stanford article on gangs

7/29/2019 Stanford Article on Gangs

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Gang Culture in New YorkStephanie Keever

Poverty & Prejudice: Gangs of All Colors

Gangs in New York began to develop in the 1920's and 1930's. In these times, gangs were not asviolent and the reasons for joining were different. The Black community in the Harlem area

began to join gangs in order to find something to do. The white youth were used to distribute

newspapers and run errands. With activities like these, the young men were kept busy. The

young African-American population was looking for after school and summer activities, butbecause of race, they were not able to find nice and ordinary errand like the white boys. The

African-Americans were also segregated by neighborhood, and this separation made them

develop their own social organization and family. The gangs which are comprised of minorities,hold this family ideal as an important factor in joining a gang, even to this day. These gangs

multiplied and changed over the years, andtodaywe have a very different group of gangsters

from the 1920 New York originals. The New York gangs are primarily focused in the jails andpenitentiaries, but these gangs also carry over into the streets.

Some of these gangs in New York seem to be mimicking the California original. There seems to

be a group of young people calling themselves Bloods, like the notorious California group. Theseyoung people are wearing the Blood's colors, using their hand signals, and even practicing their

initiation rite. These men are placing the Blood symbol on their bodies, by burning three dots

onto their arm in a triangular pattern. Also becoming increasingly popular in New York is one ofthe initiation rituals of the original Bloods, which is slashing strangers across the face with a box

cutter.

No gang members in New York appear to have been taught or recruited by an original gangster.

There are about 600 people who organized into sixteen subsets of the Bloods in the New York

City area. In an area wheremoneyis scarce, gangs become the only option for many kids."These guys are imitating gang culture because it provides instant status and reputation in

communities where reputation and status have very exaggerated--and often life or death--

meaning."1

GANGS IN JAILS

The majority of gang members in the New York area develop in the prisons. Young men and

boys are sent to New York prisons for various criminal offences. It all began in 1993 on Rikers

Island, with two inmates, Leonard "Deadeye" MacKenzie and OG Mack. This was the year thatthey founded the New York Chapter of the United Blood Nation. The Bloods have now become
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the strongest of the 52 prison gangs operating in New York City. The National Gang Crime

Research Center feels that 20 percent of the nation's inmates belong to gangs, and that this

percentage is much higher for the state of New York. The New York City prisons contain 17,741inmates, 550 of these are Bloods, and 345 are Latin Kings.2 The state is attempting to separate

these gang members into different jails, but they are now spread out over the state's 69 facilities

and increasing their population. In the last decade, these gangs have become far more organizedand dangerous to other inmates and guards.

There are three main gangs that appear in every jail in New York, the Bloods, the Latin Kings,and the Netas. The gangs often fight over the rights to use the phones, and deciding which

channel will air on television for that day. Gangs could provide access to hard-to-get goods such

as cigarettes, drugs, sneakers, and bars of soap. Gangs also provide a family, and a way of

fighting the loneliness of incarceration. In the past, the Latin Kings and Netas were in control ofthe jails, but recently, the Bloods have taken over. At the beginning the Blood members would

wear red bandannas, red sneakers, and red sweatshirts. The jails have banned these displays in

hopes of discouraging membership, but instead, the members now wear red watches, or a red

shoelace wrapped around their pinkie fingers. It is necessary at all times to show your affiliationto your "brothers," and your gang. Most of the violence in jails occurs outside in the recreation

areas, or in the mess halls while many prisoners are present. One of the bloods most violent actsis called "blooding in," it entails spilling another's blood, and it's part of their initiation to thegang. Slashing is the most famous "blooding in" activity, and under one estimation, officials

reported and average of 140 slashings per month through l995.~ Slashing is when a gang

member walk up to an unknown person, and slashes their face with a box cutter. To conceal theirplans for attack, the Bloods have developed a numerical code that is like their own language.

"Across the recreation yard, they would order hits on other inmates by shouting '013,' which

means 'tear him up.'" I will discuss this code language more in-depth later in the paper. Safety

has become an important factor while working in the jails, and one prison guard even launched aweb page which gives information about the gangs. This web page includes a dictionary of

prison gang slang, actions to be on the lookout for, and basic information about all of the gangs.

Though is seems we have noticed more gang violence in the media recently, the gang violence in

jails has actually declined. Bven though this violence has declined, a multitude of violenceremains, and this must be our concern. In order to help curb this violence, we must understand

the organizations who start the trouble.

