I’ve never been in a gang. I’m not interested in ever joining one. I’m too damn timid, despite being from South Central Los Angeles, one of the nation’s gang-riddled regions. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure any gang would have wanted my weird ass self to represent them.
The number one reason I don’t want to “bang a set”? I don’t want to end up in prison for shooting someone because of some old “beef” or because a rival was dealing drugs to our people.
The appeal of a gang is still strong to this day for many young kids looking to belong to something bigger than themselves. Millions of Americans of all races have either been initiated in a gang or have some association with one.
I believe there is still a need for these large collections of individuals… if they are doing charitable work for the community and as a means of protection from nefarious characters looking to harm the innocent.
Outside of those two purposes, gangs have ruined many things for those of us not involved in gang activities1(not just lives and property values2). Here are just a few.
Let’s Go!
Sports Logos and Colors
For any Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, or Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) fans looking to visit Los Angeles, Chicago, or many other regions, don’t visit these places with your team hat on.
Here are a few of the organizations that use these teams’ logos and others, respectively,
Red Sox- L.A. Brims (LA)
Twins- Crenshaw Mafia Gangsters LA)
Indians- Inglewood Families. (LA)
Royals- Folk Nation (Chicago)
Athletics- Spanish Cobras (Chicago)
Pirates- Latin Kings (New York)
Dodgers- Latin Aspects (Nationwide)
Each of these gangs have a laundry list of crimes under their belts, ranging from robberies, assaults, narcotics dealings, and murder.
If you rock any of these hats or jerseys, you might be “pressed” for wearing it in the wrong neighborhood, without even knowing you’d run into these gangs.
It’s fucked up that you can’t show your love for your favorite team because a gang didn’t want to make a unique logo to distinguish themselves from rival gangs. Many kids in the neighborhood have to be reminded to not wear certain hats so they don’t become a target.
If you’re caught wearing any of these hats in the ‘hood, I would hope you have the capabilities to defend yourself by any means or you have some damn good running shoes on!
American Football teams aren’t much safer to wear either.
Don’t get me started on the Raiders3 and 49ers color schemes and logos. These football teams San Francisco’s team is closely associated with the Norteños of Northern California or the Family Swans Bloods.
A lot of violence has broken out at Oakland Stadium and Candlestick Park… one incident during a damn preseason game back in 2011! A throwaway game to get the fans excited resulted in some fans getting shot and another beat down in a stadium restroom. I’m willing to bet this violent altercation was gang-related or unnecessary drunkenness.
The Dallas Cowboys have a ridiculously large fan base here in California, but I’m willing to bet a good chunk of jersey and hat sales are made by gangsters.
I’m a chunky brown man, so I’m automatically perceived as a potential gang member if I rock any of these hats or colors. I learned early on what colors and hats not to wear when I got pressed for wearing an Indians hat… at fucking 11 years old.
I thought being pressed for a simple hat design was bonkers.
A “gentle reset” of the universe/heat death of the planet might be in order so we can wear whatever damn color or team logo we want in a billion years on another planet.
Sign Language
I have gained a deep respect and fascination for American Sign Language. I spent an hour perfecting my delivery of the Pledge of Allegiance. The key to language acquisition? Find a strong “why” to learn the language.
It’s a damn shame that I can’t show off my “gnarly” signing skills in Compton or Willowbrook.
Unless there is a deaf community event in those areas, I can’t be caught signing my name unless I’m prepared to answer, “Where is you from?” at a drop of a dime4.
The signs that gang members display on video aren’t even close to American Sign Language, but most wouldn’t be able to tell that there is a conversation going on between two people. Without further examination, they’d believe someone is disrespecting their block.
Signing “F” or “I Love You” might get you sucker punched, stabbed, or shot.
Neighborhoods and Culture
On a serious note, gangs contribute to the decay of neighborhoods through drug trafficking, property crimes, and the intimidation of residents.
