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Rachel Dodge
AP Language
S. Pritchard
7 March 2016
Effects Gangs have on Their Communities.
Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociology student in the 1980’s, courageously spent
three years of his college life in the Robert Taylor Housing Projects documenting
the life of the lower class. In this Chicago housing project, Venkatesh meets JT,
the leader of the Black Kings, a well known gang throughout the eastern United
States. JT allows Sudhir to follow him around in his everyday life in order for him
to really get to know how gangs and lower class society. Having actual insight
into the lives of those in the community of the Black Kings gang, really helps to
see both the positive and negative effects the gangs have on their communities
Most of society views gangs as group of people who are selling drugs and
destroying communities. But, in housing projects, gangs are considered a sense
of protection (Venkatesh, pg 69). In housing projects, there is little police
interference because of how much violence goes on, and how little control the
law enforcement really has. (Venkatesh, pg 113) The inability of these
community members to count on police, hospitals, the government to protect
them leaves them relying on the gangs and each other to keep the community
going. This quote from J.T.’s mother is explains the gang-community
interdependence; "We live in a community, understand? Not the projects - I hate
that word. We live in a community. We need a helping hand now and then, but
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who doesn't? Everyone in this building helps as much as they can. We share our
food, just like I'm doing with you. My son says you're writing about his life - well,
you may want to write about this community, and how we help each other. And
when I come over to your house, you'll share with me. You'll cook for me if I'm
hungry. But when your here, you're in my home and my community. And we'll
take care of you." (p. 43) This quotation from a member of the housing projects
really gives insight on how the community works. The poverty stricken
community can not depend on the government, or anyone else for protection but
the gang. One example is when Venkatesh first encounters an older women
living in the housing projects at a barbeque the Black Kings organized for the
Robert Taylor apartments. The women explains a situation where after a young
girls mother and father are both in prison for drug charges, the gang organized a
plan to keep the little girl out of foster care and rotate her throughout the more
stable members of the housing project. ( Venketesh pg 40). The Black Kings
provide the protection to businesses, clean up buildings, and make sure drug
trafficking is in a place away from children and the schools. Without the
organizing of the gang, the already poverty stricken housing projects would be in
even worse shape.
Although gangs like the Black Kings can help organize helpful things for
their communities, they can negatively effect some of the members of the
community. A known fact is that young gang people join gangs for the wrong
reason, such as to boost self esteem, lack of parental supervision, lack of
employment opportunities.(Harper, 1989, pg 31). Gang violence is the number
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one cause of hard in lower class urban areas. Sudhir recalls a time he was
studying the Robert Taylor projects and a gang shooting occurred. “A young boy
and girl in Robert Taylor were shot, accidental victims of a drive-by gang
shooting. The boy was eight and the girl nine. The girl died. The shooting
occurred at the border of Taylor A and Taylor B. J.T.’s gang had been on the
receiving end of the shooting, with several members injured.” (Venketesh, pg
105). Shootings like these are very common between gangs and can start simply
from two of the lower ranking members getting into a fight over a girl. Homocide
arrests for seventeen year olds jumped 121% between 1985 and 1991 when
Venketesh studied the Black Kings. Rates of those ages 15 and 16 grew even
fast. (Teen Killers,1992). Gangs can negatively influence those in the projects,
especially the young people. So as seen in both Sudhir’s research and many
others, gangs really do have many effects on where they live.