Chicano Gang Life in Los Angeles: A Historical Perspective

The film American Me portrays 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles, California, centered around the character Montoya Santana. In the 1950s, Santana and his friends form a gang, but they are arrested for a break-in and sent to juvenile hall. After a troublesome first night in juvenile hall, Santana spends 18 years in prison where he establishes and leads a powerful gang that operates both inside and outside the prison.

After being released from Folsom Prison, he tries to navigate the violence in a new world.

The film is based on a true story and portrays a dramatized version of the Mexican Mafia's rise to power in California prisons from the 1950s to the 1980s. Beginning during World War II's Zoot Suit era, before Montoya Santana was born to parents who were Zoot Suiters, the narrative delves into Santana's origins.

Collaborating during this era, the American and Mexican governments created a program to address the labor shortage caused by war.

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This initiative permitted braceros, or contract laborers, to temporarily relocate to the United States for specific job roles. By the 1940s, Mexican Americans ranked as the second largest migrant group after Black Americans. The growth of Mexican American communities brought about societal changes that sparked tensions and conflicts within white society and government institutions.

White residents of Los Angeles were concerned about Mexican American teenagers joining street gangs, many of whom wore Zoot Suits as a symbol of rebellion against conventional society. The term "Zoot Suit" originated from this trend.

A four-day riot in mid-1943 in LA was sparked by animosity towards Zoot Suit wearers, leading to attacks by white sailors on Mexican American communities.

City police stood by as sailors attacked Hispanic teenagers, stripping and burning their clothes, cutting their hair, and beating them. When the Hispanics tried to defend themselves, the police intervened and arrested them. Following the Zoot Suit riots, Los Angeles passed a law banning the wearing of Zoot Suits" (www. stufflikethat. org, 2010). It was during these riots that Pedro and Esperanza Santana, parents of Santana, were assaulted. Pedro was arrested for being a Zoot Suitor after being beaten, while Esperanza was violently raped and had her clothes torn off by a group of Caucasian sailors.

The movie transports us to 1959, where we see Santana as a 16-year-old youth living in the barrios with his buddies Mundo and JD. Following his arrest and stint in juvenile hall, Santana experiences a traumatic event that leads to him committing murder. This act garners him admiration and authority among his peers, but also results in a lengthy prison sentence. While incarcerated, Santana and his gang members expand their influence and membership both inside and outside the prison walls.

Upon being released from prison, Santana was astonished by the extent to which life in the barrios had evolved. He found himself grappling with the power struggles unfolding between the Italian mafia, the Black Guerillas, and the Aryan Brotherhood, each vying for increased territory and business opportunities. The main character's belief in his gang Por Vida, committed to uplifting and empowering Chicano communities, caused inner conflict as his associates viewed this struggle as a sign of weakness. Santana's societal challenges included adjusting to appropriate social norms and cultivating healthy romantic relationships.

After a short time on the outside, Santana is arrested and returned to prison, where his life meets a tragic end. He is brutally murdered by his gang associates for failing to comply with a decision. The Santana family resided in the same home in the barrios (ghetto) of East Los Angeles for about 30 years, with their economic status being described as poor working class. Santana's parents were Mexican American, but his ethnicity is somewhat ambiguous due to his birth being a result of his mother's rape.

Santana had strengths in strong family and neighborhood ties, organizational and leadership skills, loyalty, and pride. He also had a deep, poetic, and soulful sensitive side. However, Santana faced challenges including poverty, lack of education and job skills, gangbanger role models, institutionalization in prison, and a lack of socialization skills. This includes difficulty in knowing how to buy shoes or build relationships with women.

The protagonist has never experienced a successful sexual relationship, with his growth in this area being hindered by his time in prison. In addition to addressing his sexual and relational development, it would be beneficial for him to receive assistance in evaluating and enhancing his career skills, as well as exploring opportunities for further education. To best help Santana, a human service worker should possess an understanding of his cultural background, access to local cultural competency resources, relevant cultural knowledge, and skills that are effective in working with minority populations.

Common skills in human services include communication, access to interpreters, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. These skills draw upon theories of human and group behavior, knowledge of individual differences and the minority identity development model, and stages for change. It is essential for human service workers to have an awareness of the larger social context of Santana's. To be effective in this role, one must apply these skills with an understanding of relevant theories and minority identity models, and be able to select appropriate intervention strategies and methods for specific situations.

According to Human services Interventions (2002), there is no replacement for hands-on experience when it comes to improving a worker's intervention skills with individuals or groups. Some culturally competent local support services and agencies recommended for Santana include Friends-CARE, a nonprofit organization focused on breaking the cycle of generational crime by raising awareness about the children and families of the incarcerated.

Friends-CARE provides services, intervention, community resources, and programs for families and supports relationships between inmates and their families upon reentry to the community (www.friends-Care.org, 2010). California Gangs Anonymous (CGA) is a twelve-step program for criminals and gang members inside and outside the prison system. Participants share their past and present experiences at meetings, where they can freely express their emotions in a safe environment. CGA encourages honesty, hope, solutions, and alternatives for a happier life (www.cganon.com, 2010).

Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services offers a free Adult Education program that provides various learning opportunities to adults in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. The program includes classroom education, one-on-one tutoring, and appointments for adults over 18. Educational services offered in the program cover literacy, math, reading, writing, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, job search assistance, resume building workshops, and computer basics classes in both English and Spanish. All services are free to the community (www.sfbfs.org, 2010).

Following an assessment of Santana's history and presenting problems, the recommendation is for an intervention plan utilizing community resources such as Criminals/Gang Members Anonymous to address gang affiliation issues, and Friends-CARE for support in rebuilding family relationships post-incarceration.

Establishing strong family relationships can provide valuable support for the client as they distance themselves from gangs. In addition, Santana can improve his English-speaking skills, gain an education, acquire job skills, and take computer classes through the SFBFS Adult Education Program. It is highly recommended that socialization and sexual socialization therapy be pursued. The emergence and growth of the Mexican mafia in 1950s East Los Angeles was bound to happen.

The Zoot-suiters, who were subjected to wartime indecencies by the previous Mexican American generation, inspired the community to unite as a strong and resilient people. Gathering and coming together as family and friends in strength and celebration is a fundamental aspect of Mexican culture. It is possible that the formation of Mexican gangs is a warped reflection of this innate desire to unite and demonstrate strength, influenced by the process of acculturation within white society. References CGA (n. d. ). CGA.

Retrieved August 30, 2010, from www.cganon.org (n.d.). History Review Sheet. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from www.stufflikethat.org/minorities Human Service Interventions (2002). Working with Individuals or with Groups.

Retrieved August 31, 2010, from http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/support/studentsupport/red_book/humser_intervention_one.htm Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. (). SFBFS [Brochure]. Sacramento, CA: Author. Universal (Producer), & Olnos, E. J. (Director).