We Cannot Stop Gang Violence Since We Label People as "Gang Members" Based on the Color Of
English 9293
Evan Hill
Ms. Best
Why Gang Violence will never end
In order to stop gang violence as a whole, gangs must be eliminated. It can often sound simple when brainstormed, and talked among a group of friends, but in reality there is no real solution to end gang violence. A major problem that needs to be identified is who our gang members are. Majority of the time on the news, when the media portrays gang members it is our nation’s minorities. Our Asian American, African American and Latino men, but rarely do Americans witness the media present White American men as gang members. Growing up in America the media shows images of the Bloods, the Crips and MS13, but almost never show the population images of the Aryan Brotherhood or the KKK. Instead of showing the peaceful protest in Baltimore by African Americans they show the looting and pillaging. As a result of receiving a false sense of information, our nation has become zombies following the media, which creates a negative image in our minds and perpetuates stereotypes about minorities. Gang violence cannot be stopped, because we as a society label minorities gang members based on the color of their skin and their associates.
Throughout this semester our class has read articles that have identified problems, which lead towards youth joining gangs and the appropriate measures needed to stop gang violence. As a result of those readings I have learned that gang violence has been tremendously reduced in cities like Boston with programs such as “the Boston Gun Project/ Pulling Levers Strategy”. In Boston off 1996 crime swept the streets of Boston until a man known as David Kennedy took action and applied a new strategy known as the “Boston Gun Project”. As Kennedy took the reins of Boston’s problems of gang violence, the success of the “Pulling Levers Strategy” became widely known. On two separate occasions the Boston special police unit used a show of force, to back up their threat to the gangs; however a show of force was not needed again in Boston. “Who wants to be next? And, as with the sheriff, when that message was clear and credible, not only did nobody want to be next, it was not necessary to fire the shot” The Criminal Justice System Can Reduce Gang Violence by (David Kennedy 87). This quote shows that the “Pulling Levers Strategy” deterred gang violence in the city of Boston.
We have also witnessed in a documentary, programs such as “Homeboy Industries” created by G-Dog that have transform ex-gang members and felons into productive members of society. Now after watching the video on “Homeboy Industries” and reading articles such as “The Criminal Justice System Can Reduce Gang Violence” by David Kennedy I realize that there are ways to end gang violence and gang membership. I also learned that there are at least two different methods to approach gangs and gang violence. The first method was used in the “Boston Approach” by David Kennedy in which the police department used communication to give the gangs the opportunity to stop the brutal violence on their own. During the talks the police told the gang members the repercussions that would be applied if the gang violence does not come to a halt. If the communication was not effective the police department used a series of raids on the gang that was causing trouble. Gang members were given a chance to change in Boston and when they failed they were arrested and charged with harsh penalties. “More than 20 members of the Intervale Posse, a street gang in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, are arrested in an early-morning sweep after a nearly 9 – month investigation. Fifteen of the arrestees face Federal drug charges and 10-year minimum mandatory sentences; many face even stiffer sanctions” The Criminal Justice System Can Reduce Gang Violence by (David Kennedy 82). This quote shows the repercussions that gangs face if they do not abide by the rules given to them by a dedicated police unit.
So by deploying these tactics across America, there is a strong possibility that gang violence can be reduced or ended. The problem with the idea stated above is that these methods were created and used by men who were willing to go above and beyond the norm to make a difference. Also, to support these two methods nationwide it would demand a large supply of our nation’s resources. There is also a huge possibility that these methods may not work in different environments because of missing variables which would result in a waste of government and private resources (taxes).
A gang is considered an organized group of criminals and by that definition our country was founded by gangs. During the Revolution the Americans were considered terrorist and gangs by the British for fighting against the Crown. Now that our nation won the war, and majority of men who fought in the revolution were white our rebellion was changed into a revolution. The propaganda creates an image of White Americans on a pedal stool. “Whites are disproportionately likely to engage in all kinds of destructive behavior” Crimes by White Teenagers Are Not Labeled Gang Behavior (Tim Wise 70). As a result we grow up idolizing the revolutionist (White Americans) as heroes, not gang members or terrorist. The point that I am making is that being a part of a gang, party, club whatever you wish to call it, and was instilled in majority of Americans from the moment public school started. If I can ask everyone who reads this essay, before reading my essay to name one gang I strongly believe that no one would fail based on the images received from the media. We would hear names such as the Bloods, the Crips, Ms13, and Black Stones and so on. We would not hear names such as the Minute Men or the Patriots. Ironically these gangs were all created to protect their communities from prejudice and unfair treatment (that is why we fought the Revolution). Growing up in America I have always been told that it is never wrong to defend yourself when a threat arises so, when does protecting yourself become gang violence? It becomes gang violence when the media finds out that you are a minority who did not follow the social contract.
