As you read this story keep in mind the outside forces that are hard at work attempting to stoke these fires… In Southern cali, you have an out of control militiristic police department and prison system that keeps prisons segregated and then does things like stage cock fights to putting rival gangs in the same pod and letting them go at each other. You also have a huge concentration of Aryan nation gangs that have linked up with some of the Southern Cali latino gangs inside the prison this strange alliance has intensified racial tensions inside the prisons which in turn have spilled out onto the streets.  I’m including in this post a longer article I penned a a couple of years ago that can shed some further light as to whats going on in Southern Cali.  

L.A. Gang Waged War To Eliminate Black People

An unidentified Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy displays weapons confiscated in a gang take down before a news conferenc.

A Latino street gang waged a racist campaign to eliminate black people from a Southern California city through attempted murders and other crimes, according to federal racketeering indictments unsealed Thursday.

Five indictments charged a total of 147 members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang, and federal and local agencies arrested 63 of them by early Thursday, U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien said at a news conference.

He called it ”the largest gang takedown in United States history” but did not elaborate.

The indictments detail attempted murder, kidnapping, firearms, narcotics and other charges related to attacks by the gang, which is predominantly Latino and mainly operates in Hawaiian Gardens, a city of about 15,000 in southeastern Los Angeles County.

”(Varrio Hawaiian Gardens) gang members take pride in their racism and often refer to the VHG Gang as the `Hate Gang,”’ the main indictment states. ”VHG gang members have expressed a desire to rid the city of Hawaiian Gardens of all African-Americans and have engaged in a systematic effort to achieve that result by perpetrating crimes against African-Americans.”

The indictment alleges a string of attacks on black residents, including a shooting into a home with eight people inside. The indictment does not say if anyone was hit.

In another instance, two gang members allegedly chased a black man, yelled a racist epithet at him and then beat him with a garden rake. The same man was later repeatedly stabbed by two gang members, according to the indictment, which charges them with his attempted murder.

According to 2000 census data, the latest available, Hawaiian Gardens was roughly 73 percent Hispanic and 4 percent black.

The indictments mark at least the second time in less than two years that federal authorities have accused Latino gang members of attacking black residents because of their race. Local officials have tried to downplay racial tensions.

The investigation of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang began in June 2005 after the murder of Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Luis Gerardo ”Jerry” Ortiz. Jose Luis Orozco, a member of the gang, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the killing.

Ortiz, 35, died as he searched for Orozco, who had shot and wounded a man while he did yard work. Orozco was later found guilty of attempted murder in that case.

”Following the murder of Deputy Ortiz, the Sheriff’s Department sought federal and local assistance to help destroy the Hawaiian Gardens gang,” O’Brien said.

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Black-Brown Tensions in LA-What’s Behind It?
by Davey D (repost 5/09/05)

For those of you reading this who live outside of Los Angeles you should note that for the past few days folks have been on edge because of increasing racial tension between Blacks and Mexicans. Over the past month there have been a few brawls at local high schools including a huge one at Jefferson High School involving more than 200 people.

Now the tensions have been inflamed by a letter that has been circulating around the city earlier this week 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 which was yesterday. Fortunately nothing major jumped off, as a record number 51 thousand kids stayed home from school. That’s close to 20% of the LA School District.

There was one reported stand off between Black and Latino students at Lynwood High which is right outside Compton. But that was quickly quelled. Obviously 500 brothas did not get killed but tensions are still high as we head into the weekend.

Below is the letter that was sent out via email and then later reproduced and passed out in malls and campuses throughout Los Angeles. 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 down here.

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<< Hey everyone,——————————————

We all have friends who this can affect unfortunately. This is not a joke,
and you know this if you’ve been watching the news lately. There are no city
limits on the actions taking place below. Please read below and take it very
seriously.

Unfortunately, the word on the street (which has been confirmed by a
probation officer) is that the Rolling 60’s (an LA gang) stole 160 kilo’s of
cocaine from the Mexican Mafia. In retaliation, the Mexican Mafia and other
Mexican gangs have decided to target and kill 400-1000 black men of all ages
who are wearing white t-shirts. This is not limited to the freeways….. I
understand that this is very real and very serious. Please pass this on to
EVERYONE that you know. I suggest you do not wear any white shirts at all if
possible. Also, if you have on a dress shirt, consider wearing your jacket
over it…

Public Interest Investigations, Inc.
1055 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1985
Los Angeles, CA 90017>>

It’s important to note that this on going beef between Black and Brown is not happening in vacuum and seems to be sparking off in cities with large minority populations
with increasing regularity.

I caught up with LA rapper Kam not to long ago 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 starts 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 buy into these rumors of conflict.

