Why are gangs like the Bloods and Crips popping up in cities all over America? (crime, neighborhoods)
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I live in Maryland in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. When I moved to Maryland in the late 90's, there were no gangs in Baltimore, just drugs. Nowadays, Bloods and Crips are huge in Baltimore. If you live in or around Baltimore, you may eventually meet kids in their late teens or 20's who claim to be Bloods and Crips and dress in all red or blue and wear bandanas. Others have theorized that gang members from California have set up shop in Baltimore. I find this odd because I am originally from an inner city neighborhood in San Francisco and we never had Bloods or Crips growing up in the Bay because L.A gang members got killed or ran out of town when they tried to set up shop in the 80's. To this day, Bloods and Crips are basically nonexistent in SF and Oakland.
Baltimore is definitely not the only city on the map where this is happening. New York City definitely has seen a sharp rise in Blood and Crip gang membership in the past decade. I am aware the NYC Bloods originated from the Rikers Island prison system in the 90's. However, Crip sets have also popped up out of nowhere in NYC. About a week ago, 50 alleged Crip members were arrested for assembling in Brooklyn.
There are countless Youtube videos from places all over the map of young kids claiming to Bloods and Crips. I'm only 28, but when I was growing up, that was strictly an L.A. thing. I've heard the only city L.A. gang members acknowledge as an affiliate city is Little Rock, Arkansas. The funny thing is that Blood and Crip activity in L.A. peaked decades ago in the 70's, 80's and early 90's.
How did this come about? I think it has something to do with popular mainstream rappers like Lil Wayne claiming Blood affiliation. Other popular rappers like the Compton's own Game are constantly making popular songs and videos that glorify Blood gang affiliation (Lil Wayne and Game made a song and video a few months ago called "Red Nation" that has over 8 million views on Youtube). The whole mainstream gangsta rap industry has followed in suit. Every popular rapper on the radio and TV from Young Jeezy to Waka Flocka Flame to Gucci Mane to Jim Jones either claims Blood or Crip. They make videos in ghetto neighborhoods from Atlanta to New York to California where everyone is dressed in gang colors with bandannas and throwing signs. This is not good for impressionable youngsters living in a growingly poorer America to look up to. This could be the next thing that causes crime to go up to 80's and early 90's proportions as the economy continues to crumble. It's not just a "Black thing" either because very recent (and popular) alternate versions of these types of songs and videos have be reproduced by Asian, Pacific Islander and Hispanic rappers claiming similar gang affiliations. This is not what we need in a country where one out of four children lives below the poverty line and people with Master's Degrees and illegal immigrants are taking jobs formerly reserved for teenagers at McDonald's and Walmart. These grown men (in their 30's!) with millions of dollars should be ashamed of themselves for promoting something that brings nothing but violence, prison and death for disadvantaged misguided children. All of these videos get millions of views (or near millions) and are less than a year old:
What do you think is going on? Is all this Blood and Crip shtick in Rap music a ploy to keep minority youth dumbed down and divided killing each other? Or do you think art is imitating life? Have you noticed an uptick of gang presence/activity in your city, metro area or town? Thoughts please...
Last edited by goldenchild08; 09-06-2011 at 01:40 PM..
Sorry to be so trite, but a simple answer and my guess would be $$$$$$$$$$$$$
But people in the ghetto in cities like Baltimore were getting major bucks way before gangs. Baltimore is all about selling drugs, not gangs. The reason why Bloods and Crips were never able to set up shop in the Bay Area is because the ways of the underground economy were already very established in San Francisco and Oakland by the 80's.
There are no bloods and crips in Philly. In fact there aren't really large gangs at all. There are loosely formed "gangs" based on street corners and what neighborhood you are from but you would most likely be laughed at if you tried to start something based on a color a person was wearing.
Because the same social dysfunction, among varied ethnicities, that contributes to gang culture, that you may have thought only existed in urban Los Angeles, also exists in other metrpolitan areas. In this, Los Angeles is not unique.
There are no bloods and crips in Philly. In fact there aren't really large gangs at all. There are loosely formed "gangs" based on street corners and what neighborhood you are from but you would most likely be laughed at if you tried to start something based on a color a person was wearing.
But people in the ghetto in cities like Baltimore were getting major bucks way before gangs. Baltimore is all about selling drugs, not gangs. The reason why Bloods and Crips were never able to set up shop in the Bay Area is because the ways of the underground economy were already very established in San Francisco and Oakland by the 80's.
I grew up in Oakland precisely during the time when Bloods and Crips appeared to be taking over LA and that NEVER really had any traction up here because of what you said, there was already a huge established underground economy in the Bay Area.
Gangs in the 'bloods and crips' sense was seen as a Southern California phenomenon.
There are a few cities that don't really have Bloods and Crips. As I mentioned, the Bay Area. Others have mentioned Philly and Cleveland. In Philly, it seems neighborhood crews run the show; I'm guessing, I don't know I'm not from Philly or too familiar with that city. It also seems that on the East Coast, Bloods and Crips are tied to the prison system and exported to the streets later. There are too many Muslims in Philly for Bloods to have a presence on the streets because Muslims and Bloods are opposite groups in prison. Muslims provide prison inmates an alternative to violent gang life with the Bloods and Crips in exchange for protection behind prison walls.
There are a few cities that don't really have Bloods and Crips. As I mentioned, the Bay Area. Others have mentioned Philly and Cleveland. In Philly, it seems neighborhood crews run the show; I'm guessing, I don't know I'm not from Philly or too familiar with that city. It also seems that on the East Coast, Bloods and Crips are tied to the prison system and exported to the streets later. There are too many Muslims in Philly for Bloods to have a presence on the streets because Muslims and Bloods are opposite groups in prison. Muslims provide prison inmates an alternative to violent gang life with the Bloods and Crips in exchange for protection behind prison walls.
Do you get any sense of a gang culture in DC just 30 miles away?
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