PLATFORM : Community Ties
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Los Angeles street gangs are sophisticated business enterprises that make millions of dollars in profits by distributing cocaine. Can they give it up, or will the truce provide a peaceful method of dividing up turf for drug distribution?
If gangs can stop killing each other, that’s a step, but it does nothing to end criminal enterprises. Just as the underlying problems of crime in Los Angeles are not resolvable at the level of the criminal justice system, the problems facing our communities will not be resolved by “gang unity” alone.
Instead of “gang unity,” we should be promoting the “community of Los Angeles.” These people who belong to gangs in Los Angeles ought to step forward and participate in organizations with positive anchors in the community, like Brother Modesto’s Soledad Enrichment Action or Jim Brown’s Amer-I-Can. When gang members are invested in the community, maybe they won’t tear it down.
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