Example research essay topic: African American Street Gangs In Los Angeles - 1,616 words

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... d States (Churchill & Wall 1990: 37). From 1968 - 1971, these tactics were used against the BPP to control and neutralize what was believed to be "a dangerous black political group. " The most vicious and unrestrained application of COINTELPRO techniques during the late 1960 s and early 1970 s was clearly reserved for the BPP (Churchill & Wall 1990: 61; Horne 1995: 13). After several confrontations for over two years, the disputes between the BPP and US continued to the campus of UCLA resulting in the murders of BPP leaders. There are several versions of the events in the described oral histories of those who were present and those who knew the victims personally, but US members were ultimately arrested for the murders. The years of 1969 and early 1970 marked the end of any forward progress by black political groups in Los Angeles.

Gang Resurgence, 1970 - 1972 The attack on black political leadership in Los Angeles, and the power vacuum that remained, created a large void for young black youths in the late 1960 s that coincided with the resurgence of black gangs. A generation of black teens in Los Angeles saw their role models and leadership decimated in the late 1960 s. Raymond Washington, a 15 -year-old student at Fremont High School, started the first new street gang in 1969, shortly after much of the Panther power base was eliminated and as other social and political groups became ineffective in Los Angeles. Washington, who was too young to participate in the Panther movement during the 1960 s, absorbed much of the Panther rhetoric of community control of neighborhoods (Baker 1988: 28) and fashioned his quasi-political organization after the Panther's militant style, sporting the popular black leather jackets of the time. Washington got together a few other friends and started the first new black gang in Los Angeles on 78 th Street near Fremont High School called the Baby Avenues. In addition to emulating the Panther appearance, Washington also admired an older gang that remained active throughout the 1960 s called the Avenues.

He decided to name his new quasi-political organization the Baby Avenues, to represent a new generation of black youths. They were also known as the Avenue Cribs, and after a short time they were referred to as the Cribs, which was a comment on their youthfulness. Their initial intent was to continue the revolutionary ideology of the 1960 s and to act as community leaders and protectors of their local neighborhoods, but the revolutionary rhetoric did not endure. Because of immaturity and a lack of political leadership, Raymond Washington and his group were never able to develop an efficient political agenda for social change within the community.

The Cribs were successful in developing a style of dress and a recognizable appearance. In addition to their black leather jackets, they would often walk with canes, and wear an earring in their left ear lobe. Some were also avid weightlifters. The Cribs began to venture into their own criminal behavior, committing robberies and assaults. In 1971, several Crib members that were assaulting a group of elderly Japanese women were described by the victims as young cripples that carried canes. These young cripples were the Cribs, but the local media picked up on this description, and referred to this group as the Crips (Los Angeles Sentinel, 2 / 10 / 72).

The print media first introduced the term Crip, and those that were involved in a life of crime were considered to be Crippin' by other Crib members who were still trying to be revolutionary, with the same political thinking of the 1960 s. According to Danifu, an original Crib member, the Cribs was the original name of the Crips, but the term Crips was substituted by the use of the word Cribs through a newspaper article that highlighted specific individuals who were arrested for a murder. [ 8 ] Because some of the early Cribs carried canes, the entire notion of Crip as an abbreviated pronunciation from crippled caught on. Jerry Cohen wrote that Crip members wore earrings in their left lobe, in addition to carrying canes, but the walking sticks were not the source of the gang's name that many believed (1972: C 3). Danifu continued to add that Crippin' was a separate thing from being a Crib... "Crippin' meant robbing, and stealing, and then it developed into a way of life. "[ 9 ] As mentioned earlier, these youths tried to emulate the fashion of the Panthers by developing a style of dress that included black leather jackets. Those youths who had the crippin' mentality, became excessively concerned with imitating the Panther appearance. By 1972, most Cribs had been completely transformed into the Crippin' way of life, which often led into criminal activities.

