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South Central, Los Santos


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South Central

 

South Los Santos, formerly officially and sometimes still referred to as South-Central Los Santos, is a region in southern Los Santos County, San Andreas, and mostly lies within the city limits of Los Santos, just south of downtown.

 

According to the Los Santos Times, South Los Santos (formerly known as South-Central Los Santos) ”is defined on Los Santos city maps as a 16-square-mile rectangle with two prongs at the south end. In 2003, the Los Santos City Council renamed this area "South Los Santos".

 

The name South Los Santos can also refer to a larger 51-square mile area that includes areas within the city limits of Los Santos as well as five unincorporated neighborhoods in the southern portion of the County of Los Santos.

 

Beginning in the 1970s, the rapid decline of the area's manufacturing base resulted in a loss of the jobs that had allowed skilled union workers to enjoy a middle class lifestyle. Downtown Los Santos' service sector, which had long been dominated by unionized African Americans earning relatively high wages, replaced most black workers with newly arrived Mexican and Central American immigrants.

 

Widespread unemployment, poverty and street crime contributed to the rise of street gangs in South Central, such as the Crips and Bloods. 

 

By the early 2000s, the crime rate of South Los Santos had declined significantly. Redevelopment, improved police patrol, community-based peace programs, gang intervention work, and youth development organizations lowered the murder and crime rates to levels that had not been seen since the 1940s and '50s. Nevertheless, South Los Santos was still known for its gangs at the time. In mid-2003, the City Council of Los Santos voted to change the name South Central Los Santos to South Los Santos on all city documents, a move supporters said would "help erase a stigma that has dogged the southern part of the city."

On August 11, 2014, just two days after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a resident of South L.S., Ezell Ford, described as "a mentally ill 25-year-old man," was fatally shot by two Los Santos police officers. Since then, a number of protests focused on events in Ferguson have taken place in South Los Santos.

After the 2008 economic recession, housing prices in South Los Santos recovered significantly, and by 2018, many had come to see South Los Santos as a prime target for gentrification amid rising real estate values.

 

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The Crips

 

The Crips are primarily, but not exclusively, an African American gang that can be identified by the blue worn by their members. However, this practice has waned due to police crackdowns on gang members. They were founded in Los Santos, San Andreas in 1971 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley "Tookie" Williams. What was once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another. The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members.

Crips are publicly known to have an intense and bitter rivalry with the Bloods and lesser feuds with some Chicano gangs. Crips have been documented in the U.S. military, found in bases in the United States and abroad. The gang's activities have included: Drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, murder, burglary, and identification theft.

By 1978, there were 45 Crips gangs, called sets, operating in Los Santos. They were heavily involved in the production of PCP, marijuana and amphetamines. On March 11, 1979, Stanley Tookie Williams, a member of the Westside Crips, was arrested for four murders and on August 8, 1979, Raymond Washington was gunned down. Washington had been against Crip infighting and after his death several Crip sets started fighting against each other. The Crips leadership was dismantled prompting a deadly gang war between the Rollin' 60 Neighborhood Crips and Eight Tray Gangster Crips which began causing nearby Crip sets to choose sides and align themselves with either the Gangster Crips or Neighborhood Crips waging an all out war in South Central and other cities. The East Coast Crips and the Hoover Crips directly severed their alliance after Washington's death. By 1980, the Crips were in turmoil, warring with the Bloods and against each other. The growth and power of the gang really took off in the early 1980s when crack cocaine hit the streets. In the early 1980s, Crips sets began distributing crack cocaine in Los Santos. The huge profits from distribution of crack cocaine induced many Crips to establish new markets in other cities and states. As a result, Crip membership grew steadily and by late 1980s it was one of the largest street gangs in the country. In 1999, there were at least 600 Crips sets with more than 30,000 members transporting drugs in the United States.

 

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The Bloods

 

The Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Santos, San Andreas. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs. The Bloods are made up of various sub-groups known as "sets" between which significant differences exist such as colors, clothing, and operations, and political ideas which may be in open conflict with each other. Since their creation, the Blood gangs have branched out throughout the United States. Bloods have been documented in the US military, found in both US and overseas bases. The Bloods gang was formed initially to compete against the influence of the Crips in San Andreas.

The origin of the Bloods and their rivalry with the Crips dates to the 1970s, where the Pirus street gang, originally a set, or faction, of the Crips broke off during an internal gang war, and allied with other smaller gangs to found the gang that would eventually become known as the Bloods. At the time, Crips sets outnumbered Bloods sets by three to one. To assert their power despite this difference in numbers, Bloods sets became increasingly violent, especially against rival Crips members. The Pirus are therefore considered to be the original founders of the Bloods. During the rise of crack cocaine, the gang's focus shifted to drug production. Bloods sets operate independently of each other, and are currently located in almost all States. Blood sets on the East Coast are often seen as affiliated with the United Blood Nation, a gang which originated in Rikers Island.

