Speaking of GANGS

[wordsmythe]

Originally Posted by jeezeweeze

At the risk of being called a racist... Im gonna say it anyway ... no pc here

Rap music does not help the gang situation.. we have talked about that on here before...SEX,DRUGS........I can't say rock and roll..... dont know what you call it...(damn ...I sound like my parents)

Seems like most kids are wanna be Thugs....the Thugs that are portrayed on music videos are mostly black..... before you jump my sh*t ....I dont make the videos.... or the rules...Im just relaying what I see... and hear

Kids have always been non conformists...against the establishment .... and the Thug lifestyle appeals to them for now.... Black,White,Latino,Asian....

This will be the establishment when these kids get into power.....

I give up.....Im gonna go get fitted for a GRILL.....and are there any classes to learn gang signs ?? YO...YO...YO...

Are you really trying to blame the gang problem on Rap?

Kinda reminds me of all those people back in the 80's trying to sue Ozzy for their kids killing themselves and having a copy of "suicide solution" around.

Or even when those little pukes murdered my friend while he was alking home over the second street bridge and then tried to say it was the "Ghetto Boys" tape they were listening to that made them do it.

I'm gonna say the real problem starts with parenting, or lack of it.

[TexKan]

Originally Posted by JayhawkMom

Do you really think so???.....Cuz Hays has banked their economy on higher education and I don't see any gang problem there.......

Great Bend has banked their economy on oil and I don't see any gang problem there.........

Garden City hasn't banked their entire economy on beef/pork packing and you don't hear of any gang problem there.........

You don't think those towns have a drug business????

.....JMO

Do I think if there was no meat packers there would still be gangs???? Absolutely

Just cause you don't see or hear of gangs - doesn't mean they aen't there. They are. I'm sure there is some very small community somewhere without gangs and drugs - but I sure haven't heard or seen one yet!

Not that I wanna debate the point but I think it's foolish to blame a society scourge on just ONE factor. There are many contributing factors to social issues. It's not all the meat packers, it's not all the illegals, it's not all the crummy parents,........... it's just a host of things. That's doesn't imply that "I Know"............. that's just what the focus groups have reported. Blaming it on ONE is just far too lazy and easy.

[Detector]

Do I think if there was no meat packers there would still be gangs???? Absolutely

Do I think our packinghouses are the reason we have a gang problem???? Absolutely

I don't think anyone is blaming gangs on one single reason but I have little doubt our gang problem is a direct result of the packinghouses. Just about all towns of any size have gangs, not all have gang problems. Big difference in my opinion.

The packinghouses attract people that are prone to gangs. Families that let the street raise their children and those of illegals are prime gang targets for recruitment. The failure to deal with the problem only allows it to get out of hand which it has.

As has been said we have had Asian gangs for years as well as Hispanic. They kept to themselves, for the most part, and didn't care to reveal themselves to the public. Our now massive Hispanic population has empowered them(Hispanic gangs) with the boldness to face the public and say Yeah I break the law, so what can you do about it?

Just cause you don't see or hear of gangs - doesn't mean they aen't there.

Very true, but it does mean they aren't out shooting innocent bystanders, defacing public and private property and holding gang fights on public streets. That would be the difference between a town with gangs and a town with a gang problem.

[JayhawkMom]

Originally Posted by Detector

Do I think if there was no meat packers there would still be gangs???? Absolutely

Do I think our packinghouses are the reason we have a gang problem???? Absolutely

I don't think anyone is blaming gangs on one single reason but I have little doubt our gang problem is a direct result of the packinghouses. Just about all towns of any size have gangs, not all have gang problems. Big difference in my opinion.

The packinghouses attract people that are prone to gangs. Families that let the street raise their children and those of illegals are prime gang targets for recruitment. The failure to deal with the problem only allows it to get out of hand which it has.

As has been said we have had Asian gangs for years as well as Hispanic. They kept to themselves, for the most part, and didn't care to reveal themselves to the public. Our now massive Hispanic population has empowered them(Hispanic gangs) with the boldness to face the public and say Yeah I break the law, so what can you do about it?



Very true, but it does mean they aren't out shooting innocent bystanders, defacing public and private property and holding gang fights on public streets. That would be the difference between a town with gangs and a town with a gang problem.