BLOODS

The Bloods are also known by the name Pirus, and their pledge states: We are hated my many

loved by few respected by all! The Bloods were originally developed in Los Angeles to protect

themselves from another gang, the Crips. The members are predominately black, but they have

also accepted Hispanics, Whites, Greeks, and Chinese. A great number of the Bloods in NewYork city jails are Hispanic. Since a large portion of the prison population in New York is

Hispanic, it is important of these men to join the Bloods, and not their Latin Kings enemies. In

order for the Bloods to increase their population, they must allow a variety of races into theirgroup, for the sole purpose of protection. The Bloods perform various acts of car thefts,

robberies, drug sales, extortion, rapes, and murders. They have a reputation for performing

violent acts against unknowing victims. In the New York City jails, the Bloods were responsible


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for over50% of the stabbings and slashings throughout the Department of Correction during the

period covering April 1, 1997 - August 31, 1 997~4 Their weapon of choice seems to be the

razor blade. The jail members have even mastered the technique of carrying razors in their anus.They can be identified by their tattoos, they are two burned dots over a single burned dot. It

represents dog paws, and Bloods often refer to themselves as "dogs." They wear the color red,

and clothes identify with the Chicago Bulls.

The New York Blood's have developed creative and original hand signals. These hand signals

are ways of displaying their group loyalty, and letting others know who they are dealing with.They have hand signals that represent words such as "victory," "power," and even separate

signals for each different organization of Bloods.

There are actually many different sets that claim the Blood name, and they are all connected by

this big family. Some of the smaller set are the Miller Gangsta Bloods, the Young Bloods, the

Mad Stone Bloods, the Five Nine Brims, and many others that all are considered Bloods. Usually

when the Bloods get into an argument with a rival gang, all of these groups will fight together,

but sometime these Blood sets fight among themselves. They have been known to fight anotherset of Blood brothers as if they were an enemy.

The New York Bloods also have a secret code language that consists of numbers and confusing

sayings. The numbers range from 000 which means "Blood/b-dog," to 9900 which means "in

bed." These numbers confuse the Bloods enemy, and doesn't allow the police to detect what isabout to happen. They also have a messy language code. This language consists partially of

English words, in combination with numbers and initials. Some examples of this strange

language are: "Blue flu," which means "I don't trust him"' and "Sleep walker," which means

"watch him snitchin." If a person was listening to people talk like this on the street, one wouldthink they were crazy, it make no sense to the average person, yet is a very sophisticated

communication system within the gang. The Bloods change their codes on a regular basis, andoften change back and forth from new codes to old codes. They also invent totally new codes aswell. This once again protects the gang from people trying to crack the code. A problem with

changing the code may be that it confuses members who haven't been around. They may use the

wrong word in an exchange with someone, and hopefully this other person would beunderstanding. In 1994, the Gang Intelligence Unit at the Department of Corrections tried to

crack down and decipher the gang's codes, puzzles, and hierarchy system. They have made a

little progress, but there remains a lot to be learned.

The Bloods are a very structured and organized group of young men. They have a hierarchical

structure that is set in stone, and if anyone does not abide by these roles they will be seriously

reprimanded. There are ten main office heads, with each contributing a special role to make thegang run smoothly. It seems very hypocritical for an organization that is against most of modern

society to hold the same values as are in the workplace. The main leader of a Blood set is called

the First Superior. His job is to oversee the set, and act as the disciplinary officer. There is the

Head Of Security, who is in-charge of providing weapons and discipline to all members of theset. There is also the Principal Soldier, who is to comply with the Lieutenants order, and to keep

banging at all times. They define banging as fighting the enemy. Those were just a few of the

offices, there is also a Second Superior, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Information, the


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Commanding Officer, the Captain, the Head Lieutenant, and the Lieutenant. Though this

hierarchy exists, they believe that no Blood is considered better than the next, and each man is a

soldier putting in work to maintain the superiority of the Bloods. They also have rules that thegang must obey during war times. There are fourteen of these, and they prepare the mindset of

the members for their fighting endeavors. The Bloods are a very organized and smart association

of men, and it is these skills that allow them to survive the tough world they live in.

LATIN KINGS

The Latin Kings have roots dating back to 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. They are the oldest and

largest Hispanic street gang in existence. The Latin Kings were originally started to protect and

preserve the Hispanic identity and culture, and to improve the personal, social, and economic lifeof it's people. The original confrontations started while trying to protect their neighborhoods, and

these initial battles gave the Latin Kings the reputation as a very violent street gang. When

becoming a member of this gang, they are crowned with five important values: respect, honesty,

unity, knowledge, and love. Bach member is expected to abide by these values, though is seems

rather interesting for a gang that murders people and destroys families to have a value systemthey are expected to uphold. The Puerto Rican flag serves as a reminder to the gang nation, with

it's colors of red, white, and blue. The red stands for blood, the white for peace, and the blue forliberty and ocean. When they see the Puerto Rican flag, it brings out the loyalty and patriotism

these people have for their cause. Unfortunately, it seems that somewhere along the way, the

goals of this group were changed to a more violent agenda.

