Fergasun Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 How a Community Imploded CHERYL Green was hardly the first. Since the 14-year-old was shot to death in December in the forgotten strip of Los Angeles known as Harbor Gateway, she has become a symbol of the region's gang and racial strife. Yet long before the mayor, police chief and FBI director showed up to decry the violence, the tiny neighborhood lived with it. For more than a decade, many say, the neighborhood Latino gang — called 204th Street — had been attacking blacks. African Americans had taken to warily surveying their streets for Latinos, and few dared go north of 206th Street, which the gang had set as a boundary for blacks. In 1997, 11-year-old Marquis Wilbert, an African American youth with no gang affiliation, was shot and killed by a 204th Street gang member on a bicycle. In September 2001, Robert Hightower, a 19-year-old Pasadena high school senior, was shot to death after hugging his sister, whom he had been visiting. A 204th Street gang member shot him, according to court testimony, because he was upset that a black boxer had beaten a Latino in a prizefight. In 2003, Eric Butler, 39, was shot to death as he drove from the neighborhood's lone business, the Del Amo Market, which the gang considered to be in its territory. He'd gone there to intervene after gang members began harassing his 14-year-old stepdaughter. She was shot in the back and lives today with a bullet lodged near her spine. Butler's wife, Madeline Enriquez, organized marches to bring attention to the problem, without success. Instead, the violence spread. From 1994 to 2005 in Harbor Gateway, there were nearly five times as many homicides, assaults and other violent crimes by Latinos against blacks as by blacks against Latinos, according to Los Angeles Police Department statistics. Cheryl's shooting — allegedly by two 204th Street gang members as she and friends talked on a street in broad daylight — underscored a new reality: that since the mid-1990s, according to the L.A. County Human Relations Commission, Latino gangs have become the region's leading perpetrators of violent hate crimes. ... Two weeks after Cheryl's death, the gang allegedly struck again, stabbing 80 times a white man they believed to be a witness to her shooting death. Five gang members were charged last month in his slaying. ... Tensions worsened when a small black gang formed — the 208th Street Crips. The Crip gang's willingness to go to the police with complaints offended the Latino gang's sense of honor. Blacks were "writing on our walls, throwing bottles at us and telling on us at the same time," said the gang member. The 204th Street gang figured "that's kind of disrespectful … so [we are] going to shoot every black guy up there." Interesting article on street gangs in LA. I think it's funny they fail to mention illegal immigration as one of the problems. It's nice to hear about a neighborhood where people can't let their children play outside... doesn't sound much different than Iraq, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I thought they all just came here to work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Prime Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I think it has to be said, but I wonder how many are here illegally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMetal Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Ummm..if you have kids you might want to consider moving away from that neighborhood. There is no shortage of crappy, low rent housing in LA, and in areas with much lower bodycounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Oops, posted a reply in the wrong thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I thought they all just came here to work? :rotflmao: you're crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thanos Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 What happens in Cali ,eventuallly affects the entire country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I thought they all just came here to work? No, clearly they all just came here to shoot people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I thought they all just came here to work? No, you thought they all came here to join gangs. More of them come here to work then join gangs. Many many more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 No, clearly they all just came here to shoot people. That's what I thought. They need to move in with the National Guard and round up all this riff raff. Shoot them or deport them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 No, you thought they all came here to join gangs. More of them come here to work then join gangs. Many many more. No, their parents came here to work... and since their parents were so busy working they ended up joining gangs. That's my theory, and it seems correct especially in a place where it costs so much $$$ to even buy a home... It also seems like the police don't care unless something happens, like what happened to this 14 year old recently. If gang-bangers (or perceived) are just killing each other, why bother? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Both of my parents worked. Why didnt I join a gang? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Both of my parents worked. Why didnt I join a gang? Cuz u was 2 soft yo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 Both of my parents worked. Why didnt I join a gang? Because large sweeping generalizations about the inner city of LA don't apply to the "mean streets" of Bradenton. I really do think our National Guard should do something about drug gangs in large citys that terrorize people like this. Is that unreasonable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Broad sweeping generalizations rarely work in any case. Thugs dont join gangs because both parents work. In fact, Id bet less than 10 percent of gangmembers have a 2 parent household. The breakdown of the family in those areas and in those ethnic groups bears a large burden of the blame. People join gangs for the sense of belonging and family that they SHOULD get at home, but dont because it's somehow become acceptable to have lots of kids out of wedlock, or at a young age, or with multiple partners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I really do think our National Guard should do something about drug gangs in large citys that terrorize people like this. Is that unreasonable? You'll be called a right wing Nazi for that. Those gang members have rights too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Broad sweeping generalizations rarely work in any case.Thugs dont join gangs because both parents work. In fact, Id bet less than 10 percent of gangmembers have a 2 parent household. The breakdown of the family in those areas and in those ethnic groups bears a large burden of the blame. People join gangs for the sense of belonging and family that they SHOULD get at home, but dont because it's somehow become acceptable to have lots of kids out of wedlock, or at a young age, or with multiple partners. Right... gang members just needed a hug. Hugz, that's my anti-drug! That might be somewhat true... but honestly there are a lot of places where joining a gang is done for safety. Being on streets run by gangs when you don't belong to any, makes you unwelcome pretty much everywhere as a young person. There are real threats of violence not just lack of belonging to anything. We also have to remember that many of these kids are being raised by criminal parents or by parents that aren't the greatest people. There are lots of reasons and they aren't all nice easy to complain about political things like "kids out of wedlock". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Right... gang members just needed a hug. Hugz, that's my anti-drug! That might be somewhat true... but honestly there are a lot of places where joining a gang is done for safety. Being on streets run by gangs when you don't belong to any, makes you unwelcome pretty much everywhere as a young person. There are real threats of violence not just lack of belonging to anything. We also have to remember that many of these kids are being raised by criminal parents or by parents that aren't the greatest people. There are lots of reasons and they aren't all nice easy to complain about political things like "kids out of wedlock". I agree. I said large burden, not total reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 The problems begin when the police and city officials cede territory to the turds. Citizens have to demand accountability and work with the police. My area was going to hell with gangs and shootings and with the mayor offering the advice to just move to a better part of town . The people here got together and fought by neighbourhood watches and voting in someone who DO his JOB. Having neighbourhood cops that know and respond to problems and a gang task force combined with fed up citizens CAN clean out the trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 I really do think our National Guard should do something about drug gangs in large citys that terrorize people like this. Is that unreasonable?It is not unreasonable, but that would be a police action which is illegal for the military to participate in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowplay Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 You'll be called a right wing Nazi for that. Those gang members have rights too No, a right wing Nazi would think the best way to deal with these problems would be to just shoot everybody on site..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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