The problem of gangs is not a new issue in the United States.  Today, as many experts turn their attention to the gang crisis, they fixate is on a “lack of education” or “lack of parental involvement” and a “need to belong”.  These are likely very accurate descriptions of the schemas of youths that are involved in gangs.  However, because of the media, gangs are almost always associated with minority youths.  It begs the question:  Does simply being associated with a minority group transform typical generational gaps and adolescent social needs into gang initiations, or is there a spin that minimizes or even hides the same, or different but equally disturbing, behavior in realm of the privileged? 

The fact is that all adolescents need a feeling of belonging.  If they receive this validation from family, develop a healthy self-concept, and experience a measure of success, then they are less likely to seek out associations that will prove to be detrimental.  That is a fact that supersedes race, gender, or economic standing.  Yet, observing the media—more specifically, the news media—you will see evidence of something different.    In 2007 the three major networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) prime time news did a total of twenty-five gang-related stories that involved violent crimes.   Ninety-six percent of stories featured sound bites by a minority.  The very few times within the story where a white person was mentioned as a gang member, the focus turned to their economic background, drug habit, or association with some kind of organized crime element. If the “well-to-do” happens to be involved in some kind of criminal activity, then that earns a completely different presentation from the news media.   

When privileged youths act out, it is either swept under the rug or labeled some kind of mental illness or as a “reacting” to some stimulus.  They are “partying” or “rebelling” – both stages that they will, of course, grow out of.  They give glitzy names to bad behavior such as “the phenomenon of mean girl syndrome.”  Syndrome?  If they are minorities, they are just mean bullies.  White gang members are portrayed as going through some adolescent phase or kept on the down low in small print on the back pages. 

When tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams’ eldest sister, Yetunde Price, was murdered in California in 2003, the media didn’t even give people time to mourn before they went into their usual, background chorus of inner-city blues.  The familiar rhythm of focusing on her environment reached a crescendo as they let the world know she grew up in Compton, a crime and poverty-ridden community where gang fighting has claimed many lives.  What did all this have to do with this young woman’s life?  Nothing. However this did serve a purpose in the media’s agenda to make sure that when tragedy happens to a black person, the public is desensitized and loses the element of an emotional connection to the victim. By making it seem like another inner-city killing and giving the impression that “that is what they do over there in the hood” or   that she was killed because she associated with shady characters.

When the first arrest was made of Yelunde’s alleged killer, the media made sure to explain to us that the accused murderer, Michael Hammer, had gang affiliation to a notorious gang in Los Angeles. Here is where you can see how years of media stereotypes come into play. They never showed a picture of Mr. Hammer on prime time news.  So the natural assumption is that Mr. Hammer was black.  This is just like when the Oklahoma bombing took place.  The word “terrorist” was used while the faces of the criminals remained undisclosed, thus stimulating the stereotypical thought that the conspirators were Middle Eastern men. Michael Hammer’s face wasn’t plastered all over prime time news.  Was it because he was white? Was it because he was a white gang member?  Many of us believe if Mr. Hammer had been black, his face would have been on television from breakfast to dinner.  

Now, think about how many times you have seen a news story about the violence and gang goings-on in the inner-city or the infamous gangs: Crips and Bloods.

There is another gang battle that has been taking place for years between the Outlaws and the Hell’s Angels.  There have been stabbings, shootings, murders and drug dealing. Not many lead stories, breaking news stories, about these gangs. This war isn’t regional; it is national, yet not a major national story. Many of their leaders have confessed to dealing drugs and ordering killings. If these gang members were stacked on top of each other in some housing projects, given guns, protection by the police, allowed to sell drugs to their community, and killed each other every night, (sound familiar?), the media still wouldn’t make this into a major story.  These notorious gangs are labeled as motorcycle gangs. The media has presented us with many different images of motorcycle gangs.  Whether it is Marlon Brando in the “The Wild One “or Peter Fonda in the “Easy Rider” what the media deem as the counterculture of the 60’s. And lately a humorous look into the bikers’ world in “Wild Hogs” with Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence, as bikers just cruising, enjoying some good wind.

The news has featured stories presenting black-leather skull headgear, black-leather-jacket-wearing characters as doctors, lawyers just enjoying their Harleys on weekend rides. These weekend rider images keep you from seeing the true colors of some of these motorcycle gang bangers as the violent killing, dope dealers they are. By highlighting this weekend biker habit that some have and not highlighting the criminal activity of these gangs on a consistent basis, the media has carefully constructed an image, so that if you see a white male on a bike, with a black leather skully on his head and a black leather jacket, you don’t assume he is one of those that participates in gang criminal activity.  

Where are images of that young Black man with his du-rag on, pants hanging down on his waist, listening to hip hop on his IPod and just walking to school minding  his own business, enjoying the sounds on his way to school to get another “A”, then after school he is going to work one of his two jobs. This is the reality of many young black men, but thanks to the media it is not the common image that pops in our mindset.  What if there was a consistent depiction of him as a hard-working great student, instead of the imbalanced image presented of him as criminal, drug dealer or carjacker. Do you think America would have a different perception every time they see a young black man dressed in his hip hop attire? Would we think that young man, with his good grades, is going to grow up to be a lawyer or doctor riding his Harley on the weekends, or would we think what many have been conditioned to think through negative media images: that the young man is going to end up a statistic in prison with the criminal motorcycle gang banger you rarely hear about as his girlfriend.