Pubdate: Mon, 22 Oct 2007
Source: Wilmington Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2007 The Wilmington Journal
Contact:  http://wilmingtonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3424
Author: James Wright, Of The Afro-American Newspapers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

LEGISLATORS ADDRESS 'HOMETOWN TERRORISM'

October 11-17, 2007

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Gangs and drugs are terrorizing communities of 
color and it is up to government at all levels to combat it.

That was the general conclusion of a brain trust, "Terrorism at Home: 
Breaking the Grip of Gangs and Drugs in Our Communities," sponsored 
by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in collaboration with the National 
African American Drug Policy Coalition, a consortium of Black 
organizations committed to changing the drug laws and culture to the 
benefit of Blacks.

Cummings is a proponent of homeland security and "hometown security," he says.

"People in our neighborhoods are not afraid of Osama bin Laden but 
are more afraid of people who are sitting next to them," he said. 
"Homicides in my city, Baltimore, are on pace to reach record levels 
this year. One of the products of this is gang violence.

"But it is not just people in the city but the suburbs. They are 
joining gangs, also."

Young people joining gangs has become a major problem today, Frank 
Clark of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, Gang 
Intervention and Investigation Unit, said.

"More kids are aspiring to become gang members and it is reaching 
epidemic proportions," Clark said. "Not only is it the Bloods, the 
Crips and MS-13, but it is these neighborhood crews that are causing problems."

Clark said that parents need to be cognizant of the type of people 
that there children associate with and if they start wearing certain 
colors on a consistent basis.

"People in our neighborhoods are not afraid of Osama bin Laden but 
are more afraid of people who are sitting next to them."

Alabama Drug Court Judge Martha Lynn Sherrod said that tattoos, 
graffiti, hand signals and colors are strong indicators whether gangs 
are in an area. She noted that medium-size cities like hers, 
Huntsville, have been targeted by gangs.

"It is no longer the big cities or L.A.," she said. "The new 
recruiting grounds are smaller cities where people are struggling to 
live. What are fueling gang activity are illegal drugs and it is lucrative.

"Gangs are becoming employers of our youth."

Snitching, or telling law enforcement authorities on the activities 
of criminals, has become a problem in many big cities. In Baltimore, 
there is a culture on inner-city streets where people who snitch face 
retaliation. At its mildest, a snitch is ostracized from his/ her 
peers; at its worst, "rats" are beaten or killed.

Cummings has worked with such people as Denver Nuggets star Carmelo 
Anthony in trying to stop retaliation for snitching. Rahim Jenkins, a 
senior policy advisor for the Office of the Mayor of the District of 
Columbia's Ex-offender Affairs Office, said that witnesses do not 
come forward because much of America is caught up in a culture of violence.

"You have to understand how these young people look at things," he 
said. "They understand that the Bloods and the Crips are gangs, but 
they also think that the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Congress are gangs. Why?

"Because to them, they function as a gang. The Senate and the 
Congress protects its members and, in their view, act a certain way 
and commit crimes to be a part of their gang.

"It is the same way with athletic teams. It does not make sense but 
that is the way they think."

Kenneth Barnes, president of ROOTS (Reaching Out to Others Together), 
said that gun violence is a problem in Black communities.

"So far this year I have attended 50 funerals this year," he said. 
"These were funerals of our youth. These young people have access to 
guns too easily. "Something must be done to stop this."

Clarence Edwards, the president of National Black Law Enforcement, 
said that the situation was not hopeless.

"I think that we can turn this around in our communities if we work 
together," he said. "We should embrace our youngsters and tell them 
that we love them."

Edwards said that he has gone to D.C. public schools that had been in 
bad shape and has been told by youth that they don't thing that the 
adults care about them.

Jenkins said that gangs have gotten so bad in some neighborhoods that 
"they have become the new slave masters." Nkechi Taifa, a senior 
policy analyst for the Open Society Institute, said that the federal 
government should allow cities, counties and states to implement 
strategies to fight gangs.

"Sometimes the feds get in the way and it should be a local matter in 
order to stop gangs," she said. "The feds should assist the local and 
the state governments. Only the local and state government knows the 
unique situation that they face."

Howard University School of Law Dean Kurt Schmoke, a former state's 
attorney and mayor of Baltimore, said that stronger role models are 
needed in the community and the police must play a larger role in 
fighting crime.

Schmoke said, "It will take all of us to stop the growth and 
proliferation of gangs."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom