Comparing_and_Contrasting_Gangs

A Security threat group (STG) is a group of individuals who are all associated with one another and usually participate in the same illegal activities. Mostly thought of as gangs, STGs usually hold there members to a different standard than a normal street gang would. A STG is more organized and most of the time more wealthy than a normal gang member. There is usually a more complicated or severe way to join in A STG and an even more severe way to get out of one. It is pretty much a punishment to get out of one. Some STGs don’t allow you to get out and death is the only punishment of trying to get out. Some STGs have an extreme initiation process to get in; being beat up, raped (females), or even killing a rival gang member are some of the harsh stipulations that some of the STGs require to get in. STGs are all around the world and they are made up of many different races. Five of the most notorious STGs are: The Aryan Brotherhood, The KU Klux Klan (KKK), The Folks (G.D), The Nation of Islam, and the MS 13. These groups have been around for Decades. The Aryan Brotherhood (AB) was formed in 1967 in California's San Quentin State Prison. It was formed from the “old school” blue bird gang of the 1950s and 60s. The Aryan Brotherhood is concerned with White-Supremacy and self-protection from Black and Hispanic gangs. They hurt or even sometimes killed anything or anybody who was against what they stood for. It was thought that members were inspired by Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and Sun Tzu's "The Art of War." The Aryan Brotherhood was thought to have been made up by a group of Irish men so one of their distinct symbols, mostly displayed as tattoos, is shamrocks. Most of the time the shamrock is displayed with the letters “AB” inside it and the number 666 above it. Someone with just a 666 tattoo shouldn’t be mistaken for an Aryan Brotherhood member because the number alone is displayed by many other gangs. Some hire ranking members might not display the tattoo or symbols to conceal their identity from law enforcement. Most of the Aryan Brotherhood’s members are at San Quentin state prison where it originated but they are also heavily located in prisons throughout Texas, New York, Ohio and Arizona. They only make up 1% of the prison gangs but are responsible for about 18% of murders throughout the prison. That proves that they are very dangerous. The Aryan Brotherhood is in almost all fifty states but they are very rare to be in state prison with a very high amount of African American inmates such as Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, and Florida. This group is a form of neo-Nazis, so they also have a lot of common goals and beliefs as Nazis and other white-supremacy groups such as the KKK. They also display the swastika symbol on their tattoos and clothing and they have common enemies such as, Crips, Bloods, Hispanics gangs, and most gangs that are made up of minorities. The Aryan Brotherhood is reportedly governed by a 5 member steering-committee. Original members traditionally had to be at least part Irish, denoting the significance of the shamrock still worn today by Brotherhood members, but this tradition has waned. As testament to their commitment to white-cultural supremacy, their constitution states: "Our organization is a white supremacy group. No pretense is or will be made to the contrary." The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is an extremist right-wing secret society in the United States. It is a white supremacy group but it is consider more of a hate group than it is a gang. It was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by Confederate Civil War veterans Captain John C. Lester, Major James R. Crowe, John D. Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard R. Reed, and Frank O. McCord. The first Klan flourished in the South in the 1860s, and then died out by the early 1870s. The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, and adopted the costumes and paraphernalia of the first Klan. The third KKK emerged after World War II. Their iconic white costumes consisted of robes, masks, and conical hat. They were supposedly “ghost” of dead confederate Army members. This story was told to scare superstitious African Americans. The first and third KKK had a well-established record of using terrorism, but historian’s debate how central that tactic was to the second KKK. They used to go on, what they called night-rides, and terrorized people; specifically blacks. They killed them and their family members by shooting, stabbing, stoning, or even hanging them. They even did things like set fire to or blow up the black’s houses. To some up the Ku Klux Klan, they are basically a group of individuals that hates pretty much any race other than their own and doesn’t have a problem with talking about it, teaching it, or fighting for it. They even go on rallies to different cities, spreading there word. These rallies are usually supervised by police officers heavily. The KKK is probably one of the most popular hate groups in America. They have had many documentaries on T.V and they have also been on talk shows such as “The Jerry Springer Show”, “Maury”, “Oprah Winfrey”, and the “Tyra Banks Show”. This group is known around the whole United States as simply “A group of raciest white people”. The Folks, also known as Gangster Disciples (G.D), is a predominantly African American gang that originated in Chicago, Illinois in the 1960s. I didn’t do any internet research for this gang because I lived around The Folks from 1989 to 2007. For a small portion of time, I even participated in some of the Folks activities because that seemed like “the thing to do” back in the 90s. I am no longer affiliated with this gang but yet I still tilt my hats or baseball caps slightly to the right because it is in my nature now. It’s almost like a bad habit. Before the Folks became what it is today, it started off as two separate gangs, the BDN and the GD. The Black Disciple Nation (BDN) was started and led by David Barksdale in 1966. David Barksdale