What exactly is the definition of a thug? Although the term varies in meaning by individual, we can all agree that its connotation is negative. Anyone is liable to be a thug; however, this term is mostly used amongst the African American race. Many people argue that racism is behind the derogatory use of the word towards African Americans. Others also argue that African Americans place the title amongst themselves. Both sides can make great arguments. The true question is will either argument be fair and just. The term thug should be a unbiased term only used to describe thieves.
Where is the word thug derived from? According to dictionary.com, the word thug means,“One of a former group of professional robbers and murderers in India who strangled their victims.”
The show Indiana Jones gives a bit of insight into the term thug. There was a cult of Indian bandits called the, “Thuggee” that would travel around purposely deceiving people and eventually robbing and killing them. According to Guinness Book of World Records, the Thuggee were responsible for over 2 million deaths of unsuspecting travelers. The relation to the term now and then is very similar, but is also very different as well. The Thuggee were very disguised and clever with their tactics, whereas, the Thugs of the modern day are obvious and deliberate in their actions. The only real and true correlation of the two is violence and death. The term has switched roles completely.
Recently the term thug has been used quite often. In January of 2014, after a hard fought game, NFL player, Richard Sherman had a very intense postgame interview. Following the interview the social media world was sent into fury. Popular social networking websites such as Twitter and Instagram...
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What exactly is a thug? Does the term still mean a deceiver or thief or does it take on a whole new meaning? A common thread with the term now is the African American race. Many argue that the term thug is the new “N” word. In a world full of opinions, who can be right? I believe the word should be done away with. If it is to still be in existence, it should be a nonbiased term in its usage.
Works Cited
Bandini, Paolo. "Richard Sherman: Stanford, Seattle and Post-game Controversies."
Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Ice Cube Exposed." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Thug." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Thugs." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"What MISTERROOSEVELT Is Saying." : The Suprising Origins of the Word "Thug" N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
The “Thug” series written by Wahida Clark is urban fiction, and the novels from the series have become bestsellers (New York Times and Essence). This series has taken the world by storm, and is full of sex, drugs, murder, and drama, and has set the world of urban fiction on fire. Clark has been called “Queen of Thug Life Fiction” since writing the novels. Clark calls her novels Thug Love Fiction, which is one of the subgenres of urban fiction.
Let me tell you about the “Gabardine Gang”. My father was the leader of an organized crime gang in the city of Hartford Connecticut. Far enough away from New York, New Jersey and Boston crime circuits. Yet, we lived close enough to know what the big guys were doing.. These small gangsters are nothing like you would see on TV or in the movies. My father ran his operation that worked in gambling, burglary, prostitution and bribery. You will never see films or books on these types of gangsters. They are not the glamorous expensive suit wearing types. They don't live in mansions, have maids or servants. These are the ‘blue’ collar types, or as I call them the 'lower-level' gangster. While you may not hear much about these types of gangsters,
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rouge Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh is the ideologies rooted in the African American community. The ideal facts cannot be denied here. The idea of being black and poor is not a simple answer of, very bad, somewhat bad, neither, somewhat good or very good. Being black and poor is a lifestyle. Being black and poor is a community. This book will give you understanding how structural racism among blacks is installed throughout history. The system is created to make sure the subject matter, blacks, in this case are subjected to fail. The crack epidemic in a Chicago neighborhood was only the beginning.
...ty ran so deep that he put his life on the line for his kingmany times, and eventually died for his kingdom. Similarly, gangsters are extremelyloyal to their gangs and leaders. They remain members for life and are willing tosacrifice their lives for their fellow members. An example of this bond is a recordcompany which is infamous for violence and gang-relations, "Death Row Records". Although it is a recording company and not a gang, its members including 2Pac, SnoopDoggy Dog, and its CEO, Marion "Suge" Knight, are a tight-knit group whose loyaltyruns high. Gangs and pagan warriors share many similarities. Both thrive on strength,violence, and loyalty to their groups. Today's street gangs seem to take the "OldEnglish" warriors' ideals to a farther, even more violent extent. But all the same, streetgangs exemplify the ideals of the past "Old English" times.
