FROM CBS 2 CHICAGO: Gangbangers in Chicago: What makes them tick, what
are they thinking?
CBS 2's Walter Jacobson sat down with gang members in Chicago's troubled
Englewood neighborhood to try to find some answers. Some of the responses he
received were not encouraging. “There’s no solution to the violence," one
gang member tells him. "Killing, killing is the solution. “Jacobson asked
the young man if he would kill personally, if he had to. “I’ve never killed
before, but if I had a gun in my possession," he said. Jacobson says he
has been walking the blocks for many years, but the state of despair never
changes -- poverty, sticks and stains. The gang members do not like the state
of affairs any more than anyone else. “We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want
money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh eggs almost every day. We want all
that," another young man said.But where do they get the money they need?
The young man answered bluntly. “Rob, steal and kill. That's the only way. We
didn't grow up in Beverly Hills. We don't get it handed to us," he said. "We
ain't living in Hyde Park," added a third young man. The home of the
University of Chicago is only a couple of miles away from Englewood --
geographically, at least.But given the state of their impoverished Englewood
neighborhood, where is the money they can get? “Selling drugs," a young
man replied. "In our neighborhood, I ain't going to lie to you. That's
where the money comes from." Some of the young men were brought into gangs
as children. Isn't that pretty young to play gang warfare? A young man
answered: "I chose the gang. I didn't have to choose anything. I was only
10. My OG (old gangster) gave me everything. But I just went on my own and I
chose to get in the gang. We was whipping everybody in the neighborhood.
Respect. I was getting money. “The gang members also said they are at war with
the Chicago Police Department. “The police hate us," a young man said.
"Every time they ride past us, they shoot us down and do all that. Do what
you want to do, I don't care about you all, keep riding. Who are you all? We're
not scare of you all. I'll fight you too. Take that badge off. “But he says the
police cannot catch them or exact any consequences. “I laugh at the
police," he said. "They're a joke to me."And where would the
young men like to be in 10 ears? One of them replied, "in a mansion, with
a lot of cars, and a lot of women."Another said, "I just hope I'm still living."