used the Star of David, which is a six pointed star, as the nationwide recognizable symbol for the BDN. The six points of the star, starting from top and going clockwise, represent Life, Love, Loyalty, Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding. They also wore the colors of black and royal blue as their gang’s color. Another thing they did to signify there affiliation is wearing their hats, bandannas, and earrings on the right side of the body. The other half of the gang that made up The Folks was the Gangster Disciples (G.D). This gang was formed and led by Larry Hoover in the mid 1960’s. There primary symbol was a pitch fork, or a heart with wings. They also wore black and blue and used the right side of the body to signify affiliation. In 1968 David Barksdale was shot coming out of a bar by a member of the Black Stone gang. The Stones was a large and powerful group at that time. Barksdale eventually wanted to expand his gang and proposed a merger with Larry Hoover, the leader of the Gangster Disciples, in 1969. Hoover agreed with the merger and the Black Gangster Disciple Nation (BGDN) was formed with Larry Hoover and David Barksdale as the leaders. It was later changed to just G.D or G.D Folks. Eventually Barksdale died in 1974 of kidney failure because of the injuries he received when he got shot in 1968. That left “King Larry Hoover” in charge of the whole gang. Even though Larry Hoover was already in jail for murder at the time Barksdale died, he still controlled most of the gang’s activities and operations. They primarily made money off of drug dealing, prostitution, and gambling, robbing, stealing, and selling fire arms. All these activities were pretty much ran by Hoover, but he had his Generals on the outside supervising everything. The main rivals of The Folks are Vice Lords. Vice Lords are almost the exact opposite of The Folks. They wore red clothes, use the left side of the body, and have a five point star as a symbol. After being in jail for a while, Larry Hoover tried to change the meaning of what the Folks meant and the things that it stood for in hoping to get released. He tried to make what he created seem positive. For example, G.D always stood for Gangster Disciple, but he changed it to Growth and Development. The actual acronym for F.O.L.K.S was originally Follow, Our, Laws, Kings, Set but Hoover changed it to Follow Our Lord King Savior. His plan didn’t work and he still is in jail today at the age of 60. Now days the Folks are in almost every state and each state, city or town has their own leaders and their own rules. They all pretty much still respect Larry Hoover, but they don’t follow his laws. The Nation of Islam is a religious organization founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930. He set out with the goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the African American men and women of America. The organization works toward the betterment of African Americans in a variety of areas, including spiritual, financial, and social. Its supporters hail the Nation of Islam as an uplifting organization for African Americans, while its opponents declare it racist, sexist, and anti-homosexual. It is also frequently accused of being anti-Semitic. The N.O.I is looked at different by certain people, depending on their own personal beliefs. Some see it as just an African American religious group that is Muslim and some see them as a security threat. They seem to be a positive group most of the time, but that isn’t always the case. They are not really a gang who does activities like sell drugs or fight rival gangs, but they have been charged with a few killings over the years. Some notable people that were part of the Nation of Islam are Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan and Tynetta Muhammad. The Nation of Islam believed that Allah is the one and only God. The rivals of the Folks, the Vice Lords, are similar to members of the Nation of Islam. Some Vice Lords are also in the Nation of Islam. V.Ls is also supposed to worship Allah as there God. That’s where the five point star plays its part the five point star looks like the five limbs of ALLAH: Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head. The Nation of Islam is not that big of an organization in a lot of prisons. They do have members throughout the U.S and Canada in Jail, but they are not a big force. It is thought to be only 20,000 to 50,000 N.O.I members throughout the world. The MS 13, an abbreviation of Mara Salvatrucha, is a transnational criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles and has spread to other parts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. The majority of the gang is ethnically composed of Central Americans and active in urban and suburban areas. The number 13 is a reference to the gang’s beginning on the 13th ST in Los Angeles. This is thought to be one of the most dangerous gangs in the world. There was even a special task forced created whose sole purpose was to deal with MS 13 members. This gang is located in at least forty-two states including Washington D.C. It is thought to have anywhere between 6,000 to 10,000 members nationwide. There criminal activities include crimes such as drug distribution, murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasion, immigration offenses, kidnappings, carjacking, and vandalism. This gang is expanding by mostly recruitment and migration. They also absorb smaller gangs to make the gang bigger. Some members actually work for real businesses by presenting false identification. MS 13 are easily identified by their tattoos. If they have a tattoo of a tear drop under there left eye that represents a fallen comrade or member. If it’s under the right eye then it means they have killed someone. Some members also use a spade symbol and a club symbol to cover up the letters MS to conceal their identity. All of these STGs are different in many ways. Different rules, members, initiations, locations and roles in society. But one thing in common is that they are all dangerous and we’d be better off without them.