Why to today's kids have a tendency to think being "gangsta" is cool?

No but it happened in the 70's, 80's, 90's so your point is moot.

Especially in light of the fact that in the 50's an ethnic person
could not move around so freely without threat of racist mob actions.

Your point is further lost in the fact that the old west had gangs.
Inner cities had gangs from the earliest times of this country.
Ever heard of Tar and Feathering?
How about the Boston Tea Party?

What do you think the revolutionary forces were...scabby group of troublemakers led by wigged leaders.

We now have over 11 million illegal aliens, so naturally you are going to find
more gang activity and thats how the government wants it.

More gangs = more police powers are needed.
Which is why gangsta music is so well promoted.
It sends a message "If you are base classless loser with some rhymes you can be rich"




[edit on 15-1-2008 by Legalizer]

Ask any "gangsta" on the street if being "cool" is the reason that they are what they are. I'll save you the #-whooping and tell you that you're dead wrong. Sorry. People are products of their environment. "Gangsta's," as I believe you perceive them (black/hispanic people, right?), are doing what they believe they have to do to survive given their circumstances (kids to feed, bills to pay, etc.). This is likely a result of a combination of things including poor education, high impressionability at a young age, unwillingness to accept responsibility for their own actions, and poor family ties/values just to name a few.

On the other hand, I have friends around my age (early 20s) from wealthy backgrounds who do "gangsta" stuff all the time. Why? Simply because it's fun to them. They never had the opportunity to let loose, if you will. Doing bad things is, in fact, exciting to them.

I have a great example of this. 2 of my best friends in college (they're white, i'm black...that's irrelevant but for the sake of this argument...) are probably the most "gangsta" people I've ever met. They're major potheads, they drink excessively at least 3 days a week, sell drugs on occasion and love to steal/vandalize school property if given the chance spanning back to our freshman year. However, we're juniors now and they're both on the dean's list with perfect 4.0 grade point averages. Very impressive for drug-dealing, pothead alcoholics... right? Do you still feel "sorry" for them?

Too many people let TV dictate what they think about certain groups of people and it's not fair.

Originally posted by thetruth777
What is cool about being in a gang, on the streets, in fights, getting stoned on weed, getting drunk, becoming an alcoholic, killing and, ultimately, screwing up your life?

It really, really bugs people like you, and Mom and Dad. That makes it all worth it. Why else? No, everybody should just be boring and dull and do the same things and behave and go to church and get a retail job at Wal*Mart. Hey, man, you can't tell me what to do!

At the head of most major record labels resides a group of white men/women. These aforementioned people have the final say and total control as far as lyrical content goes. Kanye West made a few great points in his song "Jesus Walks." He talks about how if he says anything positive in his records, i.e. Jesus, his records won't get played on the radio.

So the next time some of you get the urge to bash or berate a major rap artist, or rap as a genre, remember it's people like yourselves who dictate what the rappers are saying. I don't mean to drag this topic off-subject but people these days believe rappers are so influential on our youth with the messages that they convey and it's really not fair to them, the artists, when it's really white people (most of the time) to "blame".

Someone mentioned that today's tendency towards gangs is to "fit in". Someone else mentioned that gangsters are equivalent to cowboys and robbers in history. While that is true, we also know that children were NOT robbers or cowboys. True, boys always did and always will get into fights, but throughout history, nobody thought the equivalent to "gangsters" (cowboys, bandits) were cool. They were always rejects and the music NEVER glorified being one. However now, as someone mentioned, all the Gangsta Rap music, violent TV shows, and TV shows with sexual themes are getting our kids into sex, drugs, and gangs. And yes, the lure towards sex is COMPLETELY related to TV and peer pressure, and peer pressure is a result of TV. In other words, mainstream media is conditioning our young minds to GET INTO gangs, drugs, sex, and obscenity. And MSM is owned by the Elite. Why would the Elite want our children into gangs? I also heard someone say that in New York, guns are illegal, but in Texas, they are legal. Yet New York sees crimes on a daily basis and Texas is relatively safe to live in. Why? Everyone can defend themselves with a gun (since everyone has one in Texas), and Texas is free from "hood influence", like LA and New York. So, if they wanted to crack down on gangs, it would be entirely possible, by cracking down on trash music and BS TV shows. And schools are not helping either. Sasying "Drugs are bad" only gets kids more INTO drugs via reverse psychology.



