Let's say you're by yourself on the subway in New York City. You get on and it's not that crowded, there's a bunch of open seats. As you look around, you notice that the car is filled with mainly high school aged kids, mostly boys. On one side there is a spot next to a bunch of African Americans, on the other side it's a posse of Asians. Okay, so where are you going to sit? Next to the Asian's I bet. What if it was Latino's instead of Blacks, chances are you would still say you'd go towards the Asian's and shy away from the more typical gang looking kids. When most people think of gangs, they don't really think Asian, it's a Black or Hispanic thing right? Well, Asian gangs have been becoming more and more prevalent. Especially among our nation's largest cities. The majority of them are in China Town, in San Francisco. New York's Asian population is continuously growing though, and with that comes the urban gangs. Where do they originate, and just how pervasive are they in our society? It's a new area of study that seemed more interesting to me than the usual American gangs.First let's focus on the fact that gang related crime is one of the most dangerous challenges facing society and law enforcement today. They are younger, more brutal, unafraid of consequences and becoming increasingly more vicious. Gang members work together as cliques, they commit all sorts of violent crimes including murders, rapes, robberies and kidnappings. "They live in aimless and violent presents; have no sense of the past and no hope for the future; they commit unspeakably brutal crimes against other people often to gratify whatever urges of desires drive them at the moment and their utter lack of remorse is shocking" (Duin, 31). Gangs are a known problem in society; they are dangerous and hard to control. Asian gangs are a new phenomenon, yet are quickly becoming more and more common within the United States Asian-Americans have often been st...
