Gang mayhem grips LA

[133724]

A bloody conflict between Hispanic and black gangs is spreading across Los Angeles. Hundreds are dying as whole districts face the threat of ethnic cleansing. Paul Harris reports from the epicentre of America's new urban warfare

Father Greg Boyle keeps a grim count of the young gang members he has buried. Number 151 was Jonathan Hurtado, 18 - fresh out of jail. Now the kindly, bearded Jesuit mourns him. 'The day he got out I found him a job. He never missed a day. He was doing really well,' Boyle says.

But Hurtado made a mistake: he went back to his old neighbourhood in east Los Angeles. While sitting in a park, Hurtado was approached by a man on a bike who said to him: 'Hey, homie, what's up?' He then shot Hurtado four times. 'You can't come back. Not even for a visit,' says Boyle, who has worked for two decades against LA's gang culture.

<snip>

Boyle's Los Angeles is where an estimated 120,000 gang members across five counties battle over turf, pride and drugs. It is a city of violence as a new race war escalates between new Hispanic gangs and older black groups, each trying to ethnically cleanse the other. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has referred to his city as 'the gang capital of America', has launched a crackdown on the new threat.


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2036580,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12


Any one from LA want to weigh in on this????

[devilgrrl]

1. Nothing happening in my neighborhood...

I hear things about Highland Park where some of this may be taking place.... haven't seen anything in the local media recently.

I'm not sure what to think.

[edwardsfeingold08]

2. Supposedly gang violence is up here in Padadena

There have been six shootings so far this year.

I don't know if it's an ethnic conflict or not. Stuff like this is rarely reported. It's bad for the tourism and housing market. Maybe that's a bit of a conspiracy theory, but when I lived in Venice there were murders in my neighborhood. When I watched the news and read the papers to see what happened, there was nothing. They report the stuff in Inglewood and the known bad areas, but the better neighborhoods seem to sweep it under the rug.

[ellisonz]

11. PASADENA REPRESENT

I'm sad to hear that gang violence is up in Dena.

I think the ethnic conflict component is exaggerated, yes the tension is there, but it's not anywhere near wholesale conflict, much less major conflict. There is the potential for it, but I doubt it will ever come to fruition because there's too much common interest between blacks and Latinos. I could see MS-13 getting into it though, that's the nightmare scenario.

You've picked up the central trope of media in Los Angeles County...come to Eden, you can avoid the coloreds because unless you seek them out you are pretty much segregated by neighborhood (except for the few really liberal enclaves i.e Venice, and I can't think of anywhere else where the race barrier is totally broken down) most especially if you have money. For example, see the 710 freeway.

Pasadena High School '04 (I'm gringo).

[ocdem]

3. This is being blown way out of proportion

the truth is millions of blacks and hispanics get along every single day in l.a.

every gang related death is saddening. but it is simply not the norm. what bothers me is that now some are trying to make it look like ethnic cleansing of blacks by hispanics which is used by the anti-immigrant camp and nativist groups.

[ellisonz]

12. Welcome to DU!

Whatever sells newspapers and helps ratings (perhaps a little harsh)...

[madrchsod]

4. terrorism in america

we do`t need any "outsiders" to terrorize our cities...

[kestrel91316]

5. Boring as hell in the West San Fernando Valley, though

Canoga Park has some gang issues.

I think the biggest problem areas are east and south of downtown. Barrios and slums.

[UTUSN]

6. Not making light, rather pointing to the Shrub mentality: Does mean that Laura's solution,

which was for gangs to read SHAKESPEARE, didn't work? Actually, after her photo op about this, she hasn't been heard from again on this topic.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. The yuong bucks need to prove themselves

I hate it when they go to war... mostly the innocent get caught...

[DerBeppo]

8. Villaraigosa isn't doing anything but

wasting money on "gang intervention" programs that are full of waste and fraud because they're run by "former" gang members who turn out to be not so former.

[Nevernose]

9. That's not the case in Father Boyle's program, however.

Despite a few setbacks and some bad press, Homeboy Industries has really helped a lot of people.

[DerBeppo]

10. Very true

and a big reason is that he's stayed away from the city's initiative and done all of this in house. Father Boyle's a true inspiration.

[ellisonz]

13. Ethnic cleansing is an exaggeration.

I do not deny that it was a reality in parts of Highland Park and that racially motivated violence is occuring in the Harbor Gateway area.

For real ethnic cleansing in LA see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots

[ellisonz]

14. Father Greg Boyle