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Gerardo Chagolla Mexican-American Culture 2430 December 1, 2013 Gangs in the Mexican-American Culture As we all now, the Mexican-American or !is"anic communit# is $ull o$ social issues ranging $rom housing to immigration to the ob%ious, language barriers& 'ne big issue that ( wanted to address within the !is"anic communit# is gangs& Although, gangs are not exclusi%e $or !is"anics) howe%er, in m# o"inion, we are an easier target when it comes to recruiting& *Another "oint must be made, understood, and ca"itali+ed& 'nl# a small minorit# o$ ,atino #outh-"erha"s 10-12- in threatened communities are actuall# drawn into gang li$e& Most o$ these #oung "eo"le are not immigrants but the children or grandchildren o$ immigrants&* ./o 0oundaries "g&12) e%en though 10-12- is a small number according to the 3uote, we need to ee" in mind that that number is onl# $or ,atino #outh gang members in these communities, and not all ,atino gang member in communities&

According to the text *4x"lorations in Cultural Com"etence,* b# !illar# /& 5ea%er, Mexican-Americans are the largest ,atino grou" and the $irst to reside in what is now the 6nited 7tates in signi$icant numbers& 8he ,atino "o"ulation has grown signi$icantl# in the "ast 20 #ears) in 1990, 22 million ,atinos constituted 9 "ercent o$ the "o"ulation& 0# 2000, that number had risen to 3: million, 12 "ercent o$ the 6&7& "o"ulation& 0# 2010, according to C//&C'M, the ,atino "o"ulation had reached a new milestone, to""ing :0 million, or 1; "ercent o$ the 6&7& "o"ulation< 8he "oint o$ this "a"er is to highlight some im"ortant $acts about our !is"anic histor# and culture that will tie in with the gang issue using research su""orting the reasons $or a change) a realistic strateg# $or addressing the issue at hand and bringing about needed change in that

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s"eci$ic area) the cost o$ the "ro"osed "rogram, i$ an#) "ossible areas o$ resistance and identi$#ing and inter%iewing indi%iduals in the communit# and=or communit# organi+ations that would be committed to the change& (n the bod# o$ this "a"er, ( will do m# best to translate all the research ( obtained $rom boo s such as */o 0oundaries> 8ransnational ,atino Gangs and American ,aw 4n$orcement* b# 8om Dia+, and some in$ormation gained $rom the text boo s $rom this course&

?irst, let@s loo at some im"ortant $acts on gangs& *According to recent sur%e#s, more than 20,000 gangs are acti%e in the 6&7&, with o%er 1A0,000 members&*./o boundaries "g& %iii2 8hose numbers alone should be enough research or hard $acts su""orting change) reason being is that true law en$orcement "ro$essionals li e) detecti%es, co"s, and $ederal agents now that in the alwa#s changing hierarch# o$ criminal organi+ations, gangs are at the bottom o$ the organi+ed crime ladder& 5hich ma es gangs %er# dangerous to the a%erage citi+en and law en$orcement& (n other words, we ha%e about 1A0,000 gang members in the nation that are a serious threat to societ#& *(n the hierarch# o$ criminal organi+ations, more so"histicated criminal organi+ations.ma$ias, cartels2 $ocus on mone#-"roducing crimes and use %iolence as a tool to en$orce the *business* o$ crime& 8hat does not ma e them less o$ a threat to societ#, but when it comes to gratuitous %iolence, targeting innocent citi+ens is bad $or their @business&@ 8hese criminal organi+ations hide their a$$iliations with crime $amilies and shun the s"otlight&* ./o 0oundaries )$oreword2 Continues) *(n contrast, gangs use %iolence to intimidate the "ublic and establish their identit#& ,atino criminal street gangs are not merel# transient "henomena o$ #outh, ethnic culture, and %iolent crime& 8he# are all o$ that& 0ut the# are most im"ortantl# mar ers o$ %ast changes that ha%e swe"t o%er the 6nited 7tates and the world& 8hese changes continue to trouble Americans and unsettle "olitical li$e in the 6&7& 8he# include economic restructuring, globali+ation,

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migration "atterns that de$# the national borders and ignore immigration laws, transnational crime, and the $ederali+ation and growing internationali+ation o$ law en$orcement& All o$ these are wo%en dee"l# into the stor# o$ ,atino gangs&*

A realistic strateg# $or addressing ,atino gangs in our communities should be the same as dealing with non ,atino gangs in an# communit#& 8he smart thing to do is to start a "rogram $or troubled teens, but what i$ the teen denies the "rogramB !e chooses to be a gangster instead o$ the righteous "ath& 5hat nowB 7ince there is no uni%ersal de$inition o$ what constitutes a *gang* or gang membershi", it ma es it hard $or a street co" to identi$# a member that has no criminal record& Although there are man# law en$orcement agencies in our communities that "atrol the area $or illegal acti%it# or gang acti%it#& Agencies li e Gang 6nits that are in ghetto communities.barrios2, need to contain gang acti%it# in that area so it wonCt s"read out to other "arts o$ the communities& 0ut it@s not as eas# as it sounds, in order to ee" these agencies around, the agencies ha%e to "ro%e that there is a gang "roblem to recei%e $unds& ($ there are no gangs, there will be no $unds&