Even with the ridiculous home price hikes of the past years, homes in these gang-rich areas are still affordable, the median being $575,000 in Compton5. The problem with an affordable home in Compton is that police response is abysmal. The damn city police force was disbanded some 20-plus years ago, with policing in the region being handled by the oh-so-friendly LA County Sheriff’s Office. The same LA Sheriff’s office that’s been accused of having their fucking deputy GANG, the Compton Executioners!
Gang-related violence has had a devastating impact on public safety in the United States, leading to increased crime rates and endangering innocent lives. I forgot to mention, a majority of these gangs possess the “scary” weapons law biding citizens are banned from owning, having the means to intimidate the locals without much resistance6.
The presence of gangs in schools has created a hostile learning environment, impeding students' educational progress and inhibiting teachers' effectiveness. Teachers and administrators have to contend with students who challenge authority and who are associated with these violent gangs.
Long Beach Poly High School and Jordan High haves been considered to be hubs of gang recruiting, activity, and violence. Alongside Latino and African American gangs, there is a huge Polynesian and Southeast Asian gang presence in the region. Long Beach contains the largest population of Cambodians in any city outside of Cambodia, due to the mass exodus of nationals looking to escape the rape of their nation and people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. The Tiny Rascal Gang (TRG) was created to protect many of the youth who escaped the Cambodian Genocide. Like all gangs, the purpose of protection lands on the back burner as they begin to commit extortion, robbery, auto theft, and murder. Some members attend Poly and have gone to war with the local Hispanic and African American gangs. TRG had even had issues with the infamous Mexican Mafia in the 90s.
The gang violence has been intense for many years. One gang-related incident that occurred at my school (Wilson Classical High, Poly’s rival) in my freshman year, took the life of Melody Ross, a star student and track athlete after she left a homecoming game in 2009. Her family escaped the Killing Fields in Cambodia only to experience another kind of horror: gang violence. The gang shooter was 13 years old and on juvenile probation when the shooting occurred.
As you can imagine, parents have to worry about their children being pulled into gangs or becoming innocent targets, aside from their frustration with raising teenagers.
Moreover, gang activity hinders economic development by deterring businesses from investing in affected areas, thereby limiting job opportunities for residents. Most residents have to endure disgusting traffic to find comparable Lastly, neighborhoods suffer from the decay caused by gangs through drug trafficking, property crimes, and the intimidation of residents.
Needless to say, gangs have ruined whole communities for personal gain.
There has been some positive outreach from the likes of Snoop Dogg and Nipsey Hussle7, two former gang members turned famous rappers from the LA region who wanted to give back to their communities through local football organizations and violence prevention. Hell, Snoop even has a popular kid’s show where he voices one of the characters!
I would like to believe the dangers of gang violence have scared many young kids from joining up. I get the need to join up with a group that “takes care” of their own, but not if it means you have to show loyalty through means of violence.
Gangs in their current form have been around for a long time. They’ll probably gather in the VR world once it becomes mega popular.
That’ll just be one more thing gangs will have ruined!
Until next time,
Adios.
Before anyone mentions it: I try everything not to catch anyone’s attention in the old neighborhood, like wearing a simple watch or not going down sketchy ass alleyways. The thing is, there are some young wanksters who love to cause trouble, no matter how much you try to avoid sticking out.
Trashing your community instead of rejuvenating it through the organization of the people isn’t a good look.
It should be considered a blessing that this team moved over to Las Vegas to get away from the negative association, despite this move going against every Al Davis stood for. He was a renegade NFL owner who didn’t care about being popular and was okay with having a rabid fan base. The problem is that gangsters rocking Raider gear didn’t help sell the team’s professional image.
I Don’t have hands to keep up with wild swings. I can only hope to catch the sucker in a headlock.
Having a firearm for home protection isn’t enough, but it would certainly help give residents of these crime-ridden areas an even playing field until officers arrive.
Hussle was gunned down in his clothing store back in 2019. The amount of support for this man’s contribution to his community was massive.