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Rangers-Disciples In ^ New Non-Violent RoleOUT OF THE chaos and turmoil which swirled £ through Chicago’s ghettos last week following the assas- , sination of Dr. Martin Luther King, a tiny ray of hope flickered in the Wood lawn community.WHILE WEAK, misguided, youths of the Westside and Englewood banded together under the I guise of Black Nationalism, were breaking windows, burglarizing stores and burning their parents out of their own homes, two of Wood-lawn’s most publicized gangs were publicly and privately joining forces to prevent a rape and carnage of that which they claimed as theirs, poverty-ridden though it may be.IN THE PAST, I have personally felt only disgust for 0,1the many criminal activities penned to these groups. The **shootings and the killings which has marked Woodlawnfor the past few years have always been indefensible. baNot only does each shooting mean the crippling or lossof life of a black child, but there was usually an arrest ^and another black boy either went to the already Mack- oncrowded jails or at the very least was given a life-time «cicriminal sheet. 110re*SOCIALOGISTS, ministers, psychologists, and other an mean-wellers have not conditioned me to believe that m this new, organized youth crime can be solely afttribut- i ed to poverty and it’s adjunct evils. And fortunately for the black community, there are many other adults who of still refuse and reject the white man’s promise that coi black children and black people are just one generation ea out of savagery. ^BY SO LABELING all black boys as threats to socie- lt;ty, whites deny even more of the little opportunity for which Should be open and available. Unfortunately, ^ many of the would-be black leaders are apparently un- by able to see this as they, in an effort to achieve recogni-tion, exhort undisciplined young minds into committing ^acts which they themselves, would never commit tioAT ANY RATE, last week, during a period of unrea-son, the BLACKSTONE RANGER CONSERVATIVESand the EASTSIDE DISCIPLES, were able to make inc mora sense than their so-called elders. Not only did they y adopt a non-violence plank, but they also patrolled the sio Woodlawn and Hyde Park areas, as well as distributed emergency food rations. opThere are probably people who will say: “Of course of they co-operated, the guardsmen were there to insure / co-operation.” Nothing could be further from the truth! There were guardsmen on the West and North sides but tra this did not prevent violence. 1I AM NOT ready to say that because of this action, ^ the gangs have repented and all of their past sins are th€ to be forgotten. I do say however, that in this instance the they showed a maturity which should not go un-noted. bui IF THIS ACTION can be taken as a ^ep toward uni BLACK BEAUTY, then the rest of us, should be willing to take a step toward further beautification. I am think-ing what a powerful force for good could come out of ^ the harnessing of so much BLACK POWER. ca*ONE REPORT stated that the RANGERS were even unc instrumental in preventing an unwarranted attack by ^ Hyde Park students, on one of the areas Catholic schools zen which still have a partial white student body. If this e report is also true, this is still another avenue to be ect explored. ^A SAD NOTE crept into the whole thing when some- Tblt; body blamed the groups for taking part in a ‘shakedown’ foil operation. According to Grand Crossing Commander William Griffin, “THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT Uit THE GROUPS WERE INVOLVED IN THE TAKING F OF MONIES FOR THEIR SERVICES ’’ Griffin cleared ape the boys further by stating that the youths who were ™ arrested had no connection with the Rangers.
Newspaper Details
Woodlawn Booster and Bulletin
Chicago, Illinois, US
Mon, Apr 22, 1968
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 19 Aug 2023
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