The Bloods gang was formed initially to compete against the influence of the Crips in Los Santos. The rivalry dates back to the 1960s when Raymond Washington and several other Crips confronted Sylvester Scott and Benson Owens, students at Ganton High School in Ganton, Los Santos, San Andreas. In response to the attack, Scott, who lived in Ganton, established the Piru street-gang, the first "Bloods" street gang. Owens established the West Piru street-gang. The Bloods street-gang was initially formed to provide members protection from the Crips. Many of the non-Crip street-gangs used to call one another "blood". On March 21, 1972, shortly after a concert featuring Wilson Pickett and Curtis Mayfield, 20 youths belonging to the Crips attacked and robbed Robert Ballou Jr. outside of Vinewood Palladium. Ballou was beaten to death after he refused to give up his leather jacket. The sensational media coverage of the crime and the continued assaults by the Crips increased their notoriety. Several non-Crips gangs formed during this period were no match for the Crips and they became concerned with the escalating Crip attacks. The Pirus, Black P. Stones, Arias Park Boys and other gangs not aligned with the Crips often clashed with the Crips. On June 5, 1972, three months after Ballou's murder, Fredrick "Lil Country" Garret was murdered by a Westside Crip. This marked the first Crips murder against another gang member and motivated non-Crip street-gangs to align with each other. The Brims struck back on August 4, 1972, by murdering Thomas Ellis, an original Westside Crip. By late 1972, the Pirus held a meeting in their neighborhood to discuss growing Crips pressure and intimidation. Several gangs that felt victimized by the Crips joined the Piru Street Boys to create a new federation of non-Crips neighborhoods. This alliance would transform into the "Bloods". The Pirus are therefore considered to be the original founders of the Bloods.


By 1978, there were 15 Bloods sets. Crips still outnumbered Bloods 3 to 1. In order to assert their power, the Bloods became increasingly violent. During the 1980s, Bloods began distributing crack cocaine in Los Santos. Blood membership soon rose dramatically as did the number of states in which they were present. These increases were primarily driven by profits from crack cocaine distribution. The huge profits allowed members to relocate in other cities and states.

 

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The Generational Effect

 

In South Los Santos, gangbanging isn't synonymous with the Black and Hispanic communities since the 60s. Ever since then, gang activity has evolved from simple functions to fights to murders. Most families that have been living in these communities for generations are no stranger to having a multitude of gang affiliated family members. What's tricky about the system of gangbanging is that your cousin may even be your enemy depending on where he/she is from, and this affects some relationships within a family. Nowadays, the precedent set by the gangs of the past have taken a backseat. A more lenient form of modern-day gangbanging is present in the community, and cousins/aunts/uncles/sisters/brothers have all taken advantage of it and are building on their relationships with their family like normal.

 

Youth gangs are a universal phenomenon attracting increasing attention; the criminal and antisocial behavior perpetuated by youth gangs has an adverse impact on local communities across the globe. Although there is an extensive body of research that has examined the problems posed by youth gangs in America (and more recently in other countries), there have been relatively fewer empirical studies that examined the factors and psychological processes that are related to youth joining and leaving gangs. This review compiles the international research on the nature of youth gangs and critically evaluates: (a) the factors that motivate engagement in and desistance from gang-related activities, (b) risk and protective factors that impact on youths' propensity for gang membership, delinquency, and violent behavior, and the adverse consequences associated with gang affiliation, and (c) the relationship between gang-affiliation, youth violence, and criminal behavior.

 

The restarting cycle of a gangster lifestyle affects the youth greatly within a family. The children within a family easily take up influence after the older generation when they search for a tough, no-bullshit taking figure to look up to and imitate. And in the end of it, that child that tried to recreate what he/she saw growing up eventually becomes what he/she once dreamed of being. And they tend to make the same mistakes their idols did, and it leads to them going to jail or dying on the block they were fighting for while coming up. This happens to be the main factor in the lives for youth with blood-related ties to gang members.

 

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Gang Insignias

 

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Sports teams play a large role in the gang community of South Los Santos. The logos of these teams represent the section that the person who's wearing comes from. It can be deadly for a person to wear a Houston Astros hat in a South Side Carson Crip neighborhood. It. That's how serious these logos are taken in the hood. Usually the Crips and Bloods would take a logo that best represents their section and gang color, but this is not always the case. There have been instances to where innocent lives were affected and conflict was thrown out of proportion and war became imminent. Sports team logos are to be treated like a flag and should not be taken lightly by civilians. AVOID WEARING SPORTS LOGOS IN SOUTH LOS SANTOS AT ALL TIMES.

 

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This thread was made to follow the lives of different individuals who reside in the city of Los Santos, San Andreas. The thread is designed to depict the lives of the many related active gang members and South Central Los Santos residents. Screenshots that are posted will show what drama the hood life does to affect one's character mentally, physically and emotionally. If you are RPing around South Los Santos, feel free to post your character development under this thread. Criticism is highly appreciated as well.

Whoever wants to showcase their roleplay it's fine. This thread is made for any and all roleplayers in South LS, however, we do recommend that you personal message the thread holders first to determine if your post should be accepted on the thread.

Edited by RUNYOUOUTYOURHOOD
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