VTMBH Article: Body
The recent shooting of a young girl in the Bronx after a gang stormed a private party is evidence of a resurgence in gang violence in New York. The gang members responsible appear to have ties to powerful Mexican gangs in Los Angeles, where whole neighborhoods and supposedly under their control. It is not an accident that Los Angeles has a disproportionate rate of violence, homicide, suicide, and teen pregnancy, among other problems caused by young gang members.
Now is the time to demand the dismantling of gang activity in all New York neighborhoods. We cannot allow people to go on feeling scared in their own neighborhoods because of the activities of a few insecure young people who must create a marginal organization in order to feel special. In past years, we have seen the influence of Latino gangs wane, and some members have even become community leaders.
There is no reason that a new wave of gang violence should be allowed to continue to claim young lives. This particular incident, which occurred in a private residence, demonstrates what little respect these young people accord their community, and what high respect they pay their weapons. They use their weapons when someone recognizes them for what they are: cowardly and confused. On the night in question, the young men did not intend to settle an old score with another gang; rather, they invaded the party because they were not invited.
We all know the stereotype of the insecure person who uses violence as a way to feel powerful, almost always under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These types of tough guys end up crying in jail when they become the victims of criminals far worse than them.
This resurgence of gangs that lay claim to whole neighborhoods should not be allowed. New York should belong to everyone, and the arm of the law should reach every street corner. Whoever thinks we are in Los Angeles should know that this is New York in the new millennium, and there are more worthwhile pastimes than playing gangster with real guns. If there are gang members who can still be rescued, so be it. But those who kill innocent, hard-working people and their children should understand that they are in the wrong place and the wrong time. Neither the Saint James Boys nor Los Locos deserve to exist; they must be eradicated before they turn their guns on their own community. They should be cut off at the roots before they spread into an epidemic.
Now is the time to demand the dismantling of gang activity in all New York neighborhoods. We cannot allow people to go on feeling scared in their own neighborhoods because of the activities of a few insecure young people who must create a marginal organization in order to feel special. In past years, we have seen the influence of Latino gangs wane, and some members have even become community leaders.
There is no reason that a new wave of gang violence should be allowed to continue to claim young lives. This particular incident, which occurred in a private residence, demonstrates what little respect these young people accord their community, and what high respect they pay their weapons. They use their weapons when someone recognizes them for what they are: cowardly and confused. On the night in question, the young men did not intend to settle an old score with another gang; rather, they invaded the party because they were not invited.
We all know the stereotype of the insecure person who uses violence as a way to feel powerful, almost always under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These types of tough guys end up crying in jail when they become the victims of criminals far worse than them.
This resurgence of gangs that lay claim to whole neighborhoods should not be allowed. New York should belong to everyone, and the arm of the law should reach every street corner. Whoever thinks we are in Los Angeles should know that this is New York in the new millennium, and there are more worthwhile pastimes than playing gangster with real guns. If there are gang members who can still be rescued, so be it. But those who kill innocent, hard-working people and their children should understand that they are in the wrong place and the wrong time. Neither the Saint James Boys nor Los Locos deserve to exist; they must be eradicated before they turn their guns on their own community. They should be cut off at the roots before they spread into an epidemic.