Street Gangs: The Great Migration
Gangs have increasingly become a serious problem over the past few decades. A report from the FBI’s 2011 National Gang threat assessment states that there are 1.4 million active gang members comprising of more than 33,000 gangs in the United States (MacBradaign, 2013). Many believe that the first street gangs started with the formation of the Crips and the Bloods between 1971-1972, but the first active street gangs in western civilization were reported by Pike (1873, pg.276-277), a widely respected chronicler of British crime. He documented the existence of gangs of highway robbers in England during the 17th century (Pike, 1873, pp. 276-277). It did not appear that these earlier gangs had the features of …show more content…
Haskins points out that Tammany Hall, a governmental and political organization, was at the center of much of the corruption and even aiding the gangs in gang activities. In the early 1830s, several politicians bought grocery stores in Five Points and the saloons and dance halls in the Bowery, the gathering places for the gangs. In return for their assured protection of the gangs’ meeting places and financial rewards offered to the gangs for their loyalty, gang leaders returned the favor by taking care of jobs like blackjacking political opponents and scaring unsporting voters away from the polls. “Nearly every shrewd ward and district leader had at least one gang working for him” …show more content…
Due to the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to the North between 1910 and 1930, this gave way to a new era of street gangs. By the time of WWII, Harlem was one of the first Black ghettos in America, and “the area could not have been riper for the sprouting of street gangs (Haskins, 1974, p.80). In the 1930’s, following the U.S Civil War, gangs were also growing rapidly in other cities such as Chicago. Many Blacks migrated to Chicago to escape the misery of Jim Crow laws and the sharecropper’s life in the Southern States (Miller, 2008). The origin of Chicago’s serious street gangs dates back to a period of 1917 to the early 1920’s (Perkins, 1987, pp.19-32). Black youth formed cliques, which was a major ingredient for street gangs (Perkins, 1987, pp.20).
Street gangs also began to play a role in the lives of athletes and athletics all together, “athletics played an important role in the development of early black street gangs” (p.21). The Race Riot of 1919 also contributed directly to black gang formation in Chicago. Black males united to confront hostile white gang members who were terrorizing black communities. (Perkins,
Gangs have increasingly become a serious problem over the past few decades. A report from the FBI’s 2011 National Gang threat assessment states that there are 1.4 million active gang members comprising of more than 33,000 gangs in the United States (MacBradaign, 2013). Many believe that the first street gangs started with the formation of the Crips and the Bloods between 1971-1972, but the first active street gangs in western civilization were reported by Pike (1873, pg.276-277), a widely respected chronicler of British crime. He documented the existence of gangs of highway robbers in England during the 17th century (Pike, 1873, pp. 276-277). It did not appear that these earlier gangs had the features of …show more content…
Haskins points out that Tammany Hall, a governmental and political organization, was at the center of much of the corruption and even aiding the gangs in gang activities. In the early 1830s, several politicians bought grocery stores in Five Points and the saloons and dance halls in the Bowery, the gathering places for the gangs. In return for their assured protection of the gangs’ meeting places and financial rewards offered to the gangs for their loyalty, gang leaders returned the favor by taking care of jobs like blackjacking political opponents and scaring unsporting voters away from the polls. “Nearly every shrewd ward and district leader had at least one gang working for him” …show more content…
Due to the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to the North between 1910 and 1930, this gave way to a new era of street gangs. By the time of WWII, Harlem was one of the first Black ghettos in America, and “the area could not have been riper for the sprouting of street gangs (Haskins, 1974, p.80). In the 1930’s, following the U.S Civil War, gangs were also growing rapidly in other cities such as Chicago. Many Blacks migrated to Chicago to escape the misery of Jim Crow laws and the sharecropper’s life in the Southern States (Miller, 2008). The origin of Chicago’s serious street gangs dates back to a period of 1917 to the early 1920’s (Perkins, 1987, pp.19-32). Black youth formed cliques, which was a major ingredient for street gangs (Perkins, 1987, pp.20).
Street gangs also began to play a role in the lives of athletes and athletics all together, “athletics played an important role in the development of early black street gangs” (p.21). The Race Riot of 1919 also contributed directly to black gang formation in Chicago. Black males united to confront hostile white gang members who were terrorizing black communities. (Perkins,