Comments on: Gang fight by Oakland school averted

By: harlemmoon

harlemmoon — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:14:51 +0000

No argument there, Nextset.
I, for one, am not surprised to read – daily- that another child has lost his/her life to violence. Particularly when the child is connected to gang activity. The two, as they say, go hand in hand.
My intent here is to debate how best to “remove the things that provide nourishment for criminality,” rather than the arcane guessing that was happening around a gang member head count.

By: Nextset

Nextset — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:18:06 +0000

Harlemmoom: Its a discreet point I suppose but I’m compelled to restate it.

Our “youth” don’t just get blown away in the street while walking for an ice cream cone. They get themselves killed engaging in thug lifestyle (including discreet acts). This is not at all a bad thing. There are exceptions such as small children asleep in their beds or taking piano lessons getting hit by gunfire – that’s extraordinarily rare but not unheard of.

You say one is too many. I say evolution in action.

Gangs have been allowed to flourish by rotten government policy. We need to change policy starting with changing the criminal justice system in small measure and large, from putting rap sheets on the Internet to re-writing the bill of rights. I’d suggest smaller changes first. Large changes get large unintended consequences.

We wouldn’t have all these problems if we steadily removed the things that provide nurishment for criminality.

By: harlemmoon

harlemmoon — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:35:15 +0000

So, while our youth are being shot dead in the streets darn near daily, we’re caught up in exactly how many gangbangers there actually are?

One is too many, people.

Now, can we discuss how gangs have been allowed to flourish, what we’re prepared to do the thwart future growth, what our commitment to community and quality of life is?

By: Chauncey

Chauncey — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:30:14 +0000

People are funny. What does the exact number meaqn anyway? No, you see to those that were not raised in the East or flats, and live the life, you dispute the numbers. To those that live in the hodd- this number makes them proud.

Two diferrent perspectives.

Gangs aint going no where, and neither is the violence. So again, you got fight power with power. Elementary school aged kids are easy, middle and high is where it begins and ends.

Keep it Real Liberals!

By: Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:36:41 +0000

My colleague Matt O’Brien investigated the 10,000 gang member statistic that was made in the documentary without attribution:

http://bit.ly/1avVee

By: vicster0103

vicster0103 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:58:50 +0000

I am working with our Vice-Mayor’s staff and our problem solving officer to see if anyone has a copy as I did see Part I but a lot of people didn’t and it was only aired once. I have emailed the Discovery channel but have not received a response. I know Ignacio De La Fuentes office would like to get a copy and our Neighborhood Crime Prevention Committee would like to show it at one of our meetings. I would think that OPD should have some copies. We’ll see!

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:22:54 +0000

Does anybody know if this documentary will be out on DVD at any point? I missed it.

By: cranky teacher

cranky teacher — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:31:15 +0000

I wouldn’t say 10,000 with some loose or historic affiliation is outlandish, but in general those Discovery shows are pretty sensationalistic.

We’ve been hearing about child “superpredators” in Oakland since the ’80s.