[News] Black-Brown tensions in LA

News at freedomarchives.org News at freedomarchives.org
Thu May 12 08:59:04 EDT 2005



FROM:    Mrdaveyd at aol.com
DATE:    Wed, 11 May 2005 18:29:22 EDT


BLACK – BROWN TENSIONS IN LA – WHAT IS BEHIND IT?
by DAVEY  D

For those of you reading this who live outside of Los Angeles you should 
note that for the past few days folks have been on edge because of 
increasing racial tension between Blacks and Mexicans.  Over the past month 
there have been a few brawls at local high schools including a huge one at 
Jefferson High School involving more than 200 people.

Now the tensions have been inflamed by a letter that has been circulating 
around the city earlier this week claiming that in retaliation for some 
beef between Black and Latino gangs, 500 Black kids wearing white t-shirts 
would be targeted and killed by Mexican gangs on CINCO DE MAYO which was 
yesterday. Fortunately nothing major jumped off, as a record number 51 
thousand kids stayed home from school.

That’s close to 20% of the LA School District.

There was one reported stand off between Black and Latino students at 
Lynwood High which is right outside Compton. But that was quickly quelled. 
Obviously 500 brothas did not get killed but tensions are still high as we 
head into the weekend.

Below is the letter that was sent out via email and then later reproduced 
and passed out in malls and campuses throughout Los Angeles. For the most 
part, the letter appears to be a hoax.  Folks who work closely with the 
gangs down here have not heard of any craziness jumping off, but because 
the letter has been so widely circulated, it has led to some town hall 
meetings and increased police presence on all the high school campuses down 
here.

*****************

Hey everyone,

We all have friends who this can affect unfortunately. This is not a joke, 
and you know this if you've been watching the news lately. There are no 
city limits on the actions taking place below.

Please read below and take it very seriously.

Unfortunately, the word on the street (which has been confirmed by a 
probation officer) is that the Rolling 60's (an LA gang) stole 160 kilo's 
of cocaine from the Mexican Mafia. In retaliation, the Mexican Mafia and 
other Mexican gangs have decided to target and kill 400-1000 black men of 
all ages who are wearing white t-shirts. This is not limited to the 
freeways..... I understand that this is very real and very serious. Please 
pass this on to EVERYONE that you know. I suggest you do not wear any white 
shirts at all if possible. Also, if you have on a dress shirt, consider 
wearing your jacket over it...

Public Interest Investigations, Inc.
1055 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1985
Los Angeles, CA 90017

It’s important to note that this on going beef between Black and Brown is 
not happening in vacuum and seems to be sparking off in cities with large 
minority populations with increasing regularity.

I caught up with LA rapper KAM not to long ago who spoke on the seriousness 
of this situation.

He noted that he spends a lot of time working to heal any rifts which he 
says starts from the racial segregation and ‘divide and conquer’ techniques 
used in the California prisons.  He noted that this tactic has now spilled 
out onto the streets and is starting to impact everyday folks buy into 
these rumors of conflict.

For those who don’t know, in the CALI penal system, inmates are separated 
by race, ethnicity and gang affiliation. Because the Latino population is
so large (almost a third of the state is Latino), prison officials separate 
Northern and Southern CALI Mexicans.  Within the prisons gangs have formed 
and alliances made with Northern Mexicans known as Nortenos hooking up with 
Black inmates and the Southern Mexicans known as Surenos aligning 
themselves with the White Aryan Brotherhood. The initial split with 
Northern and Southern Mexicans is something that many feel was a well 
orchestrated a ’divide and conquer’ plan politicos that went into effect 
years ago to stem any sort of large Brown block holding and yielding social 
and political power.

KAM concluded as he did in his landmark record 'Keep the Peace' which 
addresses this issue that Black and Brown are kin to each other and that 
all of us are going to have to be aware of the outside forces that 
continuously work to keep large groups of people divided and 
separated.  Black and Brown unity becomes threatening to some who wish to 
maintain power and see the large numbers that both groups have as a threat 
to everything from job security to political outcomes on key issues.

During our conversation we spoke about how the police seemed to work 
overtime to try and stir up beef after the Rodney King uprisings where many 
of the Crip and Blood sets formed a truce.  Those undermining efforts were 
also directed at the Latino gangs who also formed truces after the riots. 
When these efforts by the police failed to eradicate the truces you 
suddenly started to find an increase in tensions between Black and Brown. 
This latest scenario involving the letter warning Black kids to not wear 
white t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo was a deliberate attempt to create drama 
where there wasn't any.

