WHY JOIN A GANG IN STUMPTOWN?
[T]he article [“Blood Brother,” WW, Feb. 18, 2009] made it pretty darn easy to figure out who this young person might be. This isn’t that big a town.

That being said, I don’t really have much sympathy for this young man and the terrible course he has set for his life. What exactly is it about his life in Portland that made him join a gang? Just the peer pressure? As a fad? For the hell of it? Unlike some tougher regions in the U.S., I don’t see gang affiliation in Portland, OR, as some kind of “safety in numbers” response to urban decay.

Yeah, Portland has some pretty poor areas within its boundaries, but what I found missing from this article was the “why” gangs were this kid’s (seemingly, in his mind) only choice. If anything, it seems that kids like this are living in a completely fictional universe, some kind of weird fantasy land, and the rest of us are along for the ride. Surely this kid, to some degree, has to see the banality and just inane pointlessness of the activities he is engaging in? Right?

If he has truly made it to his teens and has not, at a basic level, figured out that shooting his gun in our streets as part of some arbitrary gang “code of retaliatory conduct” is just nuts, well, then F him. If he doesn’t get right and wrong at that basic human level...what is there left to say.

The article didn’t give me one solid reason to think anything other than: You’re nuts, kid.

“Mike”
via wweek.com

A “REGULAR KID”?
Given the recent media coverage of racial profiling, I find myself wondering—what is the point of this piece?

Juxtaposing “Damu the regular kid” with “Damu carries a .40-caliber handgun when he’s selling drugs or cruising the streets at night” only serves to emphasize the need by police of some sort of protocol for identifying and subduing gang activities and violence.

IMO, gang members use pop culture to shield themselves from scrutiny, much the same way Hamas uses civilians to hide behind. Media pieces like the above only serve to further the confusion and subvert what little political will is left in the Portland Police Bureau.

“msmith55”
via wweek.com

---

WW WELCOMES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR VIA MAIL, EMAIL OR FAX. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words.

SUBMIT TO:2220 NW Quimby St.
Portland, OR 97210
Fax: (503) 243-1115
Email: mzusman@wweek.com