The Great American Sectarian Conflict

Lasting for over forty years and claiming more than 15,000 lives, five times more than were killed in Northern Ireland, the sectarian conflict in South Central Los Angeles is the most severe example of the racial struggle that exists in most of the major cities across the United States.  South Central is divided into many different neighborhoods, in which gangs are the most powerful influential force, and these gangs are affiliated either with the Crips or the Bloods.  The violence between the two gangs is largely related to drugs and the territory in which they sell them, however, the root cause of the nations largest gang land, located in the wealthiest city, in the wealthiest state, is the poverty inflicted upon the African Americans that live in South Central.  In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s the economy began to rebound from the Great Depression, largely due to a boom in manufacturing for the war in Europe, and then to supply the United States’ own war machine.  For the first time African Americans were incorporated into the mainstream workplace, after being locked in the south’s agrarian economy since the end of slavery.  African Americans began to migrate to large urban centers where industrial jobs could be found, Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as many others.  These jobs gave African Americans a chance at a lower middle class existence, something could not easily achieve in the South.  Los Angeles did not have the Jim Crow laws that plagued the South, but there was rampant racial prejudice.  African Americans were segregated from the White Los Angelenos by restrictive covenants that forbade the sale of land to African Americans outside specific neighborhoods, and these Black neighborhoods are what became South Central Los Angeles.  These geographical divisions were heavily enforced by an essentially all White police force through aggressive intimidation and harassment.  The first generation of African Americans we mostly willing to tolerate this abuse, the places they had come from in the South had been much worse, where African American males were routinely executed.  They were willing to turn the other cheek in the face of this harassment because Los Angeles had given African Americans a level of affluence many of them never could have imagined growing up.  After the war the Detroit automakers took advantage of this labor pool, and built several factories to capitalize on the booming auto industry.  In 1948 the Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer banned the use of restrictive covenants as a tool of racial segregation, African Americans slowly began to move out of South Central, but it wasn’t until the 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act that is was made illegal to refuse to rent or sell property based on ethnicity, religion, sex, marital status, physical handicap, or familial status.  However, the following year the California Real Estate Association sposonered California Proposition 14, which overturned the Rumford Fair Housing Act with a constitutional amendment.  Resentment was growing in the African American community, mostly with the second generation African Americans who had gown up in Los Angeles, and sparked by the Civil Rights Movement.  Young African Americans, excluded from institutions like the boy scouts, and bound by geographic restrictions, began to form street clubs as social groups.  These clubs would meet at the local street corner or the neighborhood park, there were rivalries between clubs, but they generally not involved in organized criminal behavior.  By now South Central had become economically depressed, the automakers had closed their plants, and African Americans faced racial discrimination in hiring.  On August 11, 1965, in the Watts neighborhood Lee Minikus, a CHPD officer pulled over Marquette Frye, Frye failed a sobriety test and was placed under arest.  Minikus refused to allow Frye’s brother Ronald to drive the car home, and ordered it be impounded.  A struggle ensued that landed Marquette, Ronald and their mother in jail, a crowd had gathered and they retaliated by throwing various objects at the Police.  The police withdrew, but the angry crowd lingered and grew until the mob started lotting and vandalizing the area, this was the beginning of the Watts Riot, a plea to stop the violence by leaders from the African American community fell on deaf ears, and rioting would continue for another four days.  The National Guard was called in, and it would take more than 10,000 troops to quell the violence, 34 people had been killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested.  Similar riots would break out in Detroit, Chicago and other similarly economically distressed areas, but what characterized these riots from previous race riots, was the fact that in the past race riots were usually White people rampaging in African American neighborhoods, this time African Americans were vandalizing White owned businesses.  The Watts Riot changed the dynamic of the street clubs, instead of being social groups, they were getting organized, become community and political entities.  The riots that occurred across the country and continued until the end of the decade had a profound effect on the white establishment, the Watts riot was a reaction to that establishment, and now it in turn reacted.  