[JayhawkMom]

Originally Posted by hugz

I did go to school there, and while there was not a gang problem evident while i was in school, i will tell you that someone had to had nice lucrative drug buisness going on. Come on it is college and let's face it, quite a few people do experiment.

That's my point..........drugs, but no gang.......gangs can't just be here because of the drug business

I have no personal experience in great bend so it would be unfair of me to make assumptions.



Having lived in garden city before i can without a doubt tell you that there is in fact a big gang and drug problem there. Garden just like dodge does have a gang task force set up. You can go around garden and see buildings and property tagged up no matter what part of town it is. Unfortunately, i do know that it is a problem from personal experience (see my very first post on dodgeboard.com)

If they have a gang problem, it's not splashed all over the local news like ours; shootings, tagging, gang wars, etc.

As far as a drug problem goes, when i was younger i actually heard a drug deal go down in a public bathroom at dance. As a college student, i knew people in Garden that either used or sold drugs. And trust me it was not too hard to find those people.

Which is exactly my point. We've had drugs in this town for as long as anyone remembers......so the gangs aren't here and didn't come here just for the drug business.......something else brought them here, and something else keeps them here.

[lurker]

Asa Soule was an early drug dealer. His patent medicine didn't make you well but it sure made you feel better.

[TexKan]

It's your town - it's your gangs - I agree with you in principle - Course we have gangs everywhere - they have their own neighborhoods. We don't always see them - just what they leave behind. Good luck with the solutions. There have been millions of $$ thrown at the problem. You can't run them out of town by closing down the packing houses - that's my only point. Course if you think closing the packing houses is good for Dodge and the community as a whole - go to it! I don't like the packing houses either - I also don't like petroleum plants - its just kinda frustrating isn't it?

[lBugsy]

as a kid growing up in middle class Dodge City in the fifties there was a hispanic gang called (and I won't spell it right) the Pujukes. They were on the East side of Dodge and used to have a lot of activity in the old girl scout park on Ave C.
They did keep to themselves most of the time but most people knew who belonged and stayed clear of them.
I know the gang problem today is much larger but just wanted to clear the air about not having gangs before the beef packers.

[NoLongerInRadioGuy]

Originally Posted by wordsmythe

Are you really trying to blame the gang problem on Rap?

Kinda reminds me of all those people back in the 80's trying to sue Ozzy for their kids killing themselves and having a copy of "suicide solution" around.

Or even when those little pukes murdered my friend while he was alking home over the second street bridge and then tried to say it was the "Ghetto Boys" tape they were listening to that made them do it.

I'm gonna say the real problem starts with parenting, or lack of it.

I am big on protecting music...obviously the radio side of me. I think people who believe a song is speaking directly to them has a screw loose upstairs. BUT....while music does not "make" someone join a gang, there are songs that sure promote the gang lifestyle, if not glorify it. Case in point - Snoop Dogg had a song out just a year or two back called "Drop It Like Its Hot" where he has the lines "I keep a blue flag hanging out my backside - But only on the left side, yeah that's the Crip side"...."If you play me close, you're on a red beam - Oh you got a gun so you wanna pop back? - AK47 now nigga, stop that!"..."Pistol whip you, dip you then flip you - Then dance to this mother******* music we crip to."


Just a quick cruise of the net and I found this site - www.myspace.com/nortenorap - not for anyone who is offended by language easily! If you can stomach it, check out what the rap is saying. For this one group, there are 100 others giving the same message. And lets not forget there are the same amount of Sureno rap groups doing the same. And for those of you who think this isnt affecting small town Dodge City, Kansas, I can tell you otherwise. I have been in several houses on different calls where this gang music is playing and colors are hanging. You can hear it booming from car stereos as they drive down your quiet residential streets.

For parents out there, you should check out Bebo and see if your middle school or younger kid is claiming a gang. Bebo is like myspace, only geared towards younger kids and there a more than just quiet a few local norteno gang members (and some probably wanna be's) that are more than proud to put their names, pictures, and gang slang all over their profiles. The youngest one I saw on there is 12 years old. Maybe I sould compile a list of all the ones who have posted either their name or street name on their bebo site and post it on here so everyone can see?

[Made in the USA]

Originally Posted by NoLongerInRadioGuy

Maybe I sould compile a list of all the ones who have posted either their name or street name on their bebo site and post it on here so everyone can see?

Sounds like a good idea to me NLIRG!