Whats the biggest misconception about the Crips and Bloods?
Stacy Peralta: That the kids involved in these gangs are monsters. We demonize them, and by doing so, we separate our humanity from theirs. These kids are growing up in a hopeless environment, under conditions that are not conducive to building a future. And if you look at the circumstances, I think you start to wonder, “Gee, well, if I were in their situation, would I be doing the same thing?” If it was affluent white kids killing each other, I don’t think our government would stand for it. What kind of circumstances are these kids growing up in? It’s as easy to get a gun in South L.A. as it is to get a skateboard. You go down to these communities and there’s so little to do that these kids are just bored out of their minds. They have energy, they don’t know what to do with it. They’re not sufficiently educated, and they know that surrounding them is opulence and the American Dream while their neighborhoods have nothing. And they don’t understand this. Are many of them coming from bro
