(Watson)Villains in the System

have residents abuzz and concerned for their safety. , which occurred within the span of four days, have seemed to draw the ire of two types: those who think that the gangsters have brought on their own misfortune and should fully cooperate with the authorities instead of being “cowards”; and those who believe that gang victims, if not gangsters themselves are victims of a larger broken, if not corrupt, system. In other words, there seems to be disagreement over whether the recent crime spell can be pegged to flailing personal responsibility or structural inequality.

American lore is generally filled with tales of great individual success, be those of Benjamin Franklin or Michael Jordan, Paul Bunyan or Clark Kent—the tale of the rugged American individual has appeared in many a novel and many a spaghetti western. America is the land of opportunity.

And yet this tale hasn’t always been true for all as the ceiling for success for Natives and slaves and peoples of “annexed territories” has in the past been severely compromised in favor of individual enterprise and its Manifest Destiny. Many will argue such inequality persists in America's "ghettoes" and Watsonville-like rural communities.

Yes, I’m being dramatic in my examples. But, I think that the disagreement between arguments of personal responsibility and structural inequality is necessarily of socio-historical dimensions, maybe a fancy way of saying the argument has the potential to be divided along ethnic lines. To focus on such grandiose subject matter is beyond me, but I definitely know as a colored male that many persons of Mexican or African-American heritage are very fast to point to structural inequalities and the course of American history.

But whether they have Aztec or Raiders or Niners or “Northside” pride, I also know that kids are making a lot of dumb individual decisions lately. Joining a gang is usually the decisive one. Understanding why they would be in a position to make such a decision usually requires entering the family into the equation. Many come from overcrowded or unsupportive families who aren’t providing the necessary support for their kids.

An honest question: is this a family problem? An ethnic/cultural phenomenon? A structural dilemma?

Should the families of criminally-active gangmembers be blamed for their kids’ actions? Should they and the communities they come from be given extra preventive resources? It probably depends a lot on your perspective of the individual and the system. Should the system be doing more or should the individual? Or both?

And yes, the economy is blistering and is making personal and family conditions worse, most particularly in the communities that had the least to begin with. Drops in revenue lead to cuts to government services and schools and most significantly impacts the poor, which in Watsonville means those same families who are most susceptible to producing gangmembers. Do governmental cuts contribute to the uptick in violence? Or is this a necessary correction period of excessive handouts that we have to endure before people make the necessary corrections?

Generally speaking, I often ask myself if I and others should be doing more to get involved in the community, most particularly as it relates to the youth. My answer, generally speaking is yes. In fact, I often think it would be awesome if there were youth-centered jobs available to engage youth in positive activities. But that would almost necessarily need to come from public funding, which is I would have to say an admission of structural problems and the need to divert resources to the needy. Is that something that the City of Watsonville and County of Santa Cruz should be doing more of? Diverting resources towards the youth?

Prioritizing budget cuts is always a hairy issue as you start to point at individuals and their salaries. Paying more taxes is maybe still even more hairy as few are very willing to part with their own dollars. All of which begs the question, is it the responsibility of individuals and families to pull themselves up by the boot straps and fix their problems their selves? Why should the Fulanos have to pay for the Jenkins?

I recently heard a “rule of five” idea that each kid must have five reliable, supportive and accessible figures in their lives in order to have a support network capable of helping them make the right decisions in life as there are always those support figures to fall back on.

Some will argue that many groups serve this function like the , Community Science Workshops, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or sports in general which help kids engage in positive sport or school-based activities designed to steer them clear of deviant behavior patterns and oftentimes promote abstract values like honor, pride and respect.

Some will say that other groups, like the , the White Hawk Dancers, or performance-based groups like the Teatro Campesino also provide support by urging kids to practice greater cultural engagement, specifically focused on highlighting and addressing inequalities against colored persons and promote things like honor, pride and respect too.

Ironically, both sets of groups seem to be competing with gangs who also offer honor, pride, respect.

Not being a Brown Beret, I acknowledge that many take great exception to their activities -the gun imagery and mission statement can be off-setting to Granny Sheila or even Grandma Esperanza for that matter. But symbolism aside, is it possible for such cultural groups with an emphasis on historical wrongs to positively harness youth away from trouble?

I will be the first to admit that I believe American individualism has mythical elements to it built up by centuries of literature and popular culture references. I will also be quick to admit that some use racial divisions as an all-encompassing answer to the bad decisions and misfortunes that abound.

I would personally argue that more resources are direly needed in our community, not necessarily into bank accounts but into after-school programs, sports and cultural celebration. The big question is how do you get the resources to pull such great things off? I really think that kids are desperately after things like honor, pride and respect and that they need to get it wherever they can, and I’m hopeful that others have ideas of things that could work. Expanded volunteer opportunities? New taxes? Better workforce production? More centrally, how do we or don’t we make better families and with whom should we do it?