Beginning in the early 1800s, groups were essential to American life. As more immigrants poured into the nation, the youth in the minority group neighborhood formed groups to protect themselves. The street groups in Los Angeles followed suit. There was unrest in the minority group community, particularly the African American community, as a result of the rise in racist prejudice, unemployment, destitution, and lack of education. Thus, the gangs turn into a venue for black men to battle white kids who treated them unfairly. The Crips and Blood were the two most well-known gangs at that period. African Americans were the founding members of the two groups. Although they were from the African American community, their rivalry was so intense that it has become the center of discussion over the years. The gangs got revolutionalized across the country and became a national phenomenon even in other countries like Canada. Gang prominence is attributed to profitable drug peddling, its glorification in the media, together with rise o rap music, the paper shall explore these aspects in the uprising of the Bloods and Crips gangs into the national phenomenon.
The Crips got established in 1969 by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. The name Crips was arrived at to portray the young ages of the members. Initially, it was simply a collation of two independent gangs, but later it becomes interlinked networks of individual groups. The members often adorn themselves in blue attires, however, over the years they have stopped to avoid being targeted by the police (Hendley, 2009). Currently, Crips is regarded as the biggest and the most brutal gangs in the US. Initially, the founders decided to unite the two individual gangs to tackle the neighboring street gangs (Presley, 2016). The gangs were formed in Los Angeles due to aspects such the lack of jobs, destitution, racial discrimination as well as an absence of educational opportunities. As time went by, Crips grew in numbers. They were very violent and engaged in criminal activities.
The gangs engage in production and peddling of many forms of drugs. When Washington was killed, there was infighting in the Crips family which led to the split.
The Crips were renown through the south of Los Angeles, and it even spread to other areas like California. A gang known as Piru Street Boys was established and was linked to Crips as a set. However, the rivalries between its many sets led to warfares (Hendley, 2009). The fight went on and in 1973, Piru Street Boys attempting to stop the violence, summoned different gangs which Crips did target. Following a long consideration, they broke all ties with the Crips and formed a movement known as the Bloods.
Bloods is known by the red color of their attire. The Bloods is not predominantly African American. It has grown and branched out to other areas in the country. Initially, the Bloods were formed to protect the members against the Crips gang. The Crips Gang had grown very strong and would attack their other people who were not in their groups. Many non-Crips members felt victimized since the Crips attacked ruthlessly (Hendley, 2009). It was then when the other gangs decided to join hands Piru Street Boys hence the formation of Bloods. Although the Crips were still large in numbers; the Bloods opted to use force. In the 1980s, the Bloods started dealing with cocaine, and that is when the group numbers grew tremendously and branched out to other states. The rise in membership was mostly to due to the profits from cocaine selling (Beare & Hogg, 2013). Media has focused on the Crips gangs following the murder of Robert Ballou who were a son ofa lawyer over a leather jacket. The Los Angeles police department then began targeting the Crips gang.
In the 1980s, following the Crips brutal attacks, the Bloods numbers went on increasing. During this era, the transformation took place introduction of the crack cocaine. This widely known and cheap and simple to make drug had a market in the south of California. Drugs organizations and peddlers started to come up. There were many groups that emerged. They had control over the drugs in many areas of Los Angeles. Numerous connections amongst the gangs were established for the intent of increased allocation of the crack cocaine (Hendley, 2009). Both the Crips and blood were now the control groups in the all Los Angeles. They were huge profits. The sales of this substance were so widespread that some places were likes drug malls. This also saw the huge increase in violence; there were warfares over this control of this very lucrative substance, its market since each place was a possible money maker.
Some of the neighborhood established collations to safeguard their sale regions. It was common to see young children on a location adorned in blue shoelace in one shoe and red in another. Drugs and substances were a huge part of the gang lifestyles, generating huge amounts of cash and powerful weaponry (Beare & Hogg, 2013). Even though the handguns were the preferred weapons, other powerful weapons alike the sophisticated AK47s were introduced. Other automatic guns were used by the most notorious gangs. The high-profile shootings, as well as the number of bullets, is what caused panic in the media. The gangs’ prominence continued to soar higher as the crack cocaine become popular and other market opened up all over the nations. This is what contributed highly to the spread and prominence of the two gangs. It did not help that the media put so much emphasis on it, even generating more interest. The war on drugs in the southern Florida forced the drug organizations in the Colombia to look for other avenues to smuggle narcotics into the United States.
California, at the time, less known offered the safest routes as a substitute for bringing cocaine to the US. The youthful black male industrialists started to take advantage of the demand for crack cocaine a huge supply from the peddlers. Growth was fast, and the gangs have a constant income as the markets continue to grow in the West of the US. As their territories broaden to other regions out of California, the member of the public started to admire them (Presley, 2016). The members who were at a lower level in California were moved to other towns and given the control status. The sole competition that the two gangs had were the Chicago-based gangs.