(n order $or these gangs to o"erate the# need a higher "ower, or at least a "ur"ose $or being a gang& As stated in */o 0oundaries*, *5ithin the last two decades ,atino criminal street gangs that once o"erated onl# "ro%inciall#, con$ined largel# to street crime in local barrios, ha%e been drawn into bigger and more so"histicated criminal networ s& (n 7outhern Cali$ornia alone, there ha%e been busts and "rosecutions or acti%e $ederal in%estigations o$ at least hal$ a do+en criminal enter"rises similar to the extortion rac et that Mexican Ma$ia boss ?ran Martine+ and the Columbian ,il@ C#cos cli3ue o$ the 1A street gang members are used as @muscle@ and @mules@ b#

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Mexican drug tra$$ic ing organi+ations both in the 6&7& and ,atin America&* Although law en$orcement agencies debates the extent to which street gangs are in%ol%ed with larger criminal networ s and organi+ations, as well as their "recise roles& 7ome do thin that the extent to which gangs ha%e been integrated into such entities is exaggerated& 0ut almost all agree that the $ormer o$ the two statements could be an accurate and real threat&

5ith all o$ the $acts "resented on what ma es gangs o"erate, to bring needed change and gain control o$ gangs in general, and not Dust the ,atino communities) although in m# o"inion, gaining control o$ ,atino gangs in ,atino communities will e%entuall# crum"le all gangs o$ an# race in an# communit#, is to go a$ter the ma$ia=cartels that are in this countr#& 8hese entities that control the drug trade in the countr# also control the gangs& 8he 6&7& go%ernment needs to wage war on these entities) but in order to do that, the go%ernment needs to ac nowledge that the "roblem is alread# in this countr#& 0# Dust recogni+ing that ma$ia=cartels do o"erate in the 6&7&, and understanding all o$ the nowledge that law en$orcement alread# nows about organi+ed crime, the law can sto" the ma$ias=cartels and gain control o%er gangs or %ice %ersa& 5ith all o$ the (ntel law en$orcement agencies ha%e gathered in the "ast on ma$ias=cartels and (ntel $rom recent, the# are able to see a relationshi" with low le%el gangs& 4%en though histor# has taught us that we cannot get rid o$ gangs, we can at least gain control o$ gangs and gain control o$ our own communities&

As stated abo%e, gangs are a big threat to communities, and snitching on them is out o$ the 3uestion& Eeo"le li%ing in these communities also li%e amongst these gangsters, the o"tion o$ s"ea ing u" will cause more trouble in the communities and trouble $or the *snitch&* (n m#

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o"inion, the onl# area o$ resistance against these gangs relies on law en$orcement, "eo"le that donCt ha%e to li%e in these communities& (t would be "rett# h#"ocritical o$ me to inter%iew, letCs sa#, a gang unit o$$icer in m# communit#& ( m#sel$ ha%e been recentl# charged with a second degree $elon#, without writing much about m# "ersonal "roblems, ( donCt see a good or $air inter%iew being conducted $or me& !owe%er, ( can tell #ou that 7, Metro Gang 6nit needs better training in identi$#ing the gangs, Dust better training o%erall&

(@%e co%ered much research about ,atino gangs=gangs and their a$$iliation with organi+ed crime and how these big organi+ed crime $actions use the gangs to handle their business in ,atino communities and communities that are in$ested with gangs) the reasons $or change and what needs to be done to ma e this change ha""en) a somewhat realistic strateg# $or addressing the gangs issue in the ,atino communities) and e%en though the gangs issue is hard to get actual research without the ?0( gi%ing awa# their (ntel to the general "ublic& 8he strateg# was m# "ersonal o"inion on what ( thin will wor & Fee"ing law en$orcement in these communities trac ing illegal=gang acti%ities and sta#ing acti%e, ma ing sure the gangs now that the# are being watched is de$initel# a realistic wa# to bringing change& 7ince m# strateg# o$ ee"ing law en$orcement in communities is alread# in e$$ect, budgeting should not change& 5aging war on the ma$ias=cartels in the countr# would be a "rogram that ( ha%e #et to $igure out but ( was thin ing o$ creating a new legislation, similar to the G(C' Act, some ind o$ law that would ma e the ma$ias=cartels thin twice about how business is handled) another issue within this issue is su""l# and demand, i$ Americans donCt demand the drugs, then the su""l# will go down& 8o be "er$ectl# honest, ( donCt ha%e the slightest idea on what it ta es to create something li e that, ( didnCt do the research on it& (n conclusion, the ,atino culture has man# social issues that need to be addressed

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but $or me, most o$ the issues alread# ha%e a solution $or them& ( $elt that b# researching and writing about this issue, since we ne%er touched on it in class, would gi%e someone else the encouragement to "ossibl# ma e something ha""en in the $uture regarding our culture and gangs and "reser%e our "lace in this countr#&

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Works Cited
Dia+, 8om& No Boundaries: Transnational Latino Gangs and American Law Enforcement. Ann Arbor, Michigan> 8he 6ni%ersit# o$ Michigan Eress, 2009&

Garcia, Alma M& The New Americans: The Mexican American. 5estEort, C8> Greenwood Eress ?irst Eublished in 2002

5ea%er, !ilar# /& Explorations in Cultural Competence: ourne!s to the "our #irections. 0elmont, Cali$ornia> 0roo s=Cole Cengage ,earning 200:

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