The Bloods is a street gang that originated in South Central Los Angeles, CA, in the early 1970s. Bloods are identified by the red color worn by the members of the gang and are known for their long-standing rivalry with another street gang Crips, who are identified by the color blue. Along with the Crips, the Bloods are one of the most notorious street gangs in the United States. This article reviews the Bloods’ history, symbology, rivalry with the Crips, and involvement in the drug trade.
Early History
In the 1960s, the political organization the Black Panthers inspired Black youth to seek out unity and respect. After the Black Panthers were weakened in 1969, a group of young Black men in Los Angeles—looking for protection and belonging— created the Crips. The Crips grew rapidly, using force and violence to secure their