Although these Chicago gangs had been in place for a long time, they took advantage of the air of secrecy established by the Crips and Bloods. They got to know that their reputations could give them opportunities of making profits and began expanding all through Illinois and Midwest. Together with the expansion of the Crips and Bloods, increased violence was experienced. Brutality was thrilling to the gangs as it increased their reputations and constantly made headlines in the media houses. This now became a nationwide issue and not just centered in Los Angeles alone (Presley, 2016). The government now began it put efforts in the fight against gangs and drugs. Crime rates had escalated so much, and the rate of gang-related homicides was shocking. Therefore it can be stated that crack cocaine led to the expansion and spreading out of the gangs through the country, this led to increased violence which attracted the attention of the media and federal government.
Rap music was another aspect that contributed to the spreading out and the prominence of the Crips, Bloods and the upsurge of other gangs. Rap music which began on the east coast was initially regarded as a self-promoting thing as the artist would boast about his capabilities over the microphone. When the rap excitement reached the West Coast, a transformation started in its expression and representation. The gang members were not left behind; they took on the rap and took it another level (Hendley, 2009). They employed rap in showing off about their lifestyles and depict their styles. There are many themes that were depicted in the rap. First is the exaltation of the gang lifestyle and way of thinking. The rap music had already turned into the voice for the disadvantaged youth in the minority (Presley, 2016). The gang members now could use the rap music in speaking to the youngsters about their gang world, bylaws as well as their beliefs. This was a mainstream way of looking into the lives of street gangsters. This means was a catalyst for the spreading out of the gang culture. Gangs were now a nationwide issue.
The Los Angeles gangs took advantage of the art of mystery of being the creators of thug life, and this accorded them a reputation across the country. The rap industry offered many gangsters and drug peddlers with a chance to participate in illegal money laundering. Any drug peddler with their friends that could rap and produce a CD could start a career and form their own production firm (Hendley, 2009). Numerous gangster rappers started to broaden from underground rap world to the mainstream. Media heavily played this music. The film industry began to embrace their gangster lifestyle as its prominence increased and the industry’s desire for practicality in gangster theme films became a goal. The underground rap sector was very profitable; however, when media played it heavily, it exposed it to youth who admired that lifestyle. The rap music praised criminal activities, narcotics dealings, shootings as well as alcohol abuse (Patton, Eschmann & Butler, 2013). Youth from various ethnicities and backgrounds started idolizing gangster rappers, and their popularity continued. The youth began to join gangster life since gangster rappers were deemed as cool and led glamorous and luxurious lifestyles. Thus the gangs continued to be popular and spread out to other countries like Canada.
There are many other factors that immensely contributed to the adoption of the gang culture in Canada. Media immensely focused on the good side of the gang life by portraying the luxurious lifestyles the members were leading. Crips and Bloods rivalry was highly publicized in the media, generating the interest of many people among them the vulnerable youths (Hendley, 2009). The discriminated against black males saw the gang culture as a way to escape their problems. It did not help either that the movie industry began to produce movies, features and the documentaries focusing on the gang life. The target audience was normally the adolescents. In the black community, there are few educated individuals, and even those present moved to better neighborhood. Therefore, there was no one to speak against the negative effects of the gang life (Patton, Eschmann & Butler, 2013). Currently, the gang culture is so widespread with the Bloods and Crips gangs constituting a huge percentage. They comprise a large percentage of gang members in prison
Conclusion
The gang culture seemed to be a dangerous thing to the mainstream world, however to the African American males; it was deemed as means of survival. It may initially have been intended to be a safe haven against the societal problems they were facing; however, as they progressed the gangs became more dangerous and violent. The Crips and Bloods were very prevalent and continued to be so due to the influence of the media and glorification of the gang lifestyle. Media focused intensely on the rap music which drew the attention of the susceptible due to the luxurious lifestyles the gangster rappers were leading. Additionally, the peddling of substances particularly crack cocaine added to the attractiveness of the gang culture due to its profitability. To stop the gang menace, the federal government needs to take necessary measures in fighting the gangsters. First, is enhancing its war on drugs and cracking down on peddlers and users. Second is bettering the livelihood of the black community and other minority groups by according them equal opportunities to help them enhance their lifestyles. It ought to take a tough stance in gang criminal activities such as assault or robberies among others. The media as well ought to stop publicizing the gang culture. Gang culture might not be completely eliminated; however, its spreading could be minimized if necessary measures are put in place.
References
Beare, M. E., & Hogg, C. (2013). Listening in… to gang culture. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 55(3), 421-452.
Hendley, N. (2009). American Gangsters, Then and Now: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
Patton, D. U., Eschmann, R. D., & Butler, D. A. (2013). Internet banging: New trends in social media, gang violence, masculinity and hip hop. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), A54-A59.
Presley, L. (2016). Book Review: Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 55(4), 324-325.
