Why does LA have such Bad Gang Problem (Los Angeles, Bradley: relocating, condo)

[the one]

you guys are hilarious!!!! i neded a good laugh and everyones proclamations and answers to "the gang problem" are funny. yes africa is poor and bogota is a slum and thats why mexicans steal cars in los angeles. it sounds like some some of you might be from south carolina...

[James T]

Originally Posted by the one

you guys are hilarious!!!! i neded a good laugh and everyones proclamations and answers to "the gang problem" are funny. yes africa is poor and bogota is a slum and thats why mexicans steal cars in los angeles. it sounds like some some of you might be from south carolina...

Whatever. Now if you'll excuse me, NASCAR is on.

[UB50]

I think it was Police Chief Bratton who said that, anytime two or more people like to hang around together, that technically forms a "gang." Now, most gangs don't do anything. Some of them are just friends who like to hang out together. Some of them are kids who get into goofy kid trouble like we *all* got into (skipping school, drinking dad's beers, that kind of thing). Even taggers, for all the grief they cause, are usually nonviolent.

It's only when a gang turns violent that it's bad.

So, as he said, we will never get rid of all of the gangs. We can only hope to get rid of the violent ones. (And, yes, as Sassberto said, the gang "look," music, etc. is all popular culture now and really doesn't mean a kid is in a violent gang.)

[Alexus]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

Without sounding like a racist, I have to agree that Mexicans are very, very, very, very, very different from the latinos I'm used to. I grew up in NYC around PRs first, then the Dominicans started trickling in. The Central Americans (el salvador, honduras, guatemala, colombia) tend to live in Jackson Heights, Queens, and even they're different in their outlook on things (though I've never actually hung out with any).

Let's just say Mexicans do NOT respect education or believe in abortion or birth control.

I will also say that I find Black Americans born and raised in LA "different" as well (and not in a good way). And before you call me a racist - I'm black too.

Just curious. Explain the comment about blacks borns in LA being "different." Do you think this is LA or CA?

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by buckfush

Just curious. Explain the comment about blacks borns in LA being "different." Do you think this is LA or CA?

I can only speak on Los Angeles. I have met blacks from the Bay area and they appear to be "normal" (meaning what I grew up around). I don't know, it just seems like most of the blacks raised here came straight from the plantations of the deep south, settled in whatever LA neighborhood they found and just stayed for generations. The goal is to get a job working for the country or the post office. Nothing wrong with that, but can your aspirations go any higher than that? They sound straight up country at times and still wear jerri curls! Yes, JERRI CURLS in 2007!!! There's an ignorance that prevails here that I thought faded out long ago. Apparently it hasn't. It's still the 1970s to some people.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by Miss NY

Sounds like you have personal problem wit NY

It sure does. NYers aren't trying to make anyone afraid of them. The problem out-of-towners have with us is that we're upfront and will tell you the TRUTH straight up without any B.S. I find that (especially in Los Angeles) confrontation is a no-no, even if you do it non-threateningly. They can't handle it.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by THASPECIAL

New York...LOL.....Mexicans are harder than what New Yorkers have to offer...New Yorkers go off of thier accent to make people think they are tougher than anywhere else...that is all they have ..(the average New Yorker THAT is) don't let em scare ya.....Mexico has a worse crime problem than NYC and that can be proven....so please dont give new yorkers a reason to think they are "all that" ....that is what they want...for you to be scared of them"....Cali is gang capital.....but i love the nice areas in Cali but Cali "can" compare to what these New YOrkers "want" you to believe........i am from Florida and would be more scared to walk through a Cali Ghetto than a NYC ghetto even if there is crime in both....just my skin color would get me shot in a Cali Ghetto

New Yorkers don't "want" people to believe anything. You either take us "as is" or leave us alone. We couldn't care less.

It's obvious you have issues with NYers. I will agree with one thing you said, NY in no way can compare to the gang or criminal activity of Los Angeles. Nor do we want to.

[cityx]

Originally Posted by UB50

(And, yes, as Sassberto said, the gang "look," music, etc. is all popular culture now and really doesn't mean a kid is in a violent gang.)

True, but don't you think that this type of look, along with the music, and all the "bling bling" nonsense perpetuates this kind of lifestyle?? It seems like almost all young people today, (even the white kids from suburbia), aspire to look and behave like a thug. Unfortunately, many of them take it a step further by becoming violent, worthless individuals themselves all in an effort to find some sort of acceptance, somewhere. The media gives them a lot of help in this arena as well. Look at the current MTV culture with all of its gangsta-like shows that are continuously spreading a message to kids that you have to live like a player and look like you have a load of cash - no matter what the cost. This twisted image is supposed to represent success in life? Give me a break.
Violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto, the ongoing negative effect of violent lyrics in many rap songs, and general violence in the media are around most of us everyday. Imagine what these things are doing to a young, impressionable mind?

[UB50]

Originally Posted by cityx

True, but don't you think that this type of look, along with the music, and all the "bling bling" nonsense perpetuates this kind of lifestyle?? It seems like almost all young people today, (even the white kids from suburbia), aspire to look and behave like a thug. Unfortunately, many of them take it a step further by becoming violent, worthless individuals themselves all in an effort to find some sort of acceptance, somewhere. The media gives them a lot of help in this arena as well. Look at the current MTV culture with all of its gangsta-like shows that are continuously spreading a message to kids that you have to live like a player and look like you have a load of cash - no matter what the cost. This twisted image is supposed to represent success in life? Give me a break.
Violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto, the ongoing negative effect of violent lyrics in many rap songs, and general violence in the media are around most of us everyday. Imagine what these things are doing to a young, impressionable mind?

There is a fine line in there somewhere -- between looking like a thug and being a thug. Unfortunately, there are people like Snoop Dogg and J-Lo and P Diddy and whoever else who have made a TON of money being part of this popular "thug-looking" culture. Success breeds imitators. If you can make a ton of money being a rapper or a breakdancer, why shouldn't you try to be one? The barriers for entrance to that lifestyle are low. Unlike ballet, where you need to spend zillions of dollars on lessons to become any good, you can pick up breakdancing from your friends on the street.

Don't you think capitalism fuels all this stuff? Violent video games wouldn't exist if people didn't buy them. Communist China doesn't have problems with kids getting violent video games because they have banned those kinds of games. Would it be better if we were like communist countries?

[cityx]

Originally Posted by UB50

Don't you think capitalism fuels all this stuff? Violent video games wouldn't exist if people didn't buy them. Communist China doesn't have problems with kids getting violent video games because they have banned those kinds of games. Would it be better if we were like communist countries?

You make a good point. Our capitalist economy does indeed fuel this kind of baloney. If there is a market for it - they'll buy it. But I absolutely do not believe a communist-like structure is the answer either. I do feel however, that corporations, particularly the media, share a responsibility to not excessively perpetuate a lifestyle that could potentially steer kids in the wrong direction. Where does corporate responsibility lie in this whole thing? Since profit for these entities is the primary objective at whatever the cost, the ultimate responsibility lies with parents, caregivers, and even the community as a whole to educate and inform young people of all the other options that life can offer them. Get them off the streets, their I-pods, cell phones, and televisions long enough to empower and excite them about making something out of their lives. Easier said than done I know, but it does seem an increased effort could be made somehow.