[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ear Middle-Class Teenager of America,
Stop glamorizing gang culture.
Stop throwing up gang signs when you hear a rap or hip-hop song.
Stop calling yourself a “Blood” when you wear red.
Stop calling yourself a “Crip” when you wear blue.
In haste you mock those who have endured in urban neighborhoods and have fallen victim to these gangs you idolize. You are protected by privilege and gated communities when you blatantly ‘rep’ an existing gang. You turn your noses up at those like Tavin Price, a mentally disabled 19-year-old who was killed for merely wearing red shoes. And, in turn, you also make light of the various forms of violence gangs have used to cripple cities such as Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, Oakland, and Oklahoma City for years. By this, you not only normalize their violence, but extend their influence. Whether this be through social media or by the fake drive-by’s you and your friends do while zooming down suburban streets with white-picket fences, you desensitize the public from the diabolic nature of gangs, which consists of countless acts of thievery, domestic abuse, assault, murder and so on..
You belittle the loss of the grieving families of these victims. In doing so, you perpetuate their pain as they beg for their children to rest in peace, among a society of those who are fortunate enough to live, yet who neglect the heinous actions leading to the victims’ unjust passing. By the repetition of gang jargon in your tweets and Instagram “flex” posts, you cripple America’s ability to bat an eye at those whose last memory was hearing the “su-wu” call of Bloods or “cuz” greeting of Crips before they were forced to stare down the barrel of a gang member’s gun. You prevent any possibility of activism against gang brutality.
With your de-stigmatizing fingerwork and ignorant chants of imitation, you ridicule the names of those who have suffered from the random violence of gangs:
Eric Adorno, Lacy Ferguson, Josue Huerta, Manuel Rayas.
You jeer at those who have been struck down by gangs’ hatred:
Mercedes Williamson, Reker Ahmed, Navroze Mody.
You flick the dirt out of your manicured nails towards those who have faced the at-home trauma of gang-affiliation:
So, stop.
Stop glamorizing gang culture.
Stop throwing up gang signs when you hear a rap or hip-hop song.
Stop calling yourself a “Blood” when you wear red.
Stop calling yourself a “Crip” when you wear blue.
