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Here are some of the major issues that Charlotte is facing :
Gang Related Issues - MS 13:
The
initials of MS 13 mean
Mara Salvatrucha. The name translates into
"street-tough Salvadorans" in the Spanish language. Task
forces such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), aim to take on MS-13.
The gang has a uniquely international profile. It has an estimate of
8,000 to 10,000 members in 33 states in the United States. There
seems to be approximately more than 700,000 gang members on the
overall and tens of thousands more in Central America. MS 13 has
been considered to be the fastest-growing, most violent and least
understood of the nation's street gangs.
The
U.S. law enforcement has not been watching as closely as it might
have. As authorities have focused their attention on the war against
terrorism, MS-13 has proliferated. The origins of MS-13 began in Los
Angeles during the 1980s by Salvadorans fleeing from a civil war.
Most of the kids grew up in an environment that was surrounded by
violence.
Del
Hendrixson of Bajito Onda, a gang-outreach program, remembers an
MS-13 member who recounted one of his earliest memories. Guarding
the family's crops at the age of 4, he had only a machete as he
stayed alone at
night. When he and others reached the mean streets of the L.A.
ghetto, Mexican gangs preyed on them. Over the period of time, the gang's ranks
grew, adding former paramilitaries with weapons training and a taste
for atrocity.
MS-13 eventually got into
drug trafficking. When law enforcement cracked down and deported
planeloads of members, the deportees quickly created MS-13 outposts
in El Salvador and neighboring countries like Honduras and Guatemala.
Machete attacks occur on the East Coast, but they are rare on the
West Coast. Car thefts and drug trafficking might be big in North
Carolina but, gang-on-gang violence predominates in Virginia. In
Charlotte, North Carolina, membership is estimated to be more than
200.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE)
have organized a group called Operation Community Shield. Community
Shield is a nationwide ICE anti-gang initiative designed to
dismantle and prosecute violent gang organizations by employing the
full range of authorities and investigative tools that is available
to ICE. ICE uses its broad immigration and customs authorities to
help authorities in these areas to disrupt gang activity and reduce
gang related crimes.
Here is a
story from a former MS 13 group member.
Neighborhood Issues:
 Recently,
Charlotte has taken the initiative to clean up its inner-city
neighborhood's. The movement titled "Taking
Back Our Neighborhoods" stemmed from a community-wide response
to the increase in violent crimes during the mid-90s.The
project began with the Charlotte Observer and its publisher,
Rolfe Neill. Neil is a central player in Charlotte's
progressive.
During
this period, Charlotte's crime-rate rose to 19th nationwide, whereas
its population only ranked 34th at the time. This taskforce is
a combined membership of both White and Black community leaders.
One of the main figures in the movement is Wayne Brown, who heads
the major radio stations that serve the city's Black communities
The goal of the movement is to bring attention to the most crime
filled neighborhoods, and work with community members and government
officials to find
solutions for these problems. Outside observers have noted
that this is an example of Charlotte's typically progressive
approach to problems; members of various ethnic and economic make-up
coming together to find a solution for the city's problems.
Racial Fragmentation & Urban Sprawl:
Because
of Charlotte's rapid growth, the racial make-up of the city is
rapidly changing and diversifying. Up until 1990, the two major
races in the city were Caucasian and Black/African American, with
African Americans making up almost a third of the population.
Consequently, there were many Black/White issue struggles.
However, Charlotte seemed to be making progress in that it elected
one of the
first Black mayors in a southern city. Today, as the
wealthier/affluent white population moves into the suburban areas
surrounding Charlotte, the minority population is forced into the
poorer inner-city districts. This has created
fragmentation in the city's issues, as the Black population must now
try to deal with the steadily declining availability of
labor-related job opportunities. Issues such as traffic, taxes,
public school quality, and neighborhood security are key concerns.
Charlotte number of unskilled job is decreasing number.
In 1989 the government used the 1960 boundaries of the city, the
government established a "City within a City" program involving
sixty mostly poor, but some moderate and even affluent
neighborhoods. Employing a modified triage approach, the government
had placed a high density focus on troubled areas. They tried to
stabilize those in transition and minimized investment in
neighborhoods that were doing well
Since
the late-90s, Charlotte has seen a rapid growth in its
Hispanic/Latino population. In fact, this group now
makes makes up nearly 10% of the population. This has forced the city to take
new directions in offering bi-lingual education, in addition to
focusing on developing new social services programs to meet the
needs of its new minority population. Hopefully, the city will
not the the bickering that has occurred among minority groups in
other cities as a result of more diverisification. Charlotte will need to
continue to evolve, as it seems that population growth and
diversification will continue.
 Drug
Issues:
Charlotte faces a variety of
drug
related issues. Charlotte serves as an
ideal port for drug trafficking. The city has an airport
that services most of the United States, and is also a great hub for
trains. In fact, during the year 2000 there were a dozen
marijuana seizures at the Charlotte/Douglass international airport
alone. In Charlotte, two types of drugs have seen significant
increase in usage during recent years. Methamphetamine cases
have been rising during recent years in Charlotte, and other parts
of the state experiencing massive urban sprawl. Mexican
drug-traffickers have been cited as being the reason for this
increase. The
DEA
reasons that because Charlotte has seen a massive influx in
its Hispanic population, it has become easier for these traffickers
to set up, and operate inconspicuously within the city.
The
other large scale drug threat facing Charlotte is "Club Drugs" such
as Ecstasy. Being that Charlotte is home to a college
population, these drugs have a natural consumer base. Users of
club drugs are typically 15-25 years old, and the majority of them
take the drugs at large "rave" parties. The
DEA
reports that, the local drug agency in Charlotte is currently
monitoring the activities of local Asian gangs who are reportedly
involved in the majority of "Club Drug" trafficking and money
laundering in the area.
 Conclusion:
Overall, Charlotte is facing a new and more diverse racial make-up
than it has ever seen before. The city will need to address
the various issues that such diversity often leads to. As a
consistently progressive city in dealing with race issues, Charlotte
will hopefully take initiative and come up with innovative ways to
deal with some of the dilemmas it faces now and will face in the
future.
This page was last updated:
Thursday, April 27, 2006
This page was created by Varan Akr Nesarajah as part
of a case-study for
Dr. Freitag's
Group and Minority politics course at the
University of Wisconsin - Eau
Claire.
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