Miranda Roberson
Critical Thinking Essay 2
Always Running Essay The novel Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez is about the author and his experiences in the East L.A. gang life. In doing so, Rodriguez brings forth many deep issues. With the gang life often comes the reality of the police and drug abuse. Rodriguez shows the cop and gangster relationship multiple times. The police were very often seen as violent, brutal, and corrupted. The author takes it a step further to not only say that this relationship is only caused because the men are gangsters, but that they are also Mexican. There are many occasions when Rodriguez relays an account where the police call the men very racist names and act upon their beliefs in a very brutal manner. He continues this theme of social inequality as he talks about his experiences in school and his parents ' experiences in their jobs. By depicting these situations Rodriguez makes the large assumption that the main reason that gangs are so prominent is because the Mexican culture was experiencing a lack of resources and support and therefore, their youth turned to something they felt could help. Rodriguez speaks for most of the gang population when he assumes that most of them were involved because they had very few resources both at home, school and in the workforce. Rodriguez spends a lot of time demonstrating his experience while in school. He is often kicked out because of his violence issues, however even when he is in school the