Viewpoint

Gang members often prove worth
by Pam Garrett, reporter

    A year ago, if someone were to ask me what I thought about gangs, my response would have been extremely negative.

    I would have responded by saying, “Gangbangers are desensitized, territorial, violent juvenile delinquents without the least bit of respect for the law.

    “They walk around wearing their so-called gang colors with their pants hanging halfway between their thighs and their knees.

    “They are liquor-store-robbing, purse-snatching, trigger-happy, dope dealers who couldn’t care less about taking a human life.”

    Today, I am ashamed that I ever held onto the negative stereotypical beliefs that once blinded me like a solar eclipse.

    I owe it all to two rival gang members who helped me change the way I felt about the young people that choose to join gangs.

    K.D. and Daven were in their early 20s, trying to walk the straight and narrow after years of participating in drive-bys, fights and robberies. K.D. belonged to the Crips while Daven was a part of the Bloods, both Los Angeles-oriented gangs and vicious rivals.

    We met while working at a neighborhood grocery store in Fort Worth when I was at a low point in my life. Alienated from my family, I was alone trying to raise my two little girls the best that I could.

    When times were bad, my so-called friends were nowhere in sight to help me through the turbulence.

    The only two people who stood by my side were K.D. and Daven. They loaned me money to help me pay my rent and bought my baby diapers when I could not afford to do so. When they knew that I was feeling down, they would come to my apartment to keep me company and cheer me up.

    My friendship with them was like having a couple of brothers to look out for me.

    Being raised in crime-infested housing projects, it’s no wonder they had such a rough childhood that eventually led to a life of selling drugs and violating the law.

    I learned a valuable lesson from them that changed me forever: never judge a book by its cover.

    Gangbangers are not the heartless killers that they are perceived to be.

    Sure they have a cruel, mean exterior, but it is only a façade that covers up the mentally and physically abused, neglected, lost child that exists inside.

    Like K.D. and Daven, most gang members come from broken homes where they have little or no interaction with their mothers who tried to work as many hours as possible in order to care of their children.

    My two friends told me stories about Child Protective Services’ temporarily removing them from their homes because of the lack of basic necessities such as electricity, food and clean clothing.

    People should realize that kids join gangs not because they are murderous bombs looking for an outlet to explode, but because they are lonely, troubled teens, craving the interaction of their fellow gang members.

    They listen to one another’s problems and share their trials and tribulations when their parents aren’t there to listen.

    Being part of a gang gives these lonely forgotten teens the family they never had and the love they so dearly want. Feelings of fear, hatred, bigotry and poverty and the breakdown of social values are among the reasons that young people join street gangs.

    K.D. and Daven weren’t looking for trouble, but for a way to make enough money to sustain the basic fundamental requirements that a human needs to prevail. Their motivation for joining a gang was not the thirst for blood and power, but the raw hunger for recognition and love.

    Don’t get me wrong; I don’t believe that a troubled childhood should be an excuse to commit violent acts. However, just because gangbangers seem intimidating doesn’t necessarily mean that they are; their bark is usually bigger than their bite.

    If one takes a deeper look into the mind of a gangbanger, one would find a scared child inside looking for someone who understands and cares. They are not all bad.

    Many kids are intimidated into joining street groups to escape continued harassment and threats on their lives. Living in crime-infested areas makes it difficult to avoid running into gang members on a daily basis.

    Other young people join because gangs provide their members and family members with protection from other gangs as well as from any other perceived threats. My friendship with K.D. and Daven taught me to empathize with teen gangbangers instead of judge them.

    Rather than turn my nose up at them in shame, I try to imagine what childhood tragedies led them down the one-way street to gang violence.

    The calloused, uncompassionate shell of hurt hides the pain and sadness the lost kids of society feel. Their young eyes have already seen more violence than most adult eyes will ever see in a lifetime. They get entangled in a ferocious web of transgression with no hope in sight.

    So the next time you see teen gangbangers on the Montel Williams show, take a moment to analyze the uncaring, vile mask of deception they wear.

    If you look into their hardened hearts, you might find a diamond in the rough, waiting to be set free.