Federal Authorities targeted the leaders of the large African American organizations, while local authorities went after leaders of neighborhood street clubs, and by the end of the decade almost every prominent African American leader  from Martin Luther King and Bunchy Carter to Fred Hampton and Bobby Seale had either been killed, incarcerated or exiled.  The result was the collapse of nearly all these new African American organizations.  In this vacuum of leadership emerged the third generation, born out of the violence and impoverishment.  The police had always considered the street clubs as gangs, but now they were truly making that evolution.  Raymond Washington formed the Crips in 1971, the Crips were different than what came before them, they carried guns and they were a criminal enterprise.  The Crips were powerful enough to force many other smaller gangs to join them, until several gangs joined together to fight the growing influence of the Crips, and they called themselves Bloods, the moniker given to African American soldiers who served in Vietnam.  Since then the two gangs have been at war with each other, grinding up 15,000 lives in the middle of Los Angeles.  Then in the early 1980’s crack cocaine began to flow on to the streets of Los Angeles, and the Crips and Bloods became the largest distributers in South Central.  California implemented  a series of strict laws regarding crack cocaine that led to felony jail sentences, now the authorities had the power to being arresting large numbers of black men, which led to the fourth generation.  The fourth generation were raised in a broken community and in broken homes, fathers and mothers are driven apart either through imprisonment, drug use or gang related fatality.  The number one allure of the gang for young African Americans is group unity, just like the street clubs, the Crips and Bloods are something to be a part of when no one else wants you.  The only economy in South Central is the drug trade, the Crips and the Bloods are the only people who are hiring.  In 1992, in response to the acquittal of four LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King, South Central would burn again, except these riots were not isolated to businesses, and spilled out into other Los Angeles neighborhoods.  The riot was server enough that national attention was brought to South Central, promises were made, a truce was put in place, but the city never invested any money in building up South Central, and the truce collapsed, and over fifteen years later the gang war continues.  South Central is a war zone, slowly simmering as sirens blare all night long, and helicopters roar overhead, it erupted in 1965, and again in 1992 with far more devastating effects.  The greatest form of oppression is when the oppressor breaks down the oppressed to the point that they begin to oppress themselves.  South Central is the Gaza Strip located in the middle of Los Angeles, and just like the Gaza Strip it is a monstrosity entirely created by the people who surround it. and then want to go to war with the people that have been victimized inside.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is one of most beautiful places in Africa, most commonly known for the Victoria Falls, which are twice as high as Niagara Falls. Zimbabwe began to be colonized by the British Government in the 1880’s. Cecil Rhodes received a mandate to form the Rhodes British South Africa Company giving him authority over the region. White pioneers arrived from the south, and settled in what would later become the capital, Harare. In the 1890’s there were two wars fought against the indigenous Matabele people, both uprisings were crushed, and their leaders were killed. After the second rebellion the region was renamed Rhodesia, and divided into North (Zambia) and South (Zimbabwe). In 1923 the BSA mandate ended, and the white minority opted for self-government, which created the Colony of South Rhodesia. A series of anti-black laws and policies were established, including restricting black ownership of land and access to education, both of which kept black Africans from voting. By the 1960’s colonialism was ending across Africa, and neighboring colonies were being granted independence and African majority rule. However, Southern Rhodesia like South Africa and Algeria had a very powerful minority of White Africans, which refused to except majority rule, and were willing to fight to preserve their control. In 1964 Ian Smith was elected Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, after his predecessor, Winston Field, was unable to secure independence for a white run state. Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) had already been granted independence, and had been turned over to majority rule. The British Government wanted the same concessions from Southern Rhodesia before granting independence. Ian Smith responded by unilaterally declaring independence under white minority rule. The United Nations issued economic sanctions for Southern Rhodesia, the first time U.N. had ever adopted such an action. A guerrilla war started on several fronts, led by two by rival groups Zanu and Zapu, which operated out of neighboring countries. The U.K. and the U.S. repeatedly reached out to the Smith Government in an attempt to quell the violence and establish a more democratic rule. Smith claimed to support a 50/50 sharing of power, but at that time whites had 95% of the vote, but only made up 5% of the population. In 1970 a conservative British Government reached an agreement with Ian Smith, which proposed a gradual integration, but would allow white domination to continue in the short term. The agreement was rejected by the majority population, and only intensified the conflict, leading to the Bush War. The Bush War was extremely violent, with civilians consistently being targeted by both sides, fighting amongst the insurgents, and the use of mercenaries. The rebel groups received support from communist bloc countries, which led to many western groups to support the Rhodesian Government. In 1976 Henry Kissinger managed to get Smith to accept the principle of majority rule, and slowly he began the necessary steps to implement it. His reluctance to move swiftly led the bloodiest years of the Bush War, 80% of all casualties were suffered between 1977 and 1979. In 1979 the first multi-racial elections were held, but whites were guaranteed a third of the parliamentary seats, and would remain in control of most of the important institutions like the police, army and courts. Bishop Abel Muzorewa won the election becoming the first and only black prime minister of what was now called Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Ian Smith remained in Government as minister without portfolio, after losing a bid to be Minister of Defense. However, the election was boycotted by both major opposition groups because of the lack of proportional representation, and white domination of key institutions and ministries. The International community continued to refuse any diplomatic recognition of the state. In late 1979 the Lancaster House Agreement hammered out a peace with a new constitution and a guarantee of minority rights under majority rule. Robert Mugabe, leader of the Zanu-PF, became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. His party won a majority of seats in Parliament, and in an act of unity he appointed his rival, Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo, to his cabinet. The Zanu and Zapu parties had long a long standing rivalry, and even fought each other during the Bush War. Sanctions were lifted, and Zimbabwe was diplomatically recognized internationally. However, the initial optimism for the Mugabe Government quickly began to fade. Many of the agreements he made with the previous administrations were ignored, and within two years he threw Nkomo out of his cabinet. Mugabe then sent the army into the west of the country to crush Zapu party, which was now in open rebellion. Thousands of civilians were killed, and Joshua Nkomo was forced into exile. Violence continued for several years, until Nkomo returned to the Government and ceded control of his party to Mugabe. Now that Mugabe had a one party monopoly, he then changed the constitution to become President and broadly extended his powers. Following the lifting of sanctions the economy of Zimbabwe rebounded, but after years of rampant corruption, and Mugabe’s disastrous land reform policy, the economy has slumped into quadruple digit inflation. The violent seizure of land, Mugabe’s use of the military, and his suppression of dissidents, had led this story full circle. Now, the E.U. and the U.S. have put sanctions on Zimbabwe again, the World Bank and IMF have stopped any economic support of the Government, and humanitarian groups are only willing to provide limited aid. After years of unimpeded power, a rival Morgan Tsvangirai, emerged from the newly formed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Tsvangirai and the MDC won seats in a 2000 election, which limited Mugabe’s stranglehold on the Parliament, but in 2002 Mugabe was re-elected again in an election condemned as seriously flawed. Parliament then passed a law limiting media freedom, and removed E.U. election observers. More farmers were removed from their lands, and protests became increasingly violent. Tsvangirai was arrested twice, and charged with treason, but was eventually acquitted. Despite social unrest the Zanu-PF dominated the Parliamentary election in 2005, which were again widely seen as fraudulent. The Zanu-PF then won an overwhelming majority in the newly created Senate, this vote was boycotted by the MDC, which led to a split in its leadership. The crack down on demonstrations continued, and opposition leaders were harassed and beaten, many of them hospitalized. In 2008 the MDC claimed victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections, but the electoral body claimed Tsvangirai did not receive enough votes to avoid a run-off. Tsvangirai pulled out of the run-off, after it was clear that it was not going to be a free and fair vote. The U.S. and E.U. responded by increasing sanctions, but Russia and China vetoed proposed U.N. sanctions. Increased violence and demonstrations rocked the stability of the Mugabe Government. After months of negotiations led by South African President Thabo Mbeki, an agreement to share power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai was reached. Muagbe remained as President, and Tsvangirai became Prime Minister. The power sharing has been tumultuous at best, and it is unclear how much power Mugabe, who is now 85 years old, is willing to cede. However, the presence of Tsvangirai has brought the international community back into the fold, and the IMF has agreed to provide $400 million in support. Earlier this year retail prices fell for the first time after years of hyperinflation, and in June the Government began a review of the constitution. After decades of darkness there is a flicker of hope for a prosperous Zimbabwe, but continued standoffs between Tsvangirai and Mugabe cast doubts on wether the can truly and honestly share power. The story of Robert Mugabe is one that constantly repeats itself in history, the freedom fighter who overthrows the tyrant, only to become one himself.