During the sixties and seventies, gangs had a hierarchical structure. In the documentary Rubble Kings, we were shown the pecking order: The President, the Vice President and the Warlord respectively. The President was the charismatic leader who inspired members to follow him; but he also had to command fear in his subordinates. The Vice President was the President's deputy and he would step in should anything ever happen to the President. The Warlord was the person who either declared or stopped a war, and dictated how any war that the gang would become engaged in should be fought, whether that be with hands, bats, knives or guns. These are the three traditional ranks of most gangs during the seventies. Some gangs had an additional rank called Gestapo who were responsible for disciplining gang members; they were the police of their gang.
The gangs of the twenty first century have changed in structure. Gone are the days of a strictly hierarchical organization. As we were shown in the Harper High podcast, gangs are now small and fractured. They lack definitive leadership and may control no more territory than a single square block. The large and powerful gangs of the seventies have given way to the more numerous small gangs of the new millennium, gangs that are far less powerful but more multitudinous. According to the New York Times article, “A Drumbeat of Multiple Shootings but America Isn’t Listening,” “the word gang conjures up a false image of a tight-knit, hierarchical criminal organization. Instead, they describe fluid, sometimes tiny bands of teenagers and young adults bound by illegal activity. ‘They are groups of friends who rob and shoot each other.”
Sources: Rubble Kings, The New York Times, This American Life: Harper High Pt. 1
Contributors: Caresse, Ronnie
The gangs of the twenty first century have changed in structure. Gone are the days of a strictly hierarchical organization. As we were shown in the Harper High podcast, gangs are now small and fractured. They lack definitive leadership and may control no more territory than a single square block. The large and powerful gangs of the seventies have given way to the more numerous small gangs of the new millennium, gangs that are far less powerful but more multitudinous. According to the New York Times article, “A Drumbeat of Multiple Shootings but America Isn’t Listening,” “the word gang conjures up a false image of a tight-knit, hierarchical criminal organization. Instead, they describe fluid, sometimes tiny bands of teenagers and young adults bound by illegal activity. ‘They are groups of friends who rob and shoot each other.”
Sources: Rubble Kings, The New York Times, This American Life: Harper High Pt. 1
Contributors: Caresse, Ronnie
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