Jaye's Rant 4: Gangs and The City

[Jaye101]

Gangs and The City
By: Jelani Laws

Gang lingo has engulfed this generation of youths, and I can see it sneaking up on the next like a thief in the night. Ease dropping on youths conversations you'd be bedazzled to what they were talking about, the slang they use is one thing, but it is the way they refer to the neighbourhoods, and intersections you live around--by gang names.

"I went up to Jungle yesterday..." A youth said on the subway platform of St. George station. She probably didn't know it was gang members who had named the neighbourhood of Lawrence Heights in North York that. When I explain to a person where exactly I live in the neighbourhood of Malvern, epiphanies soon follow. "Oh, why didn't you just say you lived in Crosstraxx?" A community in Malvern named after the abandoned tracks that you must cross to enter it.

Why I'm I expected to refer to neighbourhoods by the names the socially challenged have given it. I scorn when I hear kids referring to the social housing project near Morningside and Lawrence avenues; D-block. Named after the street Danzig in the same neighbourhood.

Or how would you feel being told that you cannot enter the neighbourhood of Galloway because you reside in Malvern. I'm not a part of a gang, so why should they govern me and others in neighbourhoods across the city.

How can gangs be growing in influence in the city, yet the illusion that they are in decline, or being controlled is being projected on the general public. I would never knowingly put a friend or family member in danger. However if just going to their home puts them in danger what can one do to stop it. If I had known that after going to my friends house, which is also in Malvern, that he would be mugged because it was thought I was from Galloway--I never would have gone.

Many people see them everyday--and just simply walk passed them. Not knowing that they are taking mental censuses of which young men live in the neighbourhood, and they take great notice when a young man from a foreign neighbourhood enters there own. Walking home to do a group project for my world history class with two friends, we encountered 20 black young men which began scream and interrogating the two friends I brought to my residence. "Where are you from?!" They said screaming as we were on my porch. Luckily they were both from Malvern. But what if someone were to reply Galloway, or Glendower--how would they have reacted?

The black community in Toronto imported the very same problems that large American centres suffer from. Some cry out for more job opportunities and social programs for youths in the city. However it is not socio-economic status and the supposed lack of social programs which forces these youths into gangs. When young men grow up having no male figure to embrace and aspire to. They look to the very culture that has secreted from the ghettos in the United States.

Why wont our young men stop looking up to Jay-Z like he's Jesus Christ, and why wont more fathers step up to the plate in African-Canadian households. We just watch it happen--we act like were actually doing something when we watch the news in our comfortable homes. The police understand there is a concern, they see it everyday--but they chose not to do anything. In 2005 nearly a dozen police watched a fifteen minute confrontation escalate on Yonge Street on the day of the Caribana parade. They watched, and waited until Dwayne Taylor of Brampton was fatally shot.

[Tuscani01]

Originally Posted by Jaye101

Gangs and The City
By: Jelani Laws

Gang lingo has engulfed this generation of youths, and I can see it sneaking up on the next like a thief in the night. Ease dropping on youths conversations you'd be bedazzled to what they were talking about, the slang they use is one thing, but it is the way they refer to the neighbourhoods, and intersections you live around--by gang names.

"I went up to Jungle yesterday..." A youth said on the subway platform of St. George station. She probably didn't know it was gang members who had named the neighbourhood of Lawrence Heights in North York that. When I explain to a person where exactly I live in the neighbourhood of Malvern, epiphanies soon follow. "Oh, why didn't you just say you lived in Crosstraxx?" A community in Malvern named after the abandoned tracks that you must cross to enter it.

Why I'm I expected to refer to neighbourhoods by the names the socially challenged have given it. I scorn when I hear kids referring to the social housing project near Morningside and Lawrence avenues; D-block. Named after the street Danzig in the same neighbourhood.

Or how would you feel being told that you cannot enter the neighbourhood of Galloway because you reside in Malvern. I'm not a part of a gang, so why should they govern me and others in neighbourhoods across the city.

How can gangs be growing in influence in the city, yet the illusion that they are in decline, or being controlled is being projected on the general public. I would never knowingly put a friend or family member in danger. However if just going to their home puts them in danger what can one do to stop it. If I had known that after going to my friends house, which is also in Malvern, that he would be mugged because it was thought I was from Galloway--I never would have gone.

