The Impact of Gangs on Society

Gangs are a major deterrence of minorities having a meaningful and successful life. Various reasons cause the nation’s youth to fall into the death trap of a gang. Parents, environment, upbringing and education are some of the biggest things that play an important role in keeping minorities out of a gang life. The movie “Colors” shows some of the conflicts minorities of different races face when being a member of a gang. Death, prison, money, sex and even bonding are but a few of the things a gang life can bring.

A rookie cop Danny MaGavin and Hodges partner up to fight the evil the gangs of Los Angeles bring to the streets. The Crypts and the Bloods are two of the biggest gangs in the city. Drug dealing, drug use and drive by shootings are typical events for gang members. Colors represent a gang with the color blue indicating a Crypt and red being a Blood. Unfortunately minorities are at the root of the gang chaos. Some gangs are made up of one race others are made up of different races. The territory they grow up in is a big factor in determining their path in life. Education plays a critical role in determining if an individual will end up as an unemployment statistic which can lead to living a life of crime. Minorities find association with gangs just like law abiding citizens find with non violent groups. There is structure within them including leadership, rankings, decision makers, duties, oaths, expectations as well as respect and disrespect.

Even initiations are sometimes required to prove your worthiness. Members usually have a street name which brings pride in being known as a certain individual. Colors, hand signs, markings, lingo, and gang names are some of the things that make one stand out from the other. Law enforcement officers take these things into creating what we call profiling. Sometimes the race of a person can bring racial profiling. When individuals match this certain criteria they tend to be interrogated by the police. This will usually cause tension and sometimes hatred between one another, pushing minorities in the wrong direction. The majority of gangs are made up of men but women are not immune to joining. These groups take a criminal position in society.

Gangs not only destroy lives of people not associated with them but lives among themselves as well. They succumb to the luring of being a part of a group, sometimes money, material possessions, pride, acceptance and even just the continuance of a life cycle through generations are the cause for joining. Unprotected sex brings unwanted pregnancies that bring children born directly into the environment. This way of life is often passed down through generations because it is the only way they have ever known. In this movie the Bloods and the Crypts go to war for senseless reasons leaving people dead and not solving or accomplishing anything. Members, law officers and innocent by standers die as well, shattering families.

In the end gang members usually get sentenced to prison or wind up dead with the majority of them doing some type of jail time. Some join early in their pre-teens and teenage years wanting to be part of a group. People of all ages, race and gender loose their lives by the killing from gangs which results in many minorities being stripped of their liberty for their crimes. “Colors” is a movie which portrays minorities in gangs who are subdued by crime when proper leadership and direction is not provided. Gangs are only one of the problems minorities face in this world but one that has made a mark in society.