The situation that I have described above is not the circumstance of all ghetto residents, but it can be applied to many. This story is needed to understand how young males in the ghetto assess the American dream, and why many turn to gang activity. The frustration is very real. The inability for young men who grow up in the ghetto to articulate despair produces a seed of hostility that can cause some to turn to the gang culture. Ghetto life is filled with disorganization- gangs offer organization.
Ghetto life is filled with poverty- gangs offer large amounts of money through the drug economy.
Many gang members feel as if the world hads shortchanged them. It is within theses gangs that the forces of outside society recede. The ghetto becomes a microcosm. Living the gang life gives them the money they need to buy material goods and take care of their families. It gives them the power that is so ingrained into our conception of masculinity.