Gang problem needs everyone's full attention

The episode of violence at Illinois Central College’s WoodView Commons is serious.
The fact that this fight between two Peoria-based gangs started over a rap song is ridiculous.
But, it is not surprising.

In today’s news, we read about people getting jumped for their pair of shoes and a dollar bill in their pocket. Or, we read about a young man getting beaten to death in Chicago for no apparent reason.

It is a sad state of affairs. Another sad state of affairs is the mentality of those who have posted comments on the Web about this melee.

There is a vigilante mentality. There is a racist mentality. There is a territorial mentality.
It is ironic that gangs predominantly fight over territory and upstanding citizens talk about “our” side of the river and “their” side of the river. No one owns a town or a river.

It is understandable that people fear what happened at WoodView Commons Sept. 26. Guns were involved; someone could have been shot and killed.

Obviously, people do not want gangs moving into their neighborhoods. Criminal violence and drugs revolve around gangs.

But comments like, “Let’s find out what the song is, and play it over and over again on all radio and TV stations until all these worthless punks kill each other off,” and “Gang banging punks like these guys are job security for prison guards,” do not solve the problems.

However, public outrage is warranted. They are a minority in our otherwise civilized society that ruin things for others.

One teen said that she used to frequent the dance club in Sunnyland until gangs showed up and the dances were canceled. When incidents like this happen, it seems as if the gangs staked a claim on the public domain.

It is good to be proactive, but there must be a better way.

Gov. Pat Quinn approved SB 141 in August, which makes it a Class 1 felony for anyone trying to recruit a minor into a gang. The law becomes effective Jan. 1. This is a great start, and a law that should have been put in place a long time ago.

And if being affiliated with a gang is not a crime, it should be. Young people have a choice. They do not have to join a gang.

Some have said that gangs are homeland terrorists and they are right. Gangs threaten, intimidate and frighten. They are a cancerous tumor on the face of society.

Consider Matt Hale, an East Peorian associated with a white supremacy church group. Hale was convicted in a plot to have a federal judge murdered. He was sentenced to 40 years in a maximum security federal prison.

Gangs should be given the same harsh treatment. Perhaps it is ignored because they tend to be poor, black and live in an impoverished area.

Other efforts need to be made at home when these young men are growing up. They need support from their parents, and they need something constructive to do. Get them involved at the YWCA or the Boys Club of America. A billboard campaign is currently all over the Peoria area promoting the Boys Club. People, such as Denzel Washington and Shaquille O’Neal attended boy’s clubs in their youth.

This problem is not going to go away easily. It is going to take a strong effort by communities on both sides of the river to deal with it. Even gangs know there is strength in numbers.