Undergraduate /
Racism, UT essay B - issue of importance [5]
Okay, I TOTALLY CHANGED my topic and essay to gang violence. let me know what you think please. all kind of criticism and corrections are HIGHLY welcomed.
Through my early years of life, I grew up in a lower class town with high gang activity. Wherever I went there would be gang members, all wearing the same clothes, leaning against a wall either guarding their territory, gambling, or dealing drugs. I used to walk to school during my elementary and middle school years, and I was often confronted by many of these so called "gangsters." I used to have so much fear for these people because I was scared of what they would possibly do to me. It was as if gangs had taken over not only my neighborhood but my soul.
Elementary school and Jr. High were the toughest times for me. I grew up in a military town, Killeen/Ft. Hood, TX, where the majority of the population were blacks. During my trips, walking to and from school, I encountered much trouble and was often bullied by the neighborhood "gangsters." "Hey kid, want some pot?" I was once asked on my way to school by a creepy man who always wore blue. He had tattoos covered all over his body, wore baggy clothes and a blue bandana, and was always followed by an entourage of about 4 or 5 other guys who all wore the same clothes. Of course I refused because I was taught to say no to strangers, but just the fact of knowing that I was asked to buy drugs in the 3rd grade makes chills run down my spine, even to this day. I have witnessed innocent people get "jumped," drive-by-shootings and even an old woman being robbed. Stuff like this you would expect to see in movies, but I witnessed it in real life and experienced it as well.
A hand-full of kids at school were associated in gangs too. They would bring drugs and weapons to school, bullying kids, always cursing worse than a pirate, and never followed teacher's instructions or rules. I used to get bullied in class by these so called "thugs." I would often tell the teacher what was going on and she would say, "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." But I would never see her at least even warn those kids who tormented me. Sometimes I could see the terror on teacher's faces. It was almost as if the school staff was too afraid to do anything. I was utterly dumbfounded on how the school did nothing to prevent bullying or gang violence so I began to take matters into my own hands, and that did not work out so well. Standing up for myself only caused me more harm. Consequently, I was jumped for even trying to hold my own ground.
When the school teachers did nothing, I felt like there was no hope. And when I got beat up for standing up for my rights, I knew there was nothing else I could do. I became paranoid whenever I walked outside my house. I would stroll down the sidewalks and every 5 seconds, check if there was anyone behind me. The outside past the walls of my home became a war zone to me, and playing outside was no longer an option. I began to expect my fate. Having my lunch money stolen would become a daily routine. I would beg my parents to drive me to and from school, and they became so annoyed. During those years of my life I became a social outcast. Living as a hermit, I associated with no one at school because I believed everyone was harmful and that no one would help me.
Despite all the chaos, my parents decided to move away from the "ghetto" neighborhood I grew up in because of better income. We ended up moving to Harker Heights, which is a newer town right next to the previous city I moved from. Although the neighborhood I moved to was not completely gang free, there was a lot less gang activity than my old neighborhood had. However, the area we moved to was still apart of the highly concentrated gang area. Driving around town, you could still see buildings that were tagged by gangs every other block.
Just recently, a murder of a high school student across town had occurred. The cause of the student's murder was due to gang violence. If I did not move, I would have had to attend the high school that that student was murdered at. And who knows, I could have been the one that lost his life due to gang violence.
