only way they know how to handle the situation. Also in poor neighborhoods there are gangs, drug dealers, and no positive role models around to influence the community. Most African American parents are not as strict on their children as to watch they view on television. Seeing violence and crime on television, can result in the child’s behavior in the real world. Growing up in poverty with a single parent, leaves young adults to provide for themselves through a life of crime and violence within the streets.
It is just a matter of knowing the right people. Many people turn to gun violence, especially teenagers, because of either growing up in poverty or they are unstable emotionally and law enforcement tactics have failed in reducing it. The fastest and easiest way to get money is by joining a gang. Sociologists agree that the main reasons for joining gangs are friendships, income, and protection. Taking a quick glance at the areas where the violence is most severe shows that the three basic human needs of respect, employment and security and are not being fulfilled by the
Members of gangs live off of the power they feel they have on their communities and continue to intimidate society through their violent
