I really appreciated Dr.McCabe coming to speak to us about events that led up to the Newark Riots of 1967. I always thought that the problems in Newark began after the riots, but I was assured that was not the case. There were issues of red-lining, and police misconduct even before the incident of John Smith. I think that my generation needs a leader or organization to motivate youth to be more conscious of social issues. I do feel like gangs can both positively and negatively affect communities. My perspective of gang members or gangsters is different from people who bash them in the news. I've seen active gang members inspire kids to go to school and "make it out the hood", I've also seen them have kids race for ice cream, and hand out five dollars to kids on the block. But on the downside of that i have seen mothers who lost their sons, kids grow up without fathers, and families be ripped apart because of gun violence. Gangs are a tricky topic but Dr.McCabe challenged me to understand that gangs aren't a new thing in America, and to understand that there were Italian gangs, Irish gangs, Jewish gangs as well. One thing our politicians try to do is make gangs seem like a "new" thing, and that black and brown people are the only ones with gang history in this country.I really appreciated Dr.McCabe coming to speak to us about events that led up to the Newark Riots of 1967. I always thought that the problems in Newark began after the riots, but I was assured that was not the case. There were issues of red-lining, and police misconduct even before the incident of John Smith. I think that my generation needs a leader or organization to motivate youth to be more conscious of social issues. I do feel like gangs can both positively and negatively affect communities. My perspective of gang members or gangsters is different from people who bash them in the news. I've seen active gang members inspire kids to go to school and "make it out the hood", I've also seen them have kids race for ice cream, and hand out five dollars to kids on the block. But on the downside of that i have seen mothers who lost their sons, kids grow up without fathers, and families be ripped apart because of gun violence. Gangs are a tricky topic but Dr.McCabe challenged me to understand that gangs aren't a new thing in America, and to understand that there were Italian gangs, Irish gangs, Jewish gangs as well. One thing our politicians try to do is make gangs seem like a "new" thing, and that black and brown people are the only ones with gang history in this country.
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