The Gang's All Here

by Duane Swierczynski

Is there anyone in Philadelphia who hasn't belonged to a gang? Or group. Or club. Or clique. Or whatever you want to call it.

But this gang o' mine — like gangs you may have belonged to — provided structure, social cues, street smarts, even protection. (At my school, the mathletes didn't stand a friggin' chance.) Gangs can be an important part of your education. When you're 14 and still feeling your way into adulthood, you need all the help you can get.

For weeks now, I've been reading about "the resurgence of gangs" in the dailies and how it has fueled a semester of violence in the city's public schools. These gangs have adopted the monikers of long-dormant criminal gangs which paralyzed street corners with fear during much of the 1970s.

The dots were quickly connected. More violence? Must be those newly reborn street gangs.

But none of the stories — or the expert panels that have convened over the issue — explain what that violence means. Are gangs back? Or is it just kids banding together for the same reasons they've always banded together?

"There's a strange situation in the city: People disagree very strongly about whether Philly has gangs or not," explains Doron Taussig, whose cover story, "Gang Mentality," begins on p. 22. "But when they describe the groups that may or may not be gangs, they describe the same thing."

Doron was struck by how the disputes that lead to these high-profile violent outbursts are not unlike the disputes that have always sparked after-school fights. "But for a variety of reasons," says Doron, "not least of which is the availability of guns, these disputes erupt into tragedies way beyond someone getting beaten up in front of everyone."

And in other news …

Many of you have been e-mailing to ask about our annual fiction contest. Relax, F. Scott, we're still running one.

But we're changing the rules a bit, so you won't be able to just blow the dust off that coming-of-age/magic realist/serial killer novel you've had lingering on your USB key. Check this spot next week for more details.

Also next week: Just in time for the holidays, the City Paper has a bunch of brightly decorated gifts for you, the reader, as well as the city of Philadelphia and all of its local notables. I could say more, but …

Well, don't you want to be surprised?

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