The Origins of Gangs in South Central Area and the Role of State
The movie “Bastards of the Party” is an in-depth narration by Cle Sloan also called as
“Bone”, of the history of African American neighbourhoods following the “great migration”
from South to the North and West of the country. The movie revolves around the social
context that made the circumstances conducive for emerging of gangs (such as the Athen
Park Bloods, Bishops and Crips) in African American neighbourhoods in California as a
method of self-protection against the overactive policing administered by biased and racist
Police force.
The movie begins with Bone explaining why he along with a lot of other African Americans
in 1940s and 1950s, got to California (to escape the racial prejudice and low employment
prospects). However, to their dismay, they found that the inequality, racism and segregation
was rampant in Los Angeles as well. The movie then explains why other children get
involved in gangs from their early teenage, getting entrapped into a vicious cycle of poverty,
pressure, violence and suffering (due to fear of racist governmental systems oppressing them
as an individual). The LAPD (a branch of the State) became pro-active when William H.
Parker was installed as its chief of police and “declared war on race mixing” along with the
music scenario building up in African American communities in and around Central Avenue.
The story then moves on to the late 1950s and 1960s, puts the spotlight on the proliferation of
violence along racial lines and eventually constituting “gangs” (such as the Slauson and the
Gladiators) in communities that led to the white flight movement where white residents of
predominantly African American neighbourhoods started fleeing the communities resulting
in complete segregation (which was then systematically endorsed by the government as well).
Eventually these African American gangs started fighting among themselves, leading to a lot
of deaths. Therefore, on the pretext of stopping violence, the Police started harassing,
lynching and charging blacks for crimes with an overt sense of racist superiority and
disregard for the injuries it inflicted on these communities. In 1965, following Malcolm X’s
death, riots followed and eventually, the African American community was united. The Black
Panther Party and the Us Organization were founded by and devoted to protecting as well as
uplifting the African- American communities on a national level, however both had
ideological differences. The two parties eventually started to breakdown due to rising inter-
party violence, that was allegedly instigated by the FBI to “neutralise” the political and civil
rights uprising of African Americans.