The Latin Kings, like the Bloods, have a very organized and impressive hierarchy of authority.

They have four major positions. Inca-First Crown is the highest in the Latin King nation. He

makes sure that the Nation is secure and free from danger, and his word must be obeyed at alltimes, right or wrong. There is the Second Crown, and he is the Inca's right hand man who must

be trusted at all times. Next, there is the Warlord, and his job is to make sure that everything is inoperation. He is basically the brains of the operation. Finally there is the Officer, who is theinspector of the nation.5 They have also established local leadership in the major communities

and in most jails. Each of these local crowns report directly to a regional commander. This

system seems to be very efficient and continues to work.

The Latin Kings identity with the colors black and gold, and they will wear beads and clothes of

these colors. Lately the gang has been hesitant to call each other by their names, so under charterrevisions, they are now issuing ID cards and numbers to identity each member of the gang. It

seem that these gangs are using technology to their advantage and using every access to make

this family community as realistic as possible. The Latin Kings are also known for their beautiful

graffiti around the city. Often, they will make a memorial for a fallen comrade with graffiti, andall the information about the death of this person is in the painting. They have his ID number, the

gang signs, colors, and if he were killed by a rival gang, they paint the enemy gang symbol

upside down. Anniversaries of friends' deaths often become a payback time for the rival gang.

The Latin Kings also have a list of eleven commandments that all members are to obey. One ofmy favorites is number four. 4) Develop clear lines of communication between parents and

children. There must be clear understanding so that true love can exist.6 It baffles me that a

group who commits crimes against others can have a code of morals and values that looks like


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any normal institution or organization of people. What is it that makes these groups develop a

violent mindset against others?

There may be no answer the this question. The only way that we as a community can protect

ourselves, and discourage young people from joining these organizations, is through education.

The New York and the Los Angeles gang organizations will continue to exist in ourcommunities. We as a community must try to give our children other options and positive role

models to emulate. Though problems like gangs don't go away easily, we can only hope that the

younger generation will learn from others mistakes. Gangs such as the Bloods, the Crips, and theLatin Kings may remain, but educating our families and friends about them will win half the

battle.

Footnotes

1 Roane, Kit R., "New York Gangs Mimic California Original"

"http://mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us/cybereng/nyt/gang.htm" 9/14/97

2 onnerman, Jennifer. "Behind Bars." VillageVoice

"http://www.drw.net/loc1041/gangs_behmd_bars.html"

3 Roane, Kit R. 'New York Gangs Mimic California Original."

"http://mbhs.bergtraum.k1 2.ny.us/cybereng/nyt/gang.htm" 9/14/97

4 "Eastern New York Correctional Facility-Correction Officers' Report of Bloods"

"http://www.drw.nte/loc 1041 /bloods.htmi#description" 1998

5 "Eastern New York Correctional Facility-Correction Officer's Report of Latin Kings"

"http://www.drw.net/loc 1041 /latin_kings.htmi" 1998

6 "Eastern New York Correctional Facility- Correction Officer's Report of Latin Kings"

"http://www.drw.net/loc 1041 /latin_kings.html" 1998

Bibliography


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Schatzberg, Ruflis. Black Organized Crime in Harlem: 1920-1930. New York:

Garland Publishing, 1993.

Schneider, Eric C. Vampires-Dragons-and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in

Postwar New YQrk~Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999

Roane, Kit R. "New York Gangs Mimic California Original"

"http://mbhs.bergtraum.k 1 2.ny.us/cybereng/nyt/gang.htm" 9/14/97

Gonnerman, Jennifer. "Behind Bars." Village Voice."

http://www.drw.net/loc 1041 /gangs~behind_bars.htmi"

"Eastern New York Correctional Facility-Correction Officers' Report of Bloods"

"http://www.drw.nte/loc 1041 /bloods.htmi#description" 1998

"Eastern New York Correctional Facility-Correction Officers' Report of Latin

Kings" "http://www.drw.net/loc 1041 /1atin~kings.htmi" 1998


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Ethics of Development in a Global Environment (EDGE) | Poverty & Prejudice | Gangs of All Colors

| Updated July 26, 1999

stanford article on gangs

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