Long time rapper Poetess who does a lot of community work here in LA on 
KKBT the Beat100.3 explained that while older folks may not have 
immediately bought into any of this, it's young cats and BGs (baby gang 
members) who may get caught up and feel a need to show and prove. Although 
CINCO DE MAYO has passed with weekend celebrations set to kick off, many 
are still concerned.

We should also note that recent tension has been exacerbated by a hostile 
political climate here in CALI. Part of it centers around the recent 
remarks and subsequent endorsement voiced by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 
of the controversial Minute Men vigilantes patrolling the borders 
separating the US from Mexico. The ‘Governator’ who is an immigrant himself 
says he wants the Minute Men to come to California.

His remarks have been compounded by the objections voiced by other 
political leaders in LA who felt that a number of recently erected 
billboards advertising a Spanish language radio station we re offensive. 
The Billboard says Welcome to Los Angles, Mexico with the words US crossed 
out. The overt reaction harks back to the type of 
anti-immigrant  (translation-Anti-Mexican) climate that has been in effect 
over the past few years that lead to Prop 187  (anti-immigration bill) and 
Prop 225 (English only initiative)  being voted into law.

Many forget that a lot of folks of Mexican descent are keenly aware that 
the California is one of the seven western states that was once a part of 
what was called Atzlan. In other words, there’s a strong sense that Latinos 
in CALI did not cross the border, the border crossed them and that at the 
end of the day this is indigenous land. Sadly there have been a number of 
right-wing zealots who have tried to denounce this notion by calling it 
fiction. Some have gone so far as to try and shut down and silence 
professors and other public educators who have spoken about Atzlan.

Sadly because of perceived racial tensions in the past, much of which has 
started out prison we had a number of Southern CALI Black folks voted along 
with some of the oppressive measures I mentioned.

The other thing that is being looked at and causing more than a few to 
speculate, is that this latest rise in tension between Black and Brown may 
actually be connected to the highly contentious mayoral campaign that is in 
full swing here in LA. What’s happened is that in the last election Latino 
mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa saw his chances to become LA’s first 
Latino mayor in more than a hundred years, derailed when prominent Black 
leaders including Congresswoman Maxine Waters and former LA 
Laker/businessman Magic Johnson threw their weight and influence behind 
James Hahn.

Hahn was given the nod because of the strong allegiance his dad Kenneth 
Hahn a former LA supervisor had formed with Black leaders over his long 
political career. There was a sense from politicians like Waters to back 
James Hahn because of the strong support his father had shown LA’s Black 
community.

To make a long story short, the Black vote that Hahn secured gave him 
victory in a close race. The new Mayor returned the favor by stabbing LA’s 
Black leadership in the back. He promptly recommended and backed the firing 
the popular Black police Chief Bernard Parks, replacing him with former 
NY  and Boston police Chief Bill Bratton. This was a not only a major 
embarrassment for those Black leaders who backed his campaign, but it also 
set deep wedge in all sorts of political circles. First Black-Latino 
relations became even more strained because of what many saw as a sell out 
move.  It caused irreparable damage between Han and LA’s Black community 
who were determined to pay him back during this current election.

Hanh’s mistreatment and betrayal of Black folks in LA led to a rare 
political alliance between the two communities. Both Black and Brown had 
come together to support Villaraigosa and early on he had a substantial 
lead in this Mayoral race. This is supported by a recent article in an 
article that appeared in Hispanic Business

Now with the May 17th election just 10 days away, we suddenly have race 
riots and threats of Blacks being killed by Latinos being front page news. 
The timing and political implications of this have not gone unnoticed. 
Nothing happens in a vacuum. And as a result a lot of questions are being 
asked.

Is this latest round of tension between Black and Brown in LA the result of 
shady police divide and conquer tactics when you consider that the current 
LAPD administration may owe Hanh a favor? Is the widely circulated letter 
in anyway shape or form connected to his campaign which stands to benefit 
the most in a highly contested race? Will the Black community that seemed 
perched to vote for Villaraigosa pull back and not go to the polls at all 
because of this racial tension? Stranger and more insidious things have 
happened in high stakes political races. Considering that Hahn had no 
problems stooping so low during the last election to backstab the people 
who backed him the most, how can one not look at the possibility that his 
campaign his behind this erroneous letter?

Something to ponder
Davey D

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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