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Article Excerpt
IN THE FALL OF 2004, MAJOR ARTICLES ON GANGS APPEARED IN VARIOUS SOUTHERN California publications--including the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Most decried the growing violence, drug sales, and seemingly unworkable responses to gang violence. (1)
Early in 2005, an alleged gang youth, a Marine recently AWOL from Iraq, made the headlines when he killed a police officer and then himself at a convenience store near Modesto. His family denied any gang ties, but most of the media reported this allegation. (2)
In fact, the country's most notorious "supergangs" originated in California: the Crips, Bloods, Hell's Angels, Mexican Mafia, Nuestra Familia, Mara Salvatrucha, 18th Street, Sur Trece, the Aryan Brotherhood, and others. Most would think relatively warm weather as well as breathtaking mountain and shoreline regions could temper any such developments. But something fishy must be going on here--and I don't mean tuna. Not only does this state lead all other states in the nation in terms of the number of people incarcerated, it also has the worst prisons in a country in which any prison is a living hell.
What gives? Why does California lead the country in the "worst" categories--worst in the arts, worst in education, worst in violence--despite being the sixth-largest economy in the world and home to the wealthiest communities in the history of humanity? There are no simple answers, but I will examine a few issues to help shed light on the "trouble in paradise" this state seems to embody.
A Quick Overview
California is the country's most populated, most agriculturally rich, and most industrialized state. It has the largest number of foreign immigrants in the United States. Most immigrants are poor Mexicans. But there are also large numbers of refugees--especially during the last two to three decades--from Central America, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Armenia, Iran, and Russia. Every major poverty center in the world ends up sending tens of thousands to our shore, especially from the Pacific Rim countries. (3)
The economic structure in the state consists of several layers. They range from the poorest in the migrant-magnet of agriculture, with the Central Valley taking in the bulk of them, to professionally trained, computer-literate foreign students and workers, to the extremely wealthy, who are tied to the media, entertainment, energy, and technology industries.
Despite its marvels, and some wonderfully cohesive and livable communities, California is particularly strained along racial and class lines. Although I grew up in Los Angeles, I lived in Chicago for 15 years (1985 to 2000). Even though Chicago is highly segregated and is known for a particularly virulent legacy of entrenched racism, the discord I felt when I returned to California was far more pronounced. In fact, four times after my return, I was told to "go back to where I came from." Three of these incidents involved whites (including a family I encountered in a Chico, California, grocery store), and one was a black woman in the barrio of Pacoima in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
The animosity between citizens and the undocumented is intense. Groups such as Save our State and the Minutemen have staged anti-immigrant vigils. Governor Schwarzenegger even praised these vigilantes and invited them to patrol the state's border with Mexico. There are also conflicts between African Americans and Mexicans/Central Americans in the bigger cities, and between middle-class, upwardly mobile whites (and others, including Asians, some Mexicans, and a few blacks) and poorer, increasingly neglected people. This last group continues to be mostly black and brown, although a significant proportion of the poor in this state is white.
California also pioneered anti-bilingualism referendums, although there are up to 250 languages in our schools (not counting the many indigenous tongues from tribes scattered throughout the state). It pioneered "three strikes and you're out" initiatives, Proposition 13-type tax revolts, and the denial of school and health services (except in emergencies) to undocumented people. Even our "moonbeam" ex-governor, Jerry Brown (now mayor of Oakland), has taken a strident stance against crime (mostly against poor black and brown residents), and "The People's Republic of Santa Monica" has approved city ordinances against the homeless. Caring and sharing seem in short supply in the Golden State.
A History of Strife
None of this should come as a big surprise. California has one of the most tumultuous histories of the continental 48 states. It had the largest native population in the country before the Spanish, Mexicans, and later the Anglo-Americans came here in droves. Millions of indigenous people were believed to be living in relatively tranquil states before the arrival of the Europeans. The natives here were also some of the most resourceful and peaceful.
However, the building of the Spanish mission system and ranchos resulted in the massive slaughter, enslavement, and forced assimilation of native peoples. Then the U.S., bent on "Manifest Destiny," conquered Mexico and annexed California, Texas, and several other southwestern states. A year later, the discovery of gold brought miners, speculators, builders, and thieves (as well as new bounty laws that paid...
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