jmizzy4ou
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2008
- Messages
- 3,536
- Reaction score
- 266
1st of all, let me explain that I'm not excusing anything related to gang banging, or streetlife. I make no excuses for anything related to ignorance/violence/etc. Awhile back I TRIED to explain some of the reasons why TMG was posting certain lingo on his FB page, and a certain poster accused me of making excuses for gang members.
I just wanted to add a few things for those who truly are wondering what might be TMG's problem(s).
Originally Posted by Smash Williams
How many of them come from the same neighborhood as TMG? How many of them went to a school in which less than 1% of the students were white? How many of them went to a school in which two-thirds of the students qualify for free/reduced lunch? How many of them went to a high school in which half of the freshmen will never even graduate? I'm guessing most of your Facebook "friends" didn't grow up in an environment in which using proper, slang-free English gave them the label of "sell-out" or "Uncle Tom." While his language seems "illiterate" to you, it makes perfect sense to his intended audience (his actual friends, not fans that are internet stalking him).
I'm so glad that someone FINALLY said it. The sad part is that we have many around these message boards who sit back and do not recognize or care about what is going on with many of the kids/cultures that we get glimpses of when they sign with our favorite college team... It is a way of life that most would not understand.
Like Smash says, I gurantee you that TMG knows how to spell "you". Some here would be shocked to learn that gangs have a totally different spelling/language that they use. It has been reported here that TMG had some gang affiliated lingo on his page this past season, and the mispelled words that you are seeing line up with that type of lingo. Crips replace certain letters in their texts because those letters are considered blood related. Bloods will replace certain letters in their texts because certain letters are associated with being a Crip. This may be foolishness to many of us, but it is life for many of the kids we love to see wearing the C&C.
As many here know, I work as a social worker/counselor. I got an email from a young lady just a few days ago. In the email she responded to several questions that I asked her during our interview to determine her strengths/needs. This is a sample of what she typed: I wunt 2 havv may*e 3 khidsz and nevvaer merr-eeee eny-1. Translation: I want to have maybe 3 kids and never marry anyone.
This young lady is in the juvenile courts system because of some pending charges. She has no father and a mother who has never been in her life. She lives with her maternal grandmother who is in her 70's, and has custody of 5 grandchildren/neices/nephews. The young lady is 16, and when I got her 10th grade school records, I was shocked at how high her scores were on the state benchmark tests. I asked her about the mispellings, and she laughed at me. Her answer was that I'm part of that Cuz crew, and we use that cuz talk, you dig??? She was identifying herself as a crip gang member who uses only crip language when talking/texting/typing.
I promise you that this young lady can spell at least on a 10th grade level, but she would be considered a " mark" by her set..... I'm not defending the kids or anything, but some here need to understand that these kids have been engrafted into certain mindsets and belief systems, and many are never able to leave that crap behind, even when staring an opportunity square in the face. Kids like the young lady and kids like TMG are why I do the job that i do. If everyone beats them down, and no one takes the time to reach out to them and try to show a different way, then we see a vicious cycle which engulfs the inner city communities.
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I just wanted to add a few things for those who truly are wondering what might be TMG's problem(s).
Originally Posted by Smash Williams
How many of them come from the same neighborhood as TMG? How many of them went to a school in which less than 1% of the students were white? How many of them went to a school in which two-thirds of the students qualify for free/reduced lunch? How many of them went to a high school in which half of the freshmen will never even graduate? I'm guessing most of your Facebook "friends" didn't grow up in an environment in which using proper, slang-free English gave them the label of "sell-out" or "Uncle Tom." While his language seems "illiterate" to you, it makes perfect sense to his intended audience (his actual friends, not fans that are internet stalking him).
I'm so glad that someone FINALLY said it. The sad part is that we have many around these message boards who sit back and do not recognize or care about what is going on with many of the kids/cultures that we get glimpses of when they sign with our favorite college team... It is a way of life that most would not understand.
Like Smash says, I gurantee you that TMG knows how to spell "you". Some here would be shocked to learn that gangs have a totally different spelling/language that they use. It has been reported here that TMG had some gang affiliated lingo on his page this past season, and the mispelled words that you are seeing line up with that type of lingo. Crips replace certain letters in their texts because those letters are considered blood related. Bloods will replace certain letters in their texts because certain letters are associated with being a Crip. This may be foolishness to many of us, but it is life for many of the kids we love to see wearing the C&C.
As many here know, I work as a social worker/counselor. I got an email from a young lady just a few days ago. In the email she responded to several questions that I asked her during our interview to determine her strengths/needs. This is a sample of what she typed: I wunt 2 havv may*e 3 khidsz and nevvaer merr-eeee eny-1. Translation: I want to have maybe 3 kids and never marry anyone.
This young lady is in the juvenile courts system because of some pending charges. She has no father and a mother who has never been in her life. She lives with her maternal grandmother who is in her 70's, and has custody of 5 grandchildren/neices/nephews. The young lady is 16, and when I got her 10th grade school records, I was shocked at how high her scores were on the state benchmark tests. I asked her about the mispellings, and she laughed at me. Her answer was that I'm part of that Cuz crew, and we use that cuz talk, you dig??? She was identifying herself as a crip gang member who uses only crip language when talking/texting/typing.
I promise you that this young lady can spell at least on a 10th grade level, but she would be considered a " mark" by her set..... I'm not defending the kids or anything, but some here need to understand that these kids have been engrafted into certain mindsets and belief systems, and many are never able to leave that crap behind, even when staring an opportunity square in the face. Kids like the young lady and kids like TMG are why I do the job that i do. If everyone beats them down, and no one takes the time to reach out to them and try to show a different way, then we see a vicious cycle which engulfs the inner city communities.
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