Watsonville: Are Gangsters Terrorists?

I recently watched a segment on CNN in which several pundits were debating the following question — Are gangsters terrorists?

The central argument to the idea is that violent gangs are essentially domestic terror cells operating within our cities, hurting and scaring locals daily. When they are foreign with Arab names, we call them terrorists. When they are local with English or Spanish names, we call them gangs. 

Watching this debate, I immediately thought of Gilroy and Watsonville, two cities I cover daily where gang crime is a serious issue. 

There were three homicides in the first two months of 2013 in Watsonville. Police battle gang-related crime every day in the city limits. Click here for a glimpse of the stories Watsonville Patch has covered about local gang crime. 

CNN columnist LZ Granderson wrote about this topic last month, comparing lackluster response to gang crime in Chicago with the extreme manhunt in Boston. See what I found to be his three most interesting points below:

"How do we explain our habit of greeting terrorists with 24-hour news coverage and relentless wrath while overlooking the gangs that terrorize our streets daily?"

"If the name attached to all of this violence were al-Qaeda instead of Gangster Disciples; or if instead of 'gang violence' the bloodshed were called 'terrorism' or if instead of calling the people spreading fear and mayhem gangs we were to call them what they really are — terrorists — the nation would demand more be done."

"More Americans were murdered in the south and west sides of Chicago than there were U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan last year, and yet for some reason we don't view those neighborhoods as terrorized."

On Tuesday morning, over on the Watsonville Patch Facebook page, we asked for your opinion on the debate. Here is a sample of the responses: 

Beverly: They terrorize in groups against one unarmed person all the time. They are cowards who prey on innocents just like terrorists worldwide do.

Dan: I have always called them domestics terrorists. I would go after whatever household ('guilty by association') that they live in and crush all economically.... seize house, cars, bank accounts, etc. It would only take a few of these hits before everyone would be turning in their little terrorists.

Andy: Organized crime is reserved for chosen gangs. ... It's a double standard in America. I'd like to see how many Irish pride gangbagers get the terrorist label when it's all said and done.

So what do you think? Are gangsters terrorists? If we called them terrorists would we take it more seriously and actually fix the problem in our community? Tell us in the comments!