Youngster, the Black Panthers and the Hell's Angels were fringe groups, with nowhere near the number of members to be found in the Crips, Bloods, and a host of other gangs. And if you don't think race is still an issue today, then take a midnight stroll through one of their neighborhoods.
Age has little to do with it. Most of the gang-bangers are in their teens and early twenties. Education has little to do with it. Many people who lived during the Great Depression were poor and illiterate, yet they didn't turn to violence. Many of the most violent and despicable of the Nazi leaders captured at the end of WW II were given an IQ test, to see how they stacked up against their contemporaries. As a group, they tested well above average.
I work in a prison unit for junvenile offenders. Thus, I deal with gang-bangers every day. When they're by themselves, they're easier to deal with....but the racism, contempt for women, and the undercurrent of violence and the willingness to use it to intimidate, are always there. It only takes two or three of them to destabilize an entire dorm. Some of the little buggers have planned murders while under our care. They've killed 75 year old grandfathers and 7 year old girls. One beat a local black lady to death in a most gruesome fashion.
So, don't make excuses for them...and don't get all righteous about them when discussing them with me. I KNOW what they are....violent, thrill-seeking, woman abusing, racist thugs.