Far too often criminals are labeled as people of color, and when crimes are committed by white Americans there is always an excuse. “Yeah, well, just keep telling yourself that. Keep watching COPS and Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, and America’s Most Wanted, where most of the bad guys fit the more comfortable profile to which we’ve grown accustomed” Crimes by White Teenagers Are Not Labeled Gang Behavior (Time Wise 76). This quote shows us that the media shows images of minorities committing crimes while portraying White Americans as heroes. They neglect to mention how white Americans also commit crimes. For example in recent news, members of the University of Oklahoma fraternity SAE were caught on video, chanting a racist song but they were quickly labeled as kids who were just trying to fit in, and kids who just made a stupid mistake. Also members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority where heard singing along to the racist chant and they received no repercussions.
Ironically while a black sorority called the Zeta Phi Beta were peacefully protesting in Baltimore they were quickly labeled as gang members by CNN’s Erin Burnett. “Over the past year CNN Reporters have consistently lacked integrity while reporting on police brutality and people of color and they show no sign of slowing down. Today members of the African American Divine Nine sorority Zeta Phi Beta were filmed sitting in Baltimore’s Town Hall discussing reformation of local laws on police brutality for a segment on CNN, during which time anchor Erin Burnett said on live television: You’ve got the gang members there and about 500 people—it will be contentious and it will be angry” CNN Reporter Mistakes Zeta Beta Sorority for the Crips 4/29/2015 “Lauren R.D. Fox”. So this makes it even harder to end gang violence when the media wrongfully labels our minority (African American) role models as gang members and they choose to ignore the obvious signs of peace. We have witnessed the media disrespect a community and a race, while covering up the hate crimes of White Americans (Delta Delta Delta sorority). “Every night time news program running stories asking what’s wrong with the black family (as if there’s only one); what’s wrong with these people in the ghetto underclass. But when Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer go out and do their thing, no one thinks to ask what it is about white folks that makes them cut babies out of their mothers wombs, torture young men and bury them under the house” Crimes by White Teenagers Are Not Labeled Gang Behavior (Tim Wise 74). The fraternity and sorority at the University of Oklahoma had committed a racial hate crime which was clearly organized with majority of the members on the bus chanting it. That by definition is considered organized crime which is the definition of a gang (gang violence).Instead the media wants to identify Zeta Phi Beta a black sorority in Baltimore as a gang. As I have stated earlier without understanding of whom our gangs are, gang violence cannot be stopped.
How can we stop gang violence when we do not know who our gangs are? Why would our government want gang violence to stop, when gang violence is seen as a profit? So not until after we successfully identify gangs can we begin to make real progress on gang violence. If we believe that gangs are what the media shows us, than we can come to the conclusion that gang violence is a direct result of poor communities. That answers the question of why gang violence is higher in the minority communities and lower in the White American communities. Although gang violence is reported higher in minority communities, a question arises on how that is possible? How can poor people afford boats to bring cocaine into the country? How can poor people afford planes to bring weapons into the country? A strong possibility is that crime is forced inside our poor communities, and as a result of our low education levels minorities often tend to make poor decisions. Poor decisions which often leads to the negative label of “gangs” which is placed on minorities and gang violence is also placed as a result of bad decisions. Until the media decides to place all humans on equal footing, we will not be able to truly devise a plan to target all gang members. As of now our Criminal Justice System can target “gang violence” in poor communities but the system would not be allowed to succeed in white communities.
Fox R.D. Lauren. CNN Reporter Mistakes Zeta Beta Sorority for the Crips 4/29/2015
http://madamenoire.com/529842/zeta-phi-beta/
Gerstenfeld, Phyllis B. Crime and Punishment in the United States.
Publisher:In Magill's Choice.Pasadena, Calif : Salem Press. 2008. Wilkinson, Deanna Lyn. Guns, Violence, and Identity Among African American and Latino Youth
In Criminal Justice.New York : LFB Scholarly Pub. 2003
Tim Wise. Crimes by White Teenagers Are Not Labeled Gang Behavior
David Kennedy. The Criminal Justice System Can Reduce Gang Violence