Many people see them everyday--and just simply walk passed them. Not knowing that they are taking mental censuses of which young men live in the neighbourhood, and they take great notice when a young man from a foreign neighbourhood enters there own. Walking home to do a group project for my world history class with two friends, we encountered 20 black young men which began scream and interrogating the two friends I brought to my residence. "Where are you from?!" They said screaming as we were on my porch. Luckily they were both from Malvern. But what if someone were to reply Galloway, or Glendower--how would they have reacted?

The black community in Toronto imported the very same problems that large American centres suffer from. Some cry out for more job opportunities and social programs for youths in the city. However it is not socio-economic status and the supposed lack of social programs which forces these youths into gangs. When young men grow up having no male figure to embrace and aspire to. They look to the very culture that has secreted from the ghettos in the United States.

Why wont our young men stop looking up to Jay-Z like he's Jesus Christ, and why wont more fathers step up to the plate in African-Canadian households. We just watch it happen--we act like were actually doing something when we watch the news in our comfortable homes. The police understand there is a concern, they see it everyday--but they chose not to do anything. In 2005 nearly a dozen police watched a fifteen minute confrontation escalate on Yonge Street on the day of the Caribana parade. They watched, and waited until Dwayne Taylor of Brampton was fatally shot.

The other day I saw a little kid, maybe 6 or 7 dressed like a thug and already talking with slang. I wanted to straighten his hat, pull up his pants and teach him proper english. wtf is going on... Did I mention he was white? This isnt a racial problem... The gang/thug lifestyle is being replicated by every culture and it needs to go.

[Jaye101]

The proportion of young African-Canadian men being killed in this city doesn't imply that the problem is identical for every ethnic group.

[Taller, Better]

It would be pretty hard to argue that it is not a problem faced more by African Canadian men, even if some others are mimicking the ganster thing.
It is hard to imagine that this is going on in Toronto if you don't have anything personally to do with it.. really it sounds like something in Brazil where different parts of cities are carved out for different gangs..
What could ever be done to stop it?

[camel_trainer]

Originally Posted by Jaye101

Gangs and The City
By: Jelani Laws When young men grow up having no male figure to embrace and aspire to....

.....and why wont more fathers step up to the plate in African-Canadian households...

The police understand there is a concern, they see it everyday--but they chose not to do anything. In 2005 nearly a dozen police watched a fifteen minute confrontation escalate on Yonge Street on the day of the Caribana parade. They watched, and waited until Dwayne Taylor of Brampton was fatally shot.

I just took segments of your post to use as talking points.

In my opinion, the lack of fathers and the perpetuation of this cycle is by far the biggest issue.

It's not just the men, either. To be really blunt, women are allowing someone to ejaculate inside of them without first preparing for the consequences of that act. Most cultures in Canada see this as common sense. That is why there is little sympathy for the problems facing some segments of the black community. It is natural to feel less sympathetic toward someone if you think they brought their situation on themselves. I realize it's not politically correct to say this, but I think a lot of people think it.

As for the police, there is so much scrutiny of how they interact with black youth that I'm not surprised they did nothing until it was too late. They act too early and it's harrassment, they act too late and they don't care. They are screwed either way. If I was a cop, I would probably hesitate before stepping into a situation like the one you described, but that's probably why I'm not a cop.

As for Jay-Z or any other rapper, I think it's a stretch to lay blame there. When I was young I looked up to rappers, too. Lots of kids do. But I think kids only truly start to idolize someone they don't know when they don't have a real person to take that place. I had a strong family and a great father to keep my ego in check, so I knew how to separate what I heard and saw from reality. Idolizing Jay-Z is a symptom - not a cause - of the problem.

Anyway, Jaye, if you are only 16 or so (which I think I read somewhere) and you are already this mature and balanced in your thoughts, you will probably be part of the solution to some of these problems some day. If not already. You'll be scary with a university education behind you.

[DrT]

The simple facts without getting overly analytical are:
Lots of people from all walks of life (from Hollywood stars, to bankers, to junkies) like to get high with one drug or another and are willing to pay for it.
This demand fuels easy money to be made by selling drugs and getting into that outlaw gang culture as a shortcut to financial success with its rewards of nice cars, clothes, women, etc. Who is not enticed by this? Article in the Times-Union of Jacksonville yesterday stated that marijuana was the biggest cash crop in the US. It is enticing to anybody, and of course even more to the young who are not yet employed.
My solution: Take the money (and thus glamour) out of it!
Legalize drugs and tax them.
You don't see gangs making money from cigarrettes or liquor. From Latin America, to the gangs in Russia, the majority of the monies come from the drug trade.

[sl64]

^ Well put. What people don't understand is the economics of the drug industry. For instance, most people think of drug busts as good news, but that's a shortsighted approach. Less product on the market drives the price up, which increases the incentive for producing it, and the market corrects itself over time - while more and more tax dollars are funneled into police coffers and not to the at-risk youth that are most susceptible to getting involved in the drug game. More police are hired, they make more busts, and the process repeats itself. The effect is that more and more police are hired without making a long-term dent in the problem.

Outright drug prohibition has never worked for the same reasons that alcohol prohibition failed in the last century - namely, that people don't really care what the government tells them they can and can't do, as long as they know they can get away with it. The government needs to stop telling people what they should spend their money on, admit that drugs aren't going away and start working towards more creative and (gasp!) maybe even counter-intuitive approaches to limiting their availability/desirability.

This isn't even getting into the fact that drug prohibition is effectively an enforced lack of regulation in the industry. Problems aren't settled with lawyers like they are in other industries because of the government's stubborn insistance on sticking its head in the sand and hoping it'll go away. Instead, problems are settled with guns, and people who are already breaking the law by selling drugs tend to have, on the average, fewer moral quibbles about the use of force.

[camel_trainer]

Originally Posted by sl64

Outright drug prohibition has never worked for the same reasons that alcohol prohibition failed in the last century - namely, that people don't really care what the government tells them they can and can't do, as long as they know they can get away with it. The government needs to stop telling people what they should spend their money on, admit that drugs aren't going away and start working towards more creative and (gasp!) maybe even counter-intuitive approaches to limiting their availability/desirability.

Legalization is great in theory, but it won't happen. If you legalize it, you appear to be condoning it. It's as simple as that. Any negative thing resulting from the drug, however small, is blood on the government's hands. It's terrible PR, even if the goal is to reduce abuse and fund anti-drug programs.

I know the arguments - Alcohol and tobacco also kill and ruin lives, casual/recreational drug users (of cocaine, ecstacy, etc.) far outnumber hardcore addicts, etc. These are also true, but they don't change the destructive potential of hard drugs.

I support the legalization of marijuana, because I think as a society we've pretty much decided that it's not very harmful or addictive.

The other issue is the U.S., of course. It would be a slap in the face and create a mockery of their disasterous War on Drugs. Canada would pay dearly for that embarrassment.

[Fedekovic]

I know exactly what the author of the article is talking about. I live in Rosedale but work in Malvern and whenever I tell people where I work, they act like I have a death wish! I've seen peoples jaws drop when I say I work in Malvern, I've even had friends all out refuse to visit me at work because of the area it is located in.

My dad started his company in Malvern over 25 years ago and I've been going there from a young age and I have never felt threatened once, yet the fear that all these outsiders have is what the gangs want. The gangs want to dominate the area and want people to stay away. Word spreads quickly among Torontonians and within no time, everybody is fearful of an area and feel that it is an unruly wild part of the city where people get shot all the time.

A few days ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who lives near Lake Simcoe who has only been to Toronto a few times in his life. I told him where I work and the instantaneous response was bewilderment, he even told me "A friend of mine got shot in Malvern for being white. It was on the news, too."

I don't buy it. Not for a moment have I felt threatened being in Scarborough. I have been all over Scarborough and violent crime is hardly as rampant as people portray it to be. The article talks about people labeling areas and that is just a direct result of the gangs trying to strike fear into people. You just have to be moderately street smart and you'll be fine. For example, it's probably ill advised to walk down Birchmount at 2 in the morning with your ipod headphones in and your lacoste polo shirt on. Scarborough is hardly as scary as some might believe.

[Homer J. Simpson]

Scarborough is still pretty safe.

Crime is not exclusively a black failing as well.

But it does seem that the black community is dealing with more than it's fair share of violence as of late.

Perhaps the solution is better leadership within the community. Jaye you have shown some leadership here, perhaps in the near future you will be a part of the leadership that brings Malvern to a more normal state. Someone your age standing up and making noise gets noticed.

[ScrapeTheSky]

I have never heard any of the lingo the article mentions. But then, the only parts of Scarborough I've been to are the Bluffs and Scarborough Town Centre. I really doubt any gang terms for parts of Mississauga exist. Misissauga isn't that ghetto lol. Though maybe it is and I just don't know. I mean, we do have shootings here too.

[Jaye101]

Originally Posted by Fedekovic

I know exactly what the author of the article is talking about. I live in Rosedale but work in Malvern and whenever I tell people where I work, they act like I have a death wish! I've seen peoples jaws drop when I say I work in Malvern, I've even had friends all out refuse to visit me at work because of the area it is located in.

My dad started his company in Malvern over 25 years ago and I've been going there from a young age and I have never felt threatened once, yet the fear that all these outsiders have is what the gangs want. The gangs want to dominate the area and want people to stay away. Word spreads quickly among Torontonians and within no time, everybody is fearful of an area and feel that it is an unruly wild part of the city where people get shot all the time.

A few days ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who lives near Lake Simcoe who has only been to Toronto a few times in his life. I told him where I work and the instantaneous response was bewilderment, he even told me "A friend of mine got shot in Malvern for being white. It was on the news, too."

I don't buy it. Not for a moment have I felt threatened being in Scarborough. I have been all over Scarborough and violent crime is hardly as rampant as people portray it to be. The article talks about people labeling areas and that is just a direct result of the gangs trying to strike fear into people. You just have to be moderately street smart and you'll be fine. For example, it's probably ill advised to walk down Birchmount at 2 in the morning with your ipod headphones in and your lacoste polo shirt on. Scarborough is hardly as scary as some might believe.

It's interesting because my relatives in Brampton call when something happens near where I live. They have this idea of what it's like to live here and it's completely wrong. In the summer you may hear a gun shot here and there at night if you listen, but it's not like people are chasing others down the street with them.

It's not just Scarborough that's being identified this way, in my opinion some places in North York can be considered far worst than neighbourhoods in Scarborough. However, in the media they'll say 'shooting at Jane and Sheppard leaves woman paralyzed.' While if it's in Scarborough they'll say, 'a shooting in Scarborough today leaves woman paralyzed.'

As well, incidents in Suburban Toronto tend to get much media. While I believe incidents in the inner-city are sometimes left unreported entirely.

Originally Posted by Homer J. Simpson

Scarborough is still pretty safe.

Crime is not exclusively a black failing as well.

But it does seem that the black community is dealing with more than it's fair share of violence as of late.

Perhaps the solution is better leadership within the community. Jaye you have shown some leadership here, perhaps in the near future you will be a part of the leadership that brings Malvern to a more normal state. Someone your age standing up and making noise gets noticed.

I tried to take leadership in talking one of my friends out of the gang mindset, but it's as if his mind will never change. It's so set in his mind that he claims if someone killed his girlfriend and he knew who it was, he wouldn't go to the police. I used that example and tried to explain to him the case of Chantel Dunn killed last year in front of a North York community centre in which the same scenario had occurred--no dice.

[Tuscani01]

Originally Posted by Jaye101

It's interesting because my relatives in Brampton call when something happens near where I live. They have this idea of what it's like to live here and it's completely wrong. In the summer you may hear a gun shot here and there at night if you listen, but it's not like people are chasing others down the street with them.

It's not just Scarborough that's being identified this way, in my opinion some places in North York can be considered far worst than neighbourhoods in Scarborough. However, in the media they'll say 'shooting at Jane and Sheppard leaves woman paralyzed.' While if it's in Scarborough they'll say, 'a shooting in Scarborough today leaves woman paralyzed.'

As well, incidents in Suburban Toronto tend to get much media. While I believe incidents in the inner-city are sometimes left unreported entirely.



I tried to take leadership in talking one of my friends out of the gang mindset, but it's as if his mind will never change. It's so set in his mind that he claims if someone killed his girlfriend and he knew who it was, he wouldn't go to the police. I used that example and tried to explain to him the case of Chantel Dunn killed last year in front of a North York community centre in which the same scenario had occurred--no dice.

I have a friend who keeps telling me how bad Scarborough and Jane/Finch are, and it really pisses the hell out of me. Everytime I go to Scarborough shes on my ass about it being dangerous. I bet she cant even point out Scarborough on a map of the GTA. Then with Jane/Finch, A few people I work with live there and my aunt also lives there. Ive been there many times and ive never felt uncomfortable or scared. Yet shes afraid of ever going there.

Its really annoying when people try to tell you something you know isnt true.

[Jaye101]

Yeah, when people hear about the crimes that do happen here, they think it's something that you can walk down the street and see.

However, the gang culture is growing and we were taken by surprised in 2004 when a gang war broke out between Malvern and Galloway. As more youths actually join these gangs everything will seem like an average year for crime, but if/when another one does there will no doubt it will be bigger than 2004. Although by North American standards it was obviously not comparable, it's certainly not something we are not used to.

[camel_trainer]

If you feel powerless, gangs give you that (however artificial) feeling of power. It's addictive. With instant friends, a weapon and money, suddenly you feel like a man.

Of course, most people with a decent upbringing are taught that being a real man is learning to take your licks, swallowing your pride, getting up after your fall down, being a positive influence on others and so on.

It takes a while to understand that the right thing and the easy thing are almost never the same thing. Only maturity teaches us that.

If you have a postitive influence around you who can teach you how it all works and prepare you for when those challenges come, you are better equipped to figure life out. If you don't have a positive influence to teach you those things, you turn to gangs for a quick fix to your youthful angst and frustrations.

Fast money, instant power, girls - those things don't last and come with a high price. The problem is making that big mental leap: foregoing immediate gratification in favour of hard work and discipline that can ultimately lead to much greater rewards. It's not something you can easily figure out if you've never seen it. It all just sounds like daisies and sugarplums and nonsense.

It comes down to priorities. Positive roll models teach us, perhaps more than anything else, how to establish priorities. If I understand what is truly important in life, I won't turn to gangs to get those things because I will understand that those things are not found in a gang.

[TRZ]

That's the thing though, cash, strength [weapons], speed [stolen cars], highs [drugs], sex/girls, these are things that have allure to some extent. The entertainment industry also tends to further "up" the image of such a lifestyle. There are not enough incentives to not get involved with it, despite the fact that the concequences already in place effectively ruin your life should you get busted for gang activity. We're dealing with people who have not only given up on their own life, but given up on the idea that other people have rights to their lives as well. This highlights the importance of preventative crime, because once you have a hardened gang member, there is no turning them around. If they felt left behind enough to turn to such a life style, do you seriously think they are gonna change their opinion after they've been locked up in a cell only to get repeatedly anally raped? Yeah, it'll change all right, it'll get worse than it was before and they will be guaranteed to reoffend. The prison system doesn't do anything to help, it makes the problem worse when the sentence is up.

[ScrapeTheSky]

Gangs suck.

EDIT: Oooh lucky post number 222.

[CrippinSauga]

it's representing your neighbourhood, it's protection, it's the money, it's something to live for when you dont have any oppurtunities

[circuitboy84]

Originally Posted by CrippinSauga

it's representing your neighbourhood, it's protection, it's the money, it's something to live for when you dont have any oppurtunities

Don't have any opportunities? Canada is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We are constantly bringing in new immigrants due to the labour shortage. There is also free education up to the end of high school. Ridiculous.
If you have no opportunities go and create some. The guy holding the "STOP/SLOW" sign next to the construction site is making $20/hr. Surely you can do the same.

[CrippinSauga]

surely I can buddy dont worry about my financial situations... teachers and school administrations never gave a shit