Out of curiosity

[Black Hand]

Glad to see the rumble didn't amount to anything. By the way, what gangs are there in Canada anyway. I don't want to offend you Canucks, but what I have read about the various gangs cracks me up. Currently, I live in a nice house in an affluent area with my family. So I am not going to pretend to be a tough guy. But if I were to take you to some areas of Chicago you would shit in your pants. My job requires me to go all over various parts of the city especially the poor areas and when I was younger say five years ago and not married and still going out we would go to parties or friends who lived in less desirable areas. Here you want stay the ***k as far away from gangs as possible. Although I have been in many rough areas at odd times, nothing has ever happened to me. The only time my friends and I were knifed was in Salt Lake City, go figure.

[LA CRO]

Sure you got stupid gangs who shoot up or stab over a small rock of crack or a gram of weed or whatever. But I cant speak on behalf of Toronto but Im from LA originally and Vancouver shocks me. Vancouver is the gate way to all the drugs in the U.S. You guys ( us Americans) are fighting over Canada's profits. And in that trade most of those little fools killin each other off are over the crumbs that the Canadians ship them, same case was during the Proabition era with alchohol. I thought Canada was a joke until it got all explained to me by someone I wont name. So to sum it all up these dudes (Canadian dealers) are the real dealers and American ghettoes or dealers fight over there crumbs.

Your not hard if you fight over a small amount of product, your hard if you ship a big country huge amounts of stuff and not get caught.

[LA CRO]

Hey Blackhand,

You've got to clear something up for me. A few years back in high school I met a substitute teacher from Chicago who was of Polish origin and told me about how Chicago used to be nuts. He told me that in the late 60's that a lot of Croatians, Polish and some Serbs used to live in the South Side and that around that time a lot of blacks were moving in those neighborhoods and there were a lot of fights between blacks and those people I mentioned. He told me all the whites moved out of the South Side over the years and it is now a black ghetto. I was wondering where did all the Cro's and Serbs move to? Is that story true or bullshit? Are there and Cro's and Serbs in the ghettos or are they trully out of the ghetto or in better neighborhoods?

[Black Hand]

La Cro,
Your buddy is 100% correct. Most of the Serbs and Croats lived on the South Side. There were a bunch of steel factories down there. A lot of the Eastern Europeans worked at these factories. When all the steel mills shut down in the 70's the Serbs and Croats moved to new jobs. Now they are more scattered in the suburbs. When I was little, I grew up in Cicero(home of Al Capone). There were tons of Serbs and Croats there and they all got along. There is a big Croatian center still on the south side. At least it was still there a few years ago I haven't been around there much lately. It is kind of around Bridgeport(an area of Chicago) which is home to mayor Daley. It is still kind of working class white area but a lot of minorities moved in. The typical immigration pattern in Chicago is like this. The old Europeans(Germans, Italians, etc...) would be in an area. Then the poorer or newly arrived Europeans(Croats, Poles, Serbs, etc...)would move in and the others would move out. Then Mexicans or blacks would move in and the Eastern Europeans would move out. When I was a kid, it didn't matter if you were you Serb, Croat, or Macedonian they all got along pretty well because they had more in common. It was funny, after we moved out of Cicero there were a bunch of Serbs and a few Croats in the area we moved to. And it is not like people would purposely move to an area were Serbs or Croats were it just kind of happened. There are just so many around it is kind of hard to escape. There is a big Serbian church in Libertyville and they have the picnics and all that shit there. There is also a Serbian church in Bellwood(which is all black now). The church in Bellwood is called the Draza Mihailjovic church. They have a a little shrine dedicated to him. I have a funny little story about that church. A few years ago, my cousin got married at that church. My wife and I arrived early and there was another wedding getting out, when we came the Serbs were shooting off guns and all the black people came out to see what was going on thinking it was a gang fight or something. They were just like what are those crazy white people doing.
Currently, there is not really an area with a high concentration of Serbs or Croats. I know alot of Serbs moved to northwest Indiana same with the Greeks.
You have to understand that when large groups of immigrants first arrive they tend to congregate to make things easier. As they get more prosperous they go on their own. Serbs and Croats are well established. But what is funny(kind of tragic because of the war)is that a lot more Serbs, Bosnians, and Albanians(tons) have been coming over. I am not sure if there are any new ex-Yugo ghettos. I think the Serbs would hook up with more established Serbs if they needed assistance. But most of the new Serbs I have come across are professionals(doctors, teachers,) who left because of the war so it is easier for them to get jobs. There aren't those huge factories anymore, so if your just a working class stiff with no education it could be tough to earn a living.

[Omar]

Hahahah, Salt Lake City! The day this place becomes exciting. . . woah. . . :D It's getting bigger every day though, with the 2002 Winter Olympics nearing. Traffic is also becoming worse here.

Hahaha, that really is funny. Black Hand being approached with a knife in SLC. What part of the city? Downtown?

[Black Hand]

La Cro,
Since my other post was so long. I wanted to get back about the gang thing. I don't doubt that alot of trafficing goes through Canada or Vancouver. I also heard alot of heroin from Asia goes through Vancouver. But the big gangs in Chicago like the Latin Kings or Gangster Disciples are into everything. They have people in the police force, they run the prisons, they even run political candidates. They run multi-million dollar operations. A few years back a gang called the El Rukns got busted because they were getting arms from Mohammar Khaddifi. Believe me, although they have alot of small time soldiers these guys are big time. Most of the drugs that come to Chicago come from Mexico. I won't tell you how I know, but I know. When I first graduated college I had to work in a factor until I could get a real job. There was this Puerto Rican guy who was an ex Latin King, just a little guy on the totem pole. But I was impressed by how well organized the gang was. The minority gangs are much like the old Italian gangsters, they are beginning to legitimize themselves and look for political power.

[Black Hand]

Omar,
It was in downtown, I even remember the name of the place. It was a rundown restaurant/arcade called "Alice's" I think. Not to get into much detail, but we were doing something we shouldn't have and things went a little wrong and my three friends and I were cornered by like ten or so guys, one of whom put a knife to my buddies throat to get something we had. Needless to say, we coughed up the shit, but the laugh was on them because half the stuff was bunk.

[LA CRO]

Black Hand,

Seriously it comes from Asia through the Vancouver ports and all along the West Coast of America and behyond. Heroin is the big thing through these ports. Even Vancouver weed is world famous. You could trade a kilo of Bc weed in the States for a kilo of coke straight up. You got runners doing a lot of deliveries all through the Western States.

[Black Hand]

La Cro,
Send me some BC weed. ;)

[LA CRO]

hahaha come to Vancouver and Im sure I could get you some.

[Black Hand]

I am on the next flight out. This Mexican brickweed has been killing me. :)

[Prosinecki]

Guys, it's nice to see you're having a good natured discussion, but come on.