Now, my question: WHY?????

Originally posted by six
60's they had the whole counter culture thing what with free sex and drugs. They turned out alright.

I can't agree with that.

Boomers might not have been the worst generation, but we are among the worst and frankly, we're not showing signs of improvement.

On the bright side, we don't have much longer to be at the helm of society.

You are correct to some extent, in that the indiscretions of youth tend to fade as maturation occurs and responsibilities must be faced.

However, the way we start out our adulthood has a lot to do with the choices at our disposal as we grow up and the values we learn early are likely to be the ones that form our core values as we age.

Rebellion is a natural phase of maturation, but we should be careful how far we let rebellion proceed, because civilization requires a set of core values that are not all that flexible.

reply to post by thetruth777

Your question made me think of this, a snippet from Jay-Z newest album, the soundtrack for 'American Gangster':

Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver north and Iran-Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsored
Before this rhyming stuff we was in concert
Lyrics to Jay-Z's 'Blue Magic'

On a more historical note, I really don't see how you can steal a country, kidnap people to work for you, and steal resources from every single continent (except Europe, of course), and not set a bad example for your nation. Kids aren't that dumb. They watch adults and replicate what works: criminal behavior.

Originally posted by HarlemHottie
On a more historical note, I really don't see how you can steal a country, kidnap people to work for you, and steal resources from every single continent (except Europe, of course), and not set a bad example for your nation. Kids aren't that dumb. They watch adults and replicate what works: criminal behavior.

This is a historical note?

If you are going to look at history, you need to at least look at it in the context of the times.

Europeans came to the New World during a time of imperialism, rightly or wrongly, but it was the order of the day. Treaties were signed with the native people and to this day the government pays out huge sums of money to these sovereign nations within our own nation.

In hindsight, these actions might not considered proper, but that's hindsight.

As far as stealing resources, I'm not sure what you mean. The Europeans set about colonizing the world, including the Americas. You might remember that that the Americans revolted against English rule and won. You might notice, if you were to examine the evidence that there are very few of these colonies left. It hasn't been that long that Hong Kong was returned to China by the British.

Kidnapping people? This might be one of the most insidious lies that the left likes to perpetrate, that is if you are talking about slavery. Africa traded in human beings for centuries and in all of human history slavery was an institution. America is not to blame for that. The institution precedes the colonies by some ten thousand years and probably more.

Africans made slaves of their fellows and sold them to the world. Today we look down on that behavior, but in Africa the practice exists to this day.

Your portrayal of America is insulting. America's past is peppered with instances of bad judgement and corruption, but the path of America has been ever upward.

Our ideals of human behavior are among the most honorable in all of human history.

For a group of Americans to blame Reagan and Oliver North for their own criminal behavior is typical of criminals. Nothing is ever the fault of the psychopath. The victim is always guilty of having been so easily targeted.

Through most of my lifetime, Americans have of their own accord chosen to make amends for the past wrongs against blacks in our nation by instituting unprecedented socialist programs. We have instituted legal prejudice against white males in the name of "Affirmative Action."

Your assessment of your own country HH is common, but indicative of an attitude that permeates your community: Regardless of the opportunities offered, we are implacable in our rage, for it is easier to live as criminals in the street than it is to study hard and learn to support ourselves.

So, while it might be the excuse of some black Americans that America is a nation that engenders criminal behavior, but the facts today do not support that claim and even the most cursory, but honest, appraisal of our history refutes that claim even more.

Kids might not be stupid, but unless they are properly educated, they will remain ignorant throughout their lives.


[edit on 2008/1/16 by GradyPhilpott]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

Why is it that we continue to paint the current generation as something new? "Kids these days..." is a comment that is so over used that it makes me grit my teeth. Kids today are just as much of a pain in the ass today, as they were ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years ago. They are guilty of the same generic behaviours, but the details may have changed. "Gangsta" has replaced "Gangster", and we somehow feel that this is something new.

None of this is new, and just as parents today are forced to endure it, the parents of yesterday did as well.

Sometimes I wonder how short minded we are when we look at our kids today.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Regardless of the opportunities offered, we are implacable in our rage, for it is easier to live as criminals in the street than it is to study hard and learn to support ourselves.

