Gangs in Spring- The black and Brown Divide

Posted: Sep 05, 2013 4:04 PM PDT
Updated: Sep 05, 2013 4:04 PM PDT
By Isiah Carey, Reporter - bio



HOUSTON (FOX 26) - When hundreds of students at Spring High School were finally released to their parents after that bloody stabbing Wednesday many pointed to a serious divide on campus.
One that pits Black against Brown students.
One student says, "Brown pride is a very big gang especially out on the west coast and I'm guess it's spreading across the United States and Drama gang is just a local thing so."
That said at Spring High - Brown pride is comprised of Hispanics while Drama is filled with African Americans. Andres Cantu - another student says those groups frequently clash.
Cantu says, "it's just people not liking each other you know that's really what it is. Who doesn't like who? It's Mexicans and Black people. I don't understand it but that's just what it is."
Students aren't the only ones witnessing these conflicts between Blacks and Hispanics at Spring High.
"I don't get it because they're both minorities bot of them are in the same boat. Blacks and Hispanics are in the same bucket and I don't understand what they're trying to accomplish I didn't grow up that way," says Melissa Johnson.
She owns a custom framing shop right across the street from Spring High. She says she's witnessed the violent clashes between the two groups outside of her store. Johnson says it's time parents get involve and reign their children in.
Johnson says, "it stems back to parenting they just want attention and that's what I see going on. They start a fight and people encourage it."
But where did this conflict between African Americans and Hispanics come from? Reginald Gordon a gang expert says prison. Prison life that seeps into the community and now into the schools.
Gordon says, "ex-offenders push that lifestyle when they get back into the community and a lot of our children emulate even though they may not be a part of it..a lot of our kids want that wanna be lifestyle."
Gordon says that's the key - wanna be - he says the divide at schools like Spring High is more among cliques rather than real gangs...but he says that conflict could end with deadly consequences if school officials don't recognize and address it.
"From this point on if you don't know how to diffuse it gets even stronger because somebody on the other side is gon get angrier because you killed my friend so now I have to get one of yours," says Gordon.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/23...#ixzz2e8UkLyVS