The words Negro, nigger, and nigga have always been a sensitive topic, yet it is a topic that needs to be addressed in light of the more common use of its vernacular. One word is used to describe a color, while the others are used to define a people. It’s very clear to many the negative connotation these words carry, but where did these words come from? Furthermore, is there a difference between the word nigger and nigga; and why is it that African-Americans now use the word nigga to degrade each other in today’s society? These words, in spite of their spelling, still holds the same degrading power as it did during the time of slavery, and they are still spoken out of cruelty and ignorance, but who is to blame? Can one still blame the Spaniards for considering people of a darker skin tone –Black? Can we blame the Europeans for perpetuating their hatred and ignorance of superiority over a race of people to the point they felt it lawful to define and dehumanize them? Or does the blame lie with the African-American race as we use this degrading labeling on our own kind, thus becoming the victimizer. Either way nigger or nigga are words that should be eliminated from the vocabulary of every human being.
As a black American male, the word nigger conjures up within me hate, hostility, violence, oppression, and a very shameful and unfortunate part of American History. The word symbolizes the everlasting chains of a people plagued with hate and bondage simply because of skin color. For many black people, including myself, nigger is the most pejorative word in the English language. Even when compared to racial slurs like kike, honkey, cracker, wet back, spic, jungle bunny, pod, tarbaby, and white trash, nigger is noted as the worst insult in the English language. The word nigger suggests that black people are second class citizens, ignorant and less than human.
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
Gangs are a group of people involved in illegal activity. They were formed over 200 years ago in the United States and have now reached approximately 1.4 million individuals. There are five different types of gangs. The traditional gang, the neo-traditional gang, the collective gang, the compressed gang, and the specialty gang are all different types of gangs. Captain Dexter Nelson, a spokesman for Oklahoma City police who used to work in the department’s gang unit, said “all gangs exploit areas that are less equipped or less willing to
Surprisingly, little has been written about the historical significance of black gangs in Los Angeles (LA). Literature and firsthand interviews with Los Angeles residents seem to point to three significant periods relevant to the development of the contemporary black gangs. The first period, which followed WWII and significant black migrations from the South, is when the first major black clubs formed. After the Watts rebellion of 1965, the second period gave way to the civil rights period of Los Angeles where blacks, including those who where former club members who became politically active for the remainder of the 1960s. By the early 1970s black street gangs began to reemerge. By 1972, the Crips were firmly established and the Bloods were beginning to organize. This period saw the rise of LA’s newest gangs, which continued to grow during the 1970s, and later formed in several other cities throughout the United States by the 1990s. While black gangs do not make up the largest or most active gang population in Los Angeles today, their influence on street gang culture nationally has been profound.
There is a thin line that exists between the depiction of a villain and a gangster that Hollywood has mastered walking on. While villains and gangsters may do many of the same things in movies, like stealing and killing, they each do them for different reasons. Villains enjoy crime because that is what gets them off; some may feel they are doing society a favor, like Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, and others are more simply portrayed as naturally evil or mentally ill. But Gangsters are doing what they do for something American society can relate to—to make a living and, ultimately, get to the top.
...ely minority, the reality of the situation is that the fight against street gangs is a fight that is played out predominantly in inner-city, minority communities(177).
“Violence is the result of alienation and marginalization from mainstream labor opportunities” (as cited by Richardson). Due to this marginalization from mainstream labor opportunities and a lack of resources in urban communities a “subculture[s]…where an underground and illegal economy has provided both the social and economic means for young Black men to survive” (as cited by Richardson) has
Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Swedenburg, Ted. "Homies in The ‘Hood: Rap’s Commodification of Insubordination." Rpt. in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 579-591. Print.
...t get along with. They usually have conflict among themselves and want to shoot and kill each other because of that. In their ‘kill or be killed’ lifestyle, it’s every man for themselves. It has been said that Chief Keef, a rapper who lives in Chicago, known among most teenagers, is increasing gang violence. He may not necessarily be in a gang himself, but he raps about them. In his songs he raps about gangs, drugs, and violence; the fact that most teens nowadays listen to his songs it increases violence among them.