Historical Structure of Chicago's and LA's Racism
Sociology 241
Course Paper
Question #1: Using Hagedorn’s analysis of the Hamburgs, and the Conservative Vice Lords in Chicago, and the Crips and Bloods video’s analysis of gangs in LA, discuss how Hagedorn’s concept of demoralization, and Cornell West’s concept of nihilism, have an objective basis in the historical structure of Chicago’s and LA’s racism.
In John M. Hagedorn’s book A World of Gangs he states, “An increasingly frustrated and demoralized population will reluctantly turn to armed non-state actors who can provide security of a sort, a sense of identity, perhaps the sole local supply of jobs, and rudimentary services that the state cannot or will not offer” (Hagedorn p. 21). This notion is supported when one analyzes and considers the story of the Hamburg’s and the Conservative Vice Lords of Chicago. Consider the following; during the industrial era many newly freed slaves of the South moved North into industrialized cities looking to build a better future, rather than having their kids become accustomed to the same racism they dealt with day in and day out in the South. At that same time, many ethnic white people that were native to the same industrialized cities in the North were drafted to the military and sent to war (WW2). The void left by the white men going to war opened up many jobs for the new comers from the South, and brought them what they came for, a better life. However, when the war ended and soldiers returned to their homes they were furious when the saw that African Americans had taken their jobs. Believe it or not, this ultimately led to the birth of gangs in the North. It started with the Irish, who were the first to establish a prominent political/street or “a civic minded” gang called The Hamburg’s. They quickly re-dominated the job market once again, through political solidarity and conventional resources. This left the once employed African Americans to be confined to their ghettos and jobless. The blacks thought
Course Paper
Question #1: Using Hagedorn’s analysis of the Hamburgs, and the Conservative Vice Lords in Chicago, and the Crips and Bloods video’s analysis of gangs in LA, discuss how Hagedorn’s concept of demoralization, and Cornell West’s concept of nihilism, have an objective basis in the historical structure of Chicago’s and LA’s racism.
In John M. Hagedorn’s book A World of Gangs he states, “An increasingly frustrated and demoralized population will reluctantly turn to armed non-state actors who can provide security of a sort, a sense of identity, perhaps the sole local supply of jobs, and rudimentary services that the state cannot or will not offer” (Hagedorn p. 21). This notion is supported when one analyzes and considers the story of the Hamburg’s and the Conservative Vice Lords of Chicago. Consider the following; during the industrial era many newly freed slaves of the South moved North into industrialized cities looking to build a better future, rather than having their kids become accustomed to the same racism they dealt with day in and day out in the South. At that same time, many ethnic white people that were native to the same industrialized cities in the North were drafted to the military and sent to war (WW2). The void left by the white men going to war opened up many jobs for the new comers from the South, and brought them what they came for, a better life. However, when the war ended and soldiers returned to their homes they were furious when the saw that African Americans had taken their jobs. Believe it or not, this ultimately led to the birth of gangs in the North. It started with the Irish, who were the first to establish a prominent political/street or “a civic minded” gang called The Hamburg’s. They quickly re-dominated the job market once again, through political solidarity and conventional resources. This left the once employed African Americans to be confined to their ghettos and jobless. The blacks thought