For example, the acquisition of leather jackets by unemployed black youths was accomplished by committing robbery and strong-arming vulnerable youths for their jackets. Jerry Cohen (1972) described the early Crips as: a group of juveniles that committed extortion of merchandise, mugging the elderly, and ripping off weaker youths, particularly for leather jackets that have become a symbol of Crip identity. (p C 3) Ironically, three days after this article was published, the desire for leather jackets led to perhaps the first Crip murder, when a sixteen-year old son of an attorney was beaten to death over a leather coat. The victim, who was not a gang member, was a West side resident who attended Los Angeles High School and played cornerback for the football team. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the group that assaulted him fled the scene with five leather jackets, two wallets, the victim and his friends. A few days later, nine youths, including members of the infamous Crip gang, were arrested for the murder. The previous month there was a similar incident where 20 black youths had attacked and beaten a 53 - year-old white man to death on Figueroa and 109 th Street in South Los Angeles.

It was believed that the Crips were responsible for this killing, but no arrests were ever made (Los Angeles Sentinel 2 / 10 / 72). The sensational media coverage of the event at the Hollywood Palladium, plus continued assaults by the Crips, attracted other youths to join the Crips. For youths that have been marginalized along several fronts, such gangs represented manliness to self and others (Vigil & Yun 1990: 64). Many youths joined the Crips, but others decided to form their own gangs. The increased attention the early Crips received by the police and from the community, because of the violence they were involved in, actually attracted more youths to join these early gangs. The violence was said to have been committed to attract attention and to gain notoriety (Rosenzweig 1972).

In addition, several other youths formed other non-Crip gangs, in response to continued Crip intimidation. The idea of Crippin' had taken over the streets of south Los Angeles, and Mike Davis stated that "Cripmania" was sweeping South side schools in an epidemic of gang shootings and street fights in 1972 (1990: 300). In three short years, the first Crip gang on the East side on 78 th Street had spread to Inglewood, Compton, and the West side, totaling eight gangs, as ten other non-Crip gangs formed. By years end, there were 29 gang-related homicides in the city of Los Angeles, 17 in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, and nine in Compton (Rosenzweig 1972).

Gang violence was in the early stages of what would soon become an epidemic in Los Angeles. 1970 - 1980 Between 1973 and 1975, several the non-Crip gangs decided to form a united federation, as many Crip gangs began indulging in intra-racial fighting with other black non-Crip gangs. Because of the sheer numbers that the Crips were able to accumulate through heavy recruitment, they were easily able to intimidate and terrorize other non-Crip gangs, resulting in one of the first Crip against Blood gang-related homicides. A member of the LA Brims, a West side independent gang, was shot and killed by a Crip member after a confrontation (Jah & Key 1995: 123). This incident started the rivalry between the Crips and the Brims. The Piru Street Boys (non-Crip gang) in Compton had severed their relations with the Compton Crips after a similar confrontation, and a meeting was called on Piru Street in Compton where the Blood alliance was created. Throughout the mid- 1970 s the rivalry between the Bloods and Crips grew, as did the number of gangs.

In 1974 there were 70 gang-related homicides in Los Angeles, and by 1978, there were 60 black gangs in Los Angeles, 45 Crip gangs, and 15 Blood gangs. By 1979, at the age of 26, the founder of the Crips was murdered, Crip infighting was well-established, and gang crime became more perilous. The county reported 30, 000 active gang members in 1980 (Table 1. 1), and gang murders reached a record high 355 (Table 1. 2). The Los Angeles District Attorney's office and the Hard Core Gang Unit began to focus their resources on prosecuting gang-related offenses during this time (Collier & Horowitz 1983: 94). From 1978 to 1982, the number of black gangs grew from 60 to 155 (See chapter 5), and by 1985 gang homicides were reaching epidemic proportions after a brief lull of activity during the Olympics of 1984. The epidemic of gang-related crime and homicides continued to soar throughout the 1980 s, peaking in 1992 with 803 gang-related homicides.

In three years, after the first Crip gang was established in 1969, the number of black gangs in Los Angeles had grown to 18. Tab...

Research essay sample on African American Street Gangs In Los Angeles