Part 2 of 3: Why the Gang Culture Exists
Factor 4: The Inborn Desire to be Respected and Admired
Immigration & the History of American Gangs
Gangs are part of American history, comprised of men and boys whose parents were recent immigrants. Because of famine and failed crops in Europe, Irish immigrants fled to America in the 1800s to find a better life. People from other countries saw the industrial revolution as a new start, too. The late 18th century marked the beginning of a dramatic transformation from manual labor and draft-animal–based production to machine-based manufacturing. Productivity and output leaped forward. First were textiles industries, then iron making. Simultaneously came a dramatic increase in the use of refined coal.
Other ethnic groups besides the Irsish saw these changes as a harbinger of better days and lives ahead. They too poured into the United States.
For most, immigrant life was not easy and many found it far harder than expected. Children worked in sweatshops, their families desperately needing the money. Dreams of better lives quickly dissipated. Child labor in factories ended with the Child Labor Reform Act of 1873, which made it illegal for children between ages 5-15 to work; but the law’s disastrous consequence was putting 100,000 uneducated children out of work and onto the streets. Because of this, gang members almost instantly became younger in age.
Language and cultural barriers compounded difficulties, so shared ethnic backgrounds quickly led to the formation of ethnic gangs, as like-minded people banded together for protection from harm and prejudice. Gang-infested ethnic neighborhoods fell prey to extortion, robbery, and other crimes. As power and money grew, gangs spread. Older gangs retained control to preserve neighborhood order.
Gangs also formed in the American majority. Following the close of the Civil War, in 1865-1866 a white supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) emerged in Tennessee. The Klan opposed the rights of minority groups such as African-Americans and people of Jewish decent and used violence to prohibit minority groups from exercising their post-war, emancipated rights.
The Klan spread quickly throughout the south. Operating at night, its members persecuted the oppressed and murdered white people who sympathized with African-Americans. Klan members wore white hooded robes, hid their faces, and even disguised their horses under while sheets. The Klan continued to grow and terrorize until 1871, when Congress passed a bill allowing the President to engage federal troops to stop them.
The Klan still exists and has had several major, recurring time periods of activity in its near-150-year history.
Organized crime made its debut in the 1920s during prohibition to supply the Roaring ‘20s seeming insatiable demand for illegal alcohol. Huge amounts of money were at stake and mob activity accelerated, which spawned another tidal wave of crime.
Gangs have continued to evolve. Today they have become far more sophisticated. Gangs of the most recent generation have adopted clothing trends, traditions, graffiti, hand signals, and arsenals of powerful, sophisticated weapons. Since drug trafficking and gang activity flourish where poverty and a lack of jobs infest a community, bullets now settle arguments once settled by fistfights.
Getting In
Only a small percentage of gang members are actually recruited. Most gang members join because they want to. They see the gang as a way to acquire companionship, gain peer respect, act-out biases, and express cultural identity. Wannabees must first endure a test or ritual of initiation.
Jumpin’ in is a common form of initiation that consists of a series of beatings over a set period of time by a specific group of members who decide if the initiate is tough enough to belong. Other forms of initiation may include robbery, shoplifting, rape, burglary, a drive-by shooting, stealing a gun, assaulting a rival, or self-mutilation by cigarette or coin burns.
Communication & Symbols
Gang members have different responsibilities (such as enforcers and arms keeper). Most are proud of their illegal and violent acts and are happy to accept credit for what they do.
Hand signals are common, and carefully used for non-verbal communication between gang members and rivals. Mistakes are costly; using the wrong configuration can insult a rival gang and cause retaliation.
Gang symbols help members identify themselves and are often used in graffiti, tattoos, or on clothing. Common symbols include: crosses, crowns, devil’s head, diamonds, dice, dollar signs, dots, eagles, eyes, gloves, crescent moons, halos, hearts, hooded figures, knight’s helmet, the number 7, pyramids, rabbit’s head, shield or crest, shotguns, snakes, spears, the sun, swords, swastikas, top hats, or a torch.
End, Part 2 of 3