And these opportunities that are granted to students, are they granted on an even level? Can a white kid from the suburbs, going to a public school, be afforded the same opportunities as a black kid from the Bronx? While an opportunity at education is afforded to each young individual, regardless of their community, nothing is ever going to change until the Administrations of these schools actually get down on their hands and knees and do their job as they should.

Are the same text books offered to all students? Does each school have the same dedicated teachers? No, they don't. And it's not much of a stretch to say that they are disproportionate with inner-city kids coming up on the short end of the stick.

Somewhat naive to actually believe that they are offered the same opportunities, and have yet chosen a life of crime.

The same people who oppose anything "socialized", are the same people who fault anyone who doesn't make the same good decisions as the rest of "us". In an elitist society, we need to do what we need to do to make it through the day. I don't condone crime, but I can certainly understand it to feed our own. In these circumstances, the state has played a hand in it. Don't dare mention the world "socialized", but still quick to judge those that turn to the life of crime.. and even accredit this to their skin color.

Not really sure what to say to that.


[edit on 16-1-2008 by chissler]

reply to post by GradyPhilpott

If you are going to look at history, you need to at least look at it in the context of the times.

No, I do not. Do we look back at the Inquisition, or the Salem Witch Trials, or the Holocaust, "in the context of their times"? No. People are still, currently, to this day appalled, horrified, and disgusted by the lengths to which those in power will go in order to retain that power. I don't understand why we should apply a different standard to American atrocities.

As far as stealing resources, I'm not sure what you mean.

As I'm certain you're aware, this great nation of ours has a tendency, at least during it's contemporary, empire-building incarnation, to utilize proxies to fight its wars (and steal the resouces of the occupied nation). Those proxies can and have included such disparate entities as fruit companies, mercenaries, and the CIA.

Africa traded in human beings for centuries and in all of human history slavery was an institution. America is not to blame for that.

Right, and did anyone bother to ask the people in the chains whether they wanted to be enslaved? On the way to the slave ship? On the slave ship? Disembarking from the slave ship? On the auction block? No, because the unfortunate POW's would have declined. All guilty parties, black and white, were quite aware of their actions.

For a group of Americans to blame Reagan and Oliver North for their own criminal behavior is typical of criminals.

Excuse me, you misunderstand. This group of Americans, disenfranchised black (and latino) men are blaming beloved President Ronald Reagan for allowing the urban economy to degrade in such a way that there were fewer and fewer economic opportunities for heads of househould; for watching as the urban landscape eroded to such a demoralizing low; for fostering an increasingly under-funded puclic school system; for allowing Oliver North and his ilk to inject poisin in the veins of this country; for over-policing minority neighborhoods instead of addressing the cancer thriving within them.

These young men have a legitimate point, in my mind, and the minds of many others. The 'gangsters' within this meme, including such luminous figures as Ronald Reagan, the perfect Republican to which all current presidential nominees in his party aspire, all had 'happy endings', after decades of criminality. Why can't they?

You should get the theory right before you dismiss it.

Regardless of the opportunities offered, we are implacable in our rage, for it is easier to live as criminals in the street than it is to study hard and learn to support ourselves.

Sir, I have been honored to receive the very finest education this country has to offer (and I can prove it). I resent your implication.

Grady

Europeans came to the New World during a time of imperialism, rightly or wrongly, but it was the order of the day. Treaties were signed with the native people and to this day the government pays out huge sums of money to these sovereign nations within our own nation.

Treaties were signed all right, but not honored. I think it takes a huge leap of faith to believe that America has done right by the natives.

Kidnapping people? This might be one of the most insidious lies that the left likes to perpetrate, that is if you are talking about slavery. Africa traded in human beings for centuries and in all of human history slavery was an institution. America is not to blame for that. The institution precedes the colonies by some ten thousand years and probably more.

That is very true. Points for accuracy.

Your portrayal of America is insulting. America's past is peppered with instances of bad judgement and corruption, but the path of America has been ever upward.

Oh, I disagree. The path of America has one bright spot, the notion that it was founded upon. We have managed to fall farther and farther from that ideal every year, and to say that the path of this nation has been ever upward is to have a very peculiar sense of what is up and what is down.

To go into detail would require far too many words, and drag this thread more than a little off-topic, but it suffices to say that hypocrisy has been the soup du jour in this country since it was established.

Our ideals of human behavior are among the most honorable in all of human history.

