User:Aidanflores12/Gangs in the United States

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Gangs reemerged in the Northeast in cities such as New York during the second half of the twentieth century with rising Latino immigration, especially from Puerto Rico in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as a rising population of Black Americans migrating from the American South. Although New York built large, urban high-rise public housing in the 1940s, much of the public housing was built in low-rise form and in outer areas during the 1950s and 1960s; the effect of this was to mitigate much of the gang-on-gang violence that other American cities suffered in that period. During this time, there was also a lot of urban renewal headed by Robert Moses in the Upper West Side of New York, where low income neighborhoods, many of which were home to lower-class Puerto Rican, black, and white Americans, were being demolished to create more middle and upper class housing. However, this only escalated gang conflict as New York saw gangs nonetheless form among the youth of the Latino, black, and white population as neighborhoods became smaller and populations were pushed closer together, resulting in turf wars for the small amount of land they had left. Various pre-existing European gangs (Irish, Italian, Jewish, German, etc.) united under a "white" identity to combat the onset of Puerto Rican and black migration. In 1957 there were 11 murders perpetrated by gangs in Manhattan. By the end of the 1960s, two-thirds of gangs in the city were black or Puerto Rican. Youth gang conflict was depicted in popular media such as West Side Story in 1957, which brought more attention to the issue.

Juvenile gangs

Youth gangs are composed of young people, and like most street gangs, are either formed for protection or for social and economic reasons. Some of the most notorious and dangerous gangs have evolved from youth gangs. Youth gangs started to become prevalent in the 1940s and 1950s in Northeast cities like New York due to factors such as gentrification, neglectful homes, and immigration. Many of these were formed within racial groups and fought other ethnic gangs over turf and rapidly decreasing neighborhoods as urban renewal projects pushed out certain socioeconomic groups. The 1950s also saw a rise in juvenile delinquency, which concerned many New Yorkers, especially as Latino and black gangs were associated with it by the press. Therefore, the problem of gang violence lingered as these issues prolonged without many efforts to stop it, especially for youths of color. During the late 1980s and early 1990s an increase in violence in the United States took place and this was due primarily to an increase in violent acts committed by people under the age of 20. Due to gangs spreading to suburban and smaller communities youth gangs are now more prevalent and exist in all regions of the United States. One of the more popular youth gangs in the Midwest are the NJCK or North Jersey Cross Kids.

Hispanic gangs (Mexican, Central American and Caribbean)

A member of Mara Salvatrucha bearing gang tattoos.

U.S. immigration investigation programs, such as Operation Community Shield, have detained more than 1,400 illegal immigrants who were also gang members, just a tiny fraction of gang members nationwide. A California Department of Justice study reported in 1995 that 60 percent of the twenty thousand members of the 18th Street gang in California are undocumented immigrants.

The largest Hispanic gang is 18th Street gang and the most violent is MS-13 gang, both run by The Mexican Mafia or La Eme in prison.

The largest Dominican gang, Trinitarios, is the fastest-growing Hispanic gang on the northeastern region. Although as prison gang, the Trinitarios have members operating as a street gang, and it is known for violent crime and drug trafficking in the New York and New Jersey area.

Puerto Rican gangs became especially prevalent in the latter half of the twentieth century with increased migration from the island. Many Puerto Rican youths in New York joined these gangs as there was a strong anti-Puerto Rican sentiment in the city, which caused youths to feel isolated and escape their situation by joining gangs. This sentiment was due to violent and offensive depictions of Puerto Ricans in media and the press embellished Puerto Rican gang crime. Combined with being a part of the city's lowest income group and turf war against white gangs, Puerto Rican gangs were often scapegoated for these crimes, which emphasizes their prevalence during this time period.

One of the most notable examples of this was the 1959 case of Salvatore Agron and Antonio Hernandez, members of the Vampires, who were involved in the killing of two white teenagers and the wounding of four others in a gang-related crime. Newspapers dubbed them, "Dracula," and the, "Umbrella Man," respectively, emphasizing the crime with gruesome images. However, much of the press ignored the racially charged banter between the teenagers, instead emphasizing the turf war over a park.