The Ying And Yang Of Gang

It’s a tale of two cities.

Well, actually it’s just one city with two examples of what seems to be an unsolvable problem.

In one case, parents of students at the now infamous Fenger High School are planning to boycott the school by keeping their children home to protest what they see as a lack of security against gang violence. In the other, 6 black college students from St. Louis are threatening action against a locally famous bar for refusing to allow them entry because of what they claim is racial discrimination.

At Fenger parents are claiming the Chicago Public School Board and the Chicago Police are not doing enough to keep their children safe. It was outside Fenger that honor roll student Derrion Albert was brutally beaten to death by gang members wielding 2 X 4’s. The fatal beating was caught on video by one of the many witnesses who stood by and watched. A number of Fenger students have been charged with the murder and police are continuing their investigation. This past week 5 more students were arrested for fighting inside Fenger. The brawls are part of the “turf war” between local gang members and those from a nearby housing project.

Chicago’s black community is rife with gang activity. Parents of students who just want an education have every right to be fearful, but what they hope to accomplish by this proposed boycott is unclear. The problem is with the gang bangers not the school. The only possible solution from a police standpoint is to have armed police officers roaming the hallways of the school. This would pull them off their duties outside the high school and would only serve to increase tensions and crime rates on the street. It would also most certainly cause local community activists to portray the police in school as an abuse of power and a violation of the student’s constitutional rights of free assembly. Chicago has already tried to institute action against groups of 2 or more gang members gathering on the street only to have it struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.

The incident at Mother’s bar in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood involved 6 black college students who were not allowed inside by security because of their gang related attire. The 6 wore baggy pants and had their caps on backwards. While this is seen in the suburbs as a fashion statement it is understood in urban areas as a sign of gang affiliation. The manager of the bar was inclined to allow them inside until the 6 backed him into a corner with aggressive behavior and shouting. At that point any hope for resolution was lost and the students were forced to leave. They claim that they traded clothes with some white friends who were allowed entry and are making that their basis for claims of racial discrimination.

So police and private security can do nothing if you associate with gang bangers, dress like a gang banger and even admit to being one. But let gang bangers do what they do and then these same security and police forces are at fault for not doing enough to stop him. How do you win that?

Police can arrest the perpetrators of violence after the fact, but they are legally limited in how much they can proactively do to prevent it. The bulk of that responsibility for action lies within the black community. The community, led by their vocalists (they are far more vocal than active), is quick to complain about too much or too little action being taken, but the only action that will make a meaningful difference must come from within the community.

The greatest threat to a member of the black community is from another member of the black community. Not the police, not security guards and not racism.

Change the attitude in the community, or change the law so police have legal authority to be proactive, or get used to it.