There isn't much issue to be taken with the ideals of this country Grady, but ideals are just a tangy fart in the breeze if there's no action backing them up. We've always talked the talk, but we have yet to walk the walk.

Americans love to give lip service to their ideals, but so rarely do you see Freedom, Justice, or Equality really implemented. It's our national pastime, really, talking about how great we are compared to the rest of the world. If we spent half as much time taking action to be great, as we spend talking about being great, I'd have nothing to say on this thread.

Through most of my lifetime, Americans have of their own accord chosen to make amends for the past wrongs against blacks in our nation by instituting unprecedented socialist programs. We have instituted legal prejudice against white males in the name of "Affirmative Action."

I don't think that's something to be proud of...

Your assessment of your own country HH is common, but indicative of an attitude that permeates your community: Regardless of the opportunities offered, we are implacable in our rage, for it is easier to live as criminals in the street than it is to study hard and learn to support ourselves.

That's a pretty ignorant thing to say Grady. The black community isn't made up of criminals any more than the white community. Statistics speaking to that fact would only help your case if they weren't so damn lopsided. For Christ's sake, look at the disparity in sentencing for drug crimes between the black community and the white community. It's disgusting...

But keep on thinking 'they're all lazy', and 'they're all criminals' - that mentality has a long history in this country, in MY country.

I think the citizens, that's US Grady, have to take responsibility for building and maintaining a system that is unfair and uneven, a system that criminalizes as many people as possible, and turns them against one another to establish and maintain control.

How can anyone look at the current state of affairs and feel proud? It's beyond me...

So, while it might be the excuse of some black Americans that America is a nation that engenders criminal behavior, but the facts today do not support that claim and even the most cursory, but honest, appraisal of our history refute that claim even more.

That's not excuse, that's fact. Look at the political dynasties of the last 50 years - every single one of them has been built on criminal enterprise.

Lie, cheat, steal, kill, these are the American values in practice, to Hell with all that bull about our ideals. I love our ideals, don't get me wrong, but there's more to virtue than what we say, and the values we espouse. We actually have to act right, yaknow?

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Your portrayal of America is insulting. America's past is peppered with instances of bad judgement and corruption, but the path of America has been ever upward.

Our ideals of human behavior are among the most honorable in all of human history.
[edit on 2008/1/16 by GradyPhilpott]

Grady, too bad I don't live near you...I'd like to "cop" some of whatever you have been enjoying...I'd love to escape into that Happy World, where the images of the lynched bodies of my ancestors, with their bulging eyes won't follow me...

You and me, we could sit around and "chill" and watch TV, and when we hear about all the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are dying every day, we can blame it on them because, you know, "they hate us for our Freedom". Yeah!

What a Great Life! In our own little Happy World...

Seriously, I agree with most on this board, that today's kids are the product of society, and not just their families, the entire society. Have you seen some of the billboards? Commercials? There's nothing but violence, sex and drugs being offered to kids from every direction. Don't forget about fellatio in the Oval Office; oh please, we can't ever forget the..."cumback kid"! He's Baaaack!

The corruption just won't wither away and die...it continues to permeate every aspect of our society, and it's incredibly intertwined throughout, from the President(s) to the Dogcatcher(s)...

Unfortunately, today's young people are the product of "runaway" corruption, and capitalism "unleashed".

(You just have to admit...it is very "GANGSTA" to steal an election...isn't it?)

Originally posted by HarlemHottie
This group of Americans, disenfranchised black (and latino) men....

You are quite welcome to your own one sided view of American history. I'm not going to recite the true history of America to you, because a trip to the library can give you the truth--the good, the bad, and the ugly.

But please do tell me who is disenfranchised in America today?

No American citizen has been disenfranchised in America during your lifetime.

America is full of shortcomings and will continue to be because we are a nation in the works and we have been since our bold and unprecedented beginnings.

I'm so sorry that the Founders could not address every wrong of human society in their lifetimes, but they addressed their concerns openly in their writings and left us with a unique form of government that could change and grow with the times.

Certainly, we are appalled by the wrongs of the past, but we should also recognize that in the past people didn't have the luxury of looking back at their ignorance, bigotry, and superstitions.

We therefore have to recognize that in the 1600s some people believed in the power of evil and the existence of witches.

Today, we are horrified by the holocaust, but genocide continues because we are still humans ever striving to overcome our base animal instincts and from time to time terrible things happen like people commandeering aircraft to fly into people-laden icons of our civilization.

Somehow, HH, you think that people should have emerged from the trees with all the values you claim to have, but the fact is that we did not and regardless of how backward we Americans are, there are still very many places on this planet where you would have no rights at all, based on myriad factors.

The one thing about our nation that sets us apart from very many others is that there are people of all races, creeds, and nationalities that are willing to risk life and limb to come here and take advantage of our opportunity, while there are very many who were born here who refuse to clean up their acts to take advantage of the opportunities we have in favor of living off the largess of others.

And chissler, yes that black kid in the ghetto has as much chance as the white suburbanite to get an education as long as both have applied themselves to the educational opportunities they have been offered and have to the will to pursue a higher education.

In fact, the poor have better opportunities to avail themselves of grants and such than those of the middle class who very often do not qualify for such aid.

The playing field is never flat. Many people grow up poor and ignorant, regardless of race or any other factor, but in America hard work will be rewarded. Maybe not to the extent that some expect, but there are too many success stories among our people of every color, class, national origin, etc., etc., to make the claim that the opportunities do not exist for anyone who is willing to take the chance and make the endeavor to rise above the circumstances into which they were born.

These are the facts.

reply to post by CSIfan


CSIfan

You assume too much.

I was born into poverty.

I attended some of the most deprived schools in the nation.

I went hungry as a child and wore clothes so old to school that even poor kids made fun of me.

I have lived in poverty all my adult life and it was through hard work, perseverance, and student loans, grants, etc., that I got my education.

I lived for more than twenty years without owning a car or even a television.

I have gone for days without eating because I had neither food nor money.

I have worked at odd jobs, mostly menial and backbreaking to keep myself afloat.

I have had to endure the condescension, hostility, and apathy of a nation because I chose to serve in Vietnam.

I have struggled with the demons that war almost always leaves with its combatants without an ounce of sympathy from anyone.

I have struggled with drug and alcohol abuse because there was not always treatment available for those whose nights are filled with the horror of past experiences, but I have overcome those things, because I knew that only I could avail myself of the ever growing knowledge that the medical community gathered over the years.

I do not live in some private little world of privilege.

I have lived my entire life in a hard and cold world of poverty, deprivation, bigotry, and apathy.

I own virtually nothing.

I live in a crime-ridden apartment complex.

A neighbor above me was shot and was rendered quadriplegic just last year. Drug abuse and prostitution are rampant.

I work even now at menial jobs, because my central nervous system has been rendered unsuitable for the world of business.

My life has been as hard as anyone can possibly imagine, yet I do not hold the dark image of my nation that those who have lived far better than I have ever lived hold.

In fact, it is just a little ignorant of you and others to call me ignorant, when it is I who has lived at street level for most of my life. It is I who has been the victim of countless street crimes solely because of my race.

It is highly prejudiced of anyone who makes the assumption that because of my race, I have ever been given anything that I have not earned through blood, sweat, tears, and crippling debt.

Everyone of those who criticize me and call me names or attribute to me these negative stereotypes would do well to look into the mirror.

I am not who you think that I am, but I am exactly whom I represent myself to be.


[edit on 2008/1/16 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
And chissler, yes that black kid in the ghetto has as much chance as the white suburbanite to get an education as long as both have applied themselves to the educational opportunities they have been offered and have to the will to pursue a higher education.

I fail to see how you could possibly see this. Do you actually believe that inner city schools receive the same funding? When it comes to individual funding, student loans, and scholarships.. certainly there are some that are created solely to benefit individuals who come from a lower socio-economic status. But does this lone grant actually offer an upper hand? Does it create an even playing field? No, it doesn't. It comes down to the teachers and the educators, who are all programmed that these kids are doomed for failure. Too often we hear of inner city schools under performing in the class, but taking solace in the fact that their sporting teams may be finding success on the playing field. Educators take success out of this and say, "At least they had something". Rather than pushing education, they push everything else, because they have determined from the get go that if tested.. they will fail.

If these students know that this is how they are perceived, how do we expect kids to overcome this? Hindsight is always 20/20, and this is never truer than when it comes to education. These kids don't know what they have until it's too late, and the teachers don't give a damn to make any effort to inform them.

I'm sure in all of the schools and all of the educators, a handful actually make a necessary effort, and probably makes a difference. But it's hardly a ripple in the water when we look at the bigger picture of all inner city schools.

Isolated and felt inferior in the class room, it's now wonder they look for some sort of social bond in the form of a group. Social scripts are completely predictable, and it's not like none of us can't see this coming a mile away. It's just a matter of whether we look or not.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
In fact, the poor have better opportunities to avail themselves of grants and such than those of the middle class who very often do not qualify for such aid.

I grew up somewhere in between the lower middle class and middle class, and I had all the necessary funding available to me. I had to sign the right papers and contact the right people, while overlooking disgusting interest rates, but I had an education afforded to me.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
but in America hard work will be rewarded.

On occasion, I'm sure it does. But to say it "will" be rewarded is an overstatement. Hard work "can" be rewarded, but not always.

The myth or meritocracy is alive and well, even in America.

Inner city schools receive enough funding to get the job done.

Having lived in the inner city for most of my adult life, I can tell you that the problem with inner city schools is not funding.

Chidren do emerge from these conditions to achieve great things.

I have known them myself.

The difference between them and the others is mostly one of desire and very hard work.

Originally posted by chissler
On occasion, I'm sure it does. But to say it "will" be rewarded is an overstatement. Hard work "can" be rewarded, but not always.

Again, this statement is directed to someone who knows the reality of life in America.

It would seem that there are those who will assume that because I am white, educated, and articulate that I was born with a siver spoon in my mouth and have lived my entire life isolated from the harsh realities of poverty, unrewarded effort, and outright bigotry.

Truly, there are none so blind as those who will not see.

[edit on 2008/1/16 by GradyPhilpott]

I think there needs to be a distinction made between those young people who actually join gangs and live the "gangsta" life, and those who simply like to wear the clothes, play the music and freak their parents out.

The first group are motivated by complex economic, social and familial factors in their lives.

The second group I know a little more about. For a long time I taught at a university which had a large number of students from what we'd call privileged backgrounds. They had their share of challenges, too, but that is a different subject. One day I asked my students what the attraction was to all things "gangsta," including the violent movies and music they preferred. They told me that basically their lives were extremely, boringly routine and safe. They anticipated graduating and taking jobs that would also be routine, boring and safe and live lives that were equally mundane. Movies, media and games were their only exposure to real danger and excitement. Then there was the added thrill of upsetting their parents.

One might be tempted to comment on how blessed they were to actually expect to live their lives in safety and relative comfort; that is something much of the rest of the world might only dream about.I didn't lecture, though. I just listened.

Thought I'd add this observation to the conversation.

[edit on 16-1-2008 by Sestias]

[edit on 16-1-2008 by Sestias]

reply to post by Sestias


Thank you.

You've made an important distinction that needs to be made.

I don't necessarily think that mimicing this lifestyle is healthy, but the kids you talk about will more than likely do quite well when they have to start dressing for success, have to meet mortgages and raise kids who will need parents to pay their way to college.

Indeed, these gangsta fashions have been popular to one degree or another with privileged white kids for about fifteen years.

The ones who really suffer are those kids who grow up with inadequate supervision and proper socialization who see these rappers on TV and the gang members in their own communities flashing their bling and are drawn into the lifestyle themselves.

Originally posted by Sestias
Movies, media and games were their only exposure to real danger and excitement.

I would, however, question whether one can experience anything real by watcing "movies, media, and games."


[edit on 2008/1/16 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
You're on a bus with your girlfriend and the scabby looking people with bandannas and knives approach you... That is today's reality. Things like that rarely, if ever, occurred during the 1950s... To say that "This is something that has always happened," is just a way to ignore the truth.

This type of behavior was less prevalent during the fifties, but it did exist.

In the forties in LA, there were the Zoot Suit Riots.

In the fifties, there were outlaw motorcycle gangs and inner city gangs of ethnic groups pitted against one another. Ever see "West Side Story?"

That was Leonard Bernstein's musical adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" set in New York City where teenage gangs were in near constant conflict.

I must admit that I did not grow up in this environment. In my youth, growing up in the small town and rural South, I didn't know kids who were not brought up to respect their parents and their elders and who thought nothing of breaking the law.

We were not ashamed to be poor. Poverty was no excuse for criminal behavior.

[edit on 2008/1/18 by GradyPhilpott]