For those who don’t know, in the Cali penal system, inmates are separated by race, ethnicity and gang affiliation. Because the Latino population is so large (almost a third of the state is Latino), prison officials separate Northern and Southern Cali Mexicans. Within the prisons gangs have formed and alliances made with Northern Mexicans known as Nortenos hooking up with Black inmates and the Southern Mexicans known as Surenos aligning themselves with the White Arayan Brotherhood. The initial split with Northern and Southern Mexicans is something that many feel was a well orchestrated ‘divide and conquer’ plan politicos that went into effect years ago to stem any sort of large Brown block holding and yielding social and political power.

Kam concluded as he did in his landmark record ‘Keep the Peace’ which addresses this issue that Black and Brown are kin to each other and 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 undermining efforts were also directed at the Latino gangs who also formed truces after the riots. When these efforts by the police failed to eradicate the truces you suddenly started to find an increase in tensions between Black and Brown. This latest scenario involving the letter warning Black kids to not 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 Beat100.3 explained that while older folks may not have immediately bought into any of this, it’s young cats and BGs (baby gang members) who may caught up and feel a need to show and prove. Although Cinco de Mayo has passed with weekend celebrations set to kick off, many are still concerned.

We should also note that recent tension has been exacerbated by a hostile political climate here in Cali. Part of it centers around the recent remarks and subsequent endorsement voiced by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of the controversial Minute Men vigilantes patrolling the borders separating the US from Mexico. The ‘Governator’ who is an immigrant himself says he wants the Minute Men to come to California.

His remarks have been compounded by the objections voiced by other political leaders in LA who felt that a number of recently erected billboards advertising a Spanish language radio station we re offensive. The Billboard says Welcome to Los Angles, Mexico with the words US crossed out. The overt reaction harks back to the type of anti-immigrant (translation-Anti-Mexican) climate that has been in effect over the past few years that lead to Prop 187 (anti-immigration bill) and Prop 225 (English only initiative) being voted into law.

Many forget that a lot of folks of Mexican descent are keenly aware that the California is one of the seven western states that was once a part of what was called Atzlan. In other words, there’s a strong sense that Latinos in Cali did not cross the border, the border crossed them and that at the end of the day this is indigenous land. Sadly there have been a number of right-wing zealots who have tried to denounce this notion by calling it fiction. Some have gone so far as to try and shut down and silence professors and other public educators who have spoken about Atzlan.

Sadly because of perceived racial tensions in the past, much of which has started out prison we had a number of Southern Cali Black folks voted along with some of the oppressive measures I mentioned.

The other thing that is being looked at and causing more than a few to speculate, is that this latest rise in tension between Black and Brown may actually be connected to the highly contentious mayoral campaign that is in full swing here in LA. What’s happened is that in the last election Latino mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa saw his chances to become LA’s first Latino mayor in more than a hundred years, derailed when prominent Black leaders including Congresswoman Maxine Waters and former LA Laker/businessman Magic Johnson threw their weight and influence behind James Hahn.

Hahn was given the nod because of the strong allegiance his dad Kenneth Hahn a former LA supervisor had formed with Black leaders over his long political career. There was a sense from politicians like Waters to back James Hahn because of the strong support his father had shown LA’s Black community.

To make a long story short, the Black vote that Hahn secured gave him victory in a close race. The new Mayor returned the favor by stabbing LA’s Black leadership in the back. He promptly recommended and backed the firing the popular Black police Chief Bernard Parks, replacing him with former NY and Boston police Chief Bill Bratton. This was a not only a major embarrassment for those Black leaders who backed his campaign, but it also set deep wedge in all sorts of political circles. First Black-Latino relations became even more strained because of what many saw as a sell out move. It caused irreparable damage between Han and LA’s Black community who were determined to pay him back during this current election.

Hanh’s mistreatment and betrayal of Black folks in LA led to a rare political alliance between the two communities. Both Black and Brown had come together to support Villaraigosa and early on he had a substantial lead in this Mayoral race. This is supported by a recent article in an article that appeared in Hispanic Business

Now with the May 17th election just 10 days away, we suddenly have race riots and threats of Blacks being killed by Latinos being front page news. The timing and political implications of this have not gone unnoticed. Nothing happens in a vacuum. And as a result a lot of questions are being asked.

Is this latest round of tension between Black and Brown in LA the result of shady police divide and conquer tactics when you consider that the current LAPD administration may owe Hanh a favor? Is the widely circulated letter in anyway shape or form connected to his campaign which stands to benefit the most in a highly contested race? Will the Black community that seemed perched to vote for Villaraigosa pull back and not go to the polls at all because of this racial tension? Stranger and more insidious things have happened in high stakes political races. Considering that Hahn had no problems stooping so low during the last election to backstab the people who backed him the most, how can one not look at the possibility that his campaign his behind this erroneous letter?

Something to ponder
Davey D
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