Bloods and Crips, in the UK?

The influence American culture has on the world should never be underestimated.  If one needs evidence for such a statement, read this article here from the UK.

After reading this article, it brought to mind a funny story from my younger days.  I used work with a friend of mine back in high school, who went to school in the Minneapolis district.  He was a recent transplant from Louisiana, so he had an interesting point view on life in the Upper Midwest.  

Anyway, my friend, lets call him "Derrick," went to a high school that had a sizable gang representation in the school's student population.  He wasn't in one, but he was no fool, so he knew what was going on.  Well, the school invited rapper Ice-T to come talk to the students about the perils of entering into gang life.  From what Derrick said, Ice - T did that and more.

He made it known right away that he couldn't care less about the camera's that were there, he came to tell it like it is.  Ice-T basically called the gangbangers in Minnesota stupid. He said they were representing gangs and streets in LA that they had never been to or seen.  

Derrick gleefully told me his favorite parts of the story.  The first one was when Ice-T asked this rhetorical questions, "How much sense does it make for someone to call himself a Minneapolis Crip?"  Then Ice-T said, "How much sense does it make for someone to call himself a Saint Paul Blood?"  Derrick said most students in the audience laughed and agreed with Ice - T.  He also said that cats in LA were laughing at the gang members here, they thought the idea of Minnesota Bloods and Crips was a good joke.

Derrick's second favorite part was the rebuttal by some of the gang members in the audience. Apparently, Ice - T stated the main motivation for some of these guys to bang was impressing girls.  One gang member loudly stated, "I'm not trying to impress no girls."  Ice - T quickly responded with, "Then you must be trying to impress the dudes."  According to Derrick, this self described gang member got out of his seat and started walking towards the stage to get at Ice - T.  Derrick gleefully stated, this was not a sincere attempt to get at Ice-T, because he brought three bodyguards with him.  According to Derrick, these guys were huge.  So the gang member got about half way to the stage, the bodyguards started heading to meet him and he came to his senses, turned around and went back to his seat.  This happened a number of times.  Gang members would get pissed off by Ice-T's comments and then would make a half hearted attempt to get at him, only to turn right back around when his bodyguards stepped up.  

Derrick stated that the gang members walked out about half way through Ice-T's talk.  But, Derrick thought the whole thing was hilarious. He definitely sided with Ice-T's assessment that there should be no such thing as a Minneapolis Crip or a Saint Paul Blood.

Which brings us back to the initial article, that these London youth are claiming allegiance to LA based gangs.   Honestly, I'm not outraged or even surprised by the story in the least bit. Maybe I'm just becoming numb from all that I have seen in life, but the only thing interesting about this story is that it happened in the UK.  Don't get me wrong, its tragedy when anyone is murdered, but I've seen stories like these in my life probably hundreds, if not thousands of times.

Ice T's question to audience is an intriguing one though, when you really think about it.  He's questioning the legitimacy of gangsters representing something they have no direct allegiance to.  I'm guessing, no one in Minneapolis at that time, had any contacts in LA, so why pick an LA gang to represent?

The answer to the question is there are lost youth all across globe.  Whether it's Bloods and Crips in America or the UK, Or skinhead computer hackers in Russia, there are youth searching for something to be a part of.  Usually, they come from dysfunctional homes where there was no sense of belonging, comfort or safety, so they link with other youth just like them.  Next, they turn their rage on the enemy gang or race, depending on what they're claiming.  

Ice - T asked what sense does it make for someone to call himself a Minnesota Crip?  One can only wonder how he would respond to UK Bloods and Crips.

What you think about UK youth claiming allegiance to Bloods and Crips? Is this a sign of the apocalypse or just part of a natural gang expansion?  Let me know.