NCJ Number
167331
Date Published
1997
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Four Los Angeles gang members maintain that the pervasive racism in American society leads young people of color to vent their frustration through gang-related crime and violence such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict.
Abstract
The gang members view their world of poverty and lack of opportunity to find a satisfying role and status in society as due to their living in a socioeconomic world created by the "white man." They argue that the "white man has all the money" and "all the control." When blacks do make money, the gang members say, they are taxed by white-dominated governments, who then use the money to benefit themselves, with no significant benefits being provided to the communities in which gang members live. Such a system of deprivation and unfairness has fueled frustration, anger, and rage among youth of color. They believe the current system has no interest in them, and they have no incentive to vote or obey the laws of the system. This lack of respect for all government and laws is expressed in their commitment to the gang, which is their means of attaining power and status within their communities. The gang members say they are not committed to violence and the victimization of innocent people as ends in themselves. Their goal is to find ways to organize and act to change the system so that poor communities who receive few benefits under the current system receive the same benefits and have the same opportunities as current affluent white communities. They view the existing system as giving more and more to those who already have plenty and less and less to those who have so little.