This assignment was the first big assignment given to us in the class. It challenged me to pick a topic that interested my from the vast amount I had and determine which one was most relevant. In high school we were only taught how to write academically leaving much room for improvement as I wrote this Op-Ed, I was forced to write in a way I had never written before and learned a lot. I chose gang violence as at the time it was a controversial topic throughout the summer of last year to this day as Donald Trump uses these incidents of violence to benefit his own agenda.
Justice for Junior: End gang violence
Reformed state legislation is needed to prevent further deaths
By: Ruben Genao
Mar. 5, 2019
Picture of candles amongst other things placed in honor of junior near the bodega where he was killed.
In America, there has been an increase in gang-related murders and violence over the years. This has affected America and the image portrayed by Latinos in America. All of this doesn’t tie to just one gang, but many such as MS-13, and Los Trinitarios both being gangs composed of Hispanics.
Gang violence has been a problem for decades and has a negative impact on the general population. Gang violence is widespread in many areas and affects many, even my family. In the early 2000’s my grandma had an experience relating to gangs. While traveling home from buying food near 170 st street she heard a commotion from behind her and paid no mind to it until she heard someone running behind her and just as the guy passed her was shot at least twice in the back and collapsed on the ground next to her. This experience noticeably impacted her and made her paranoid to be in the streets at all. When crimes tied gangs occur, most bystanders run from the scene and keep silent as my grandma did in order to avoid being attacked by the gang for spreading information. This severely affects the process of finding and prosecuting the perpetrator.
In America, lawmakers aren’t doing enough to stop gang violence and protect people from gangs. A clear example of this is in New York in the brutal killing of junior last June carried out by the Trinitarios gang with machetes, and gangs like MS-13 known for their brutality and tendency to go after innocent people. Worse enough Trump uses the actions of MS-13 mainly to portray Hispanics as gangsters and drug dealers to promote his own political agenda and building of the wall.
According to The New York Times in his state of the union speech “President Trump said that illegal immigrants “have caused the loss of many innocent lives,” and he paid special attention to the gang known as MS-13. Many of its members, he said, “took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors” and then ended up murdering American citizens.”
Trump’s portrayal of immigrants as criminals, rapist, and drug dealers is simply not true. According to the Washington Post and conviction data for 2015 provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety “As a percentage of their respective populations, there were 56 percent fewer criminal convictions of illegal immigrants than of native-born Americans in Texas in 2015,” author Alex Nowrasteh writes. “The criminal conviction rate for legal immigrants was about 85 percent below the native-born rate.”
In America Trump is approaching the gang violence situation all wrong. Instead of taking action against gangs Trump believes stopping the flow of immigrants from gang-ridden countries is enough. At first glance, this may seem like a very good idea but in reality, it isn’t. The truth is gangs like MS-13 recruit very young people, often in local poor areas.
Kids in poor areas are being strayed into gangs like MS-13 for a variety of reasons, some kids join gangs like MS-13 to avoid getting picked on and to feel respected. According to CBS news “Some females but mostly males make up Long Island’s estimated 1,000 gang members. Protection from bullying, a desperate need to belong and a yearning for respect are all reasons why Sergio Argueta joined at age 13 and led a gang for five years.”
In order to deal with the issue of gang violence, a few things must be done. In areas with dense gang activity, there should be sanctuaries in places such as bodega for victims such as junior, bodega owners should be allowed to carry guns, and they should be trained in first aid to prevent someone from dying before help arrives.
According to the United Bodegas of America president “We open our stores every morning not knowing what to expect anymore, not knowing if someone will die during our shift”… “We have nothing to defend ourselves or our patrons in case of a gang attack” (PIX11). Another spokesman stated, “NYPD needs to teach us how to prevent gang attacks,” Fernando Mateo, a spokesman for the UBA, said. “Junior’s murder should have taught us to be better prepared in order to prevent tragedies like his from ever happen again. Let’s become proactive and learn from past history.” (PIX11).
In addition to preparing bodegas to help combat gang violence, schools in New York and across the country should be improved to provide a bully-free environment and offer sessions about the dangers of gangs and why not to join them so young students wouldn’t have a reason to join MS-13. The time to implement these laws now in order to prevent further loss of life and high rates of gang-related deaths such as last July, in which half of all murders were gang-related in New York.
Pix 11 article:
https://pix11.com/2018/11/11/junior-is-honored-on-what-would-have-been-16th-birthday-as-bodega-owners-seek-help-in-gang-fight/
New York times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/nyregion/ms-13-gang-trump.html
Cbs article: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/10/17/long-island-gangs-ms-13-gang-recruitment/
Washington post article:
For reference this is the article being mirrored:
