Gripe : ‘Look at My Situation’

Like most young, black Los Angelenos, I was pleased to see the truce between the notorious Bloods and Crips. It was even more heartening to see the countless job-training and business opportunities that started to trickle and then pour in for these young men who have decided to make a change for the better.

And then I took a look at my situation and that of many of my friends. We are all in our mid-20s, college-educated and either under-employed or not employed at all.

The socioeconomic pitfalls and obstacles that “forced” many of the gang members into the life-styles they are now valiantly trying to leave behind are the very same ones that have affected my friends and me, the only difference being that while the now-promising gang members were orchestrating drive-by shootings, selling drugs and other activities not listed on resumes, we were earning A’s and B’s in high school and then college, involved in student government and lettering in varsity sports. We were preparing for the future in an acceptable fashion. But now that the future is here, it is difficult for us to be accepted. Or must we make blue and red bandannas part of our well-worn “interview suits?”