Black-Brown tensions in LA

Black-Brown tensions in LA

by Davey D

For those of you reading this who live outside of Los Angeles, you should note that folks there are on edge ‘cause of increasing racial tension between Blacks and Mexicans. Over the past month there have been a few brawls at local high schools which were widely reported on the news down here.

Now the tensions have been inflamed by a letter that has been circulating around the city claiming that in retaliation for some beef between Black and Latino gangs, 500 Black kids wearing white t-shirts would be targeted and killed by Mexican gangs on Cinco de Mayo.

For the most part, the letter appears to be a hoax. Folks who work closely with the gangs down here have not heard of any craziness jumping off, but because the letter has been so widely circulated, it has led to some town hall meetings and increased police presence on all the high school campuses. A lot of parents are refusing to let their kids come to school.

This ongoing beef between Black and Brown is not happening in a vacuum and seems to be sparking off in cities with large minority populations with increasing regularity. Not too long ago, I caught up with LA rapper Kam, who spoke on the seriousness of this situation.

He noted that he spends a lot of time working to heal any rifts, which he says start from the racial segregation and divide and conquer techniques used in the California prisons. He noted that this tactic has now spilled out onto the streets and is starting to impact everyday folks who buy into these rumors.

Kam concluded as he did in his landmark record “Keep the Peace,” which addresses this issue, that all of us are going to have to be aware of the outside forces that continuously work to keep large groups of people divided and separated. Black and Brown unity becomes threatening to some who wish to maintain power and see the large numbers that both groups have as a threat to everything from job security to political outcomes on key issues.

During our conversation, we spoke about how the police seemed to work overtime to try and stir up beef after the Rodney King uprisings where many of the Crip and Blood sets formed a truce. Those efforts were soon followed by Latino gangs, who also formed truces where similar undermining efforts were put into motion. When these efforts by the police failed to eradicate the truces that were set up, you suddenly started to find an increase in tensions between Black and Brown.

This latest scenario involving the letter warning Black kids not to wear white t-shirts on Cinco De Mayo was a deliberate attempt to create drama where there wasn’t any. Long time rapper Poetess, who does a lot of community work here in LA on KKBT The Beat, explained that while older folks may not immediately buy into any of this, it’s the young cats who may get caught up and feel a need to show and prove.

Not sure where all this will lead, but I do feel that those of us in Hip Hop can play a role in healing some of this division. Despite all the crazy rumors and tension folks are feeling, it seemed to be in sharp contrast to the Survival of the Illest DJ Battle and Hip Hop Showcase that took place this past Sunday in Tarzana where Black and Brown all came out to watch acts like Chino XL and Pharcyde get down and watch folks go head to head on the wheels of steel. We definitely need more of that ...

I couldn’t help think about the fact that while we have this Black-Brown tension going on, we have the controversy around the Minute Men vigilantes patrolling the borders separating the U.S. from Mexico, our governor, Arnold Schwartznegger, praising the efforts and folks forgetting that those border states – California, Arizona, New Mexico etc. – were all together under what many call Atzlan. That’s what folks need to be getting angry about and rallying around.

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