Beejus
2004-05-26, 15:58
What A Wonderful World We Live In Today
The Bloods and the Crips are two gangs that originated back late 1960’s early 1970’s in Los Angeles (now are spread out nation wide). It is estimated by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) that each gang has around 10,000 members ranging from thirteen to forty years old. The gang’s primary objective is to sell illegal narcotics such as cocaine and heroin.
After many years of rivalry and violence the two gangs met over the past weekend to discuss a treaty. Newark Deputy, Mayor Ras Baraka and the Nation of Islam facilitated the meeting. The meeting for a truce was sparked two months prior to this weekend when gang members watched the film “Redemption”. The movie is about the life of Stanley Williams who was co-founder of the Crips who is now on death row in California. According to David Muhammad the men at the truce meeting “were tired of committing violent acts and being blamed for ones they didn't do."
The provisions of the truce include: refrain from using gang hand signals, graffiti or other symbols to incite the killing of rivals, vow to designate places like schools, churches and parks as neutral zones and to avoid encroaching on each other's territory without notice.
There is no guarantee that this truce will live up to its potential of ending a lot of street violence but the spokesman for the New Jersey State Police said “Anything that will stem the violence is welcome”.
source:CNN.com --- Crips and Bloods Gangs Agree To Truce (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/05/25/gangs.truce.reut/index.html)
I think the idea behind being in a “gang” is stupid and makes you a coward. I believe it is in fact a good thing that they are ending the violence between the two gangs; however, they are still selling these illegal drugs to everyone and anyone they can which is in turn making this country just as unsafe for the children and adults of the United States. I think if they truly felt moved by the movie, and came to the realization that violence is not the answer, that they should take a stand against all kinds of violence and end what they are doing. Yes this is a step in the right direction, but I still don’t believe that they should be seen as “heroic” for deciding not to shoot each other in front of a church.
The Bloods and the Crips are two gangs that originated back late 1960’s early 1970’s in Los Angeles (now are spread out nation wide). It is estimated by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) that each gang has around 10,000 members ranging from thirteen to forty years old. The gang’s primary objective is to sell illegal narcotics such as cocaine and heroin.
After many years of rivalry and violence the two gangs met over the past weekend to discuss a treaty. Newark Deputy, Mayor Ras Baraka and the Nation of Islam facilitated the meeting. The meeting for a truce was sparked two months prior to this weekend when gang members watched the film “Redemption”. The movie is about the life of Stanley Williams who was co-founder of the Crips who is now on death row in California. According to David Muhammad the men at the truce meeting “were tired of committing violent acts and being blamed for ones they didn't do."
The provisions of the truce include: refrain from using gang hand signals, graffiti or other symbols to incite the killing of rivals, vow to designate places like schools, churches and parks as neutral zones and to avoid encroaching on each other's territory without notice.
There is no guarantee that this truce will live up to its potential of ending a lot of street violence but the spokesman for the New Jersey State Police said “Anything that will stem the violence is welcome”.
source:CNN.com --- Crips and Bloods Gangs Agree To Truce (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/05/25/gangs.truce.reut/index.html)
I think the idea behind being in a “gang” is stupid and makes you a coward. I believe it is in fact a good thing that they are ending the violence between the two gangs; however, they are still selling these illegal drugs to everyone and anyone they can which is in turn making this country just as unsafe for the children and adults of the United States. I think if they truly felt moved by the movie, and came to the realization that violence is not the answer, that they should take a stand against all kinds of violence and end what they are doing. Yes this is a step in the right direction, but I still don’t believe that they should be seen as “heroic” for deciding not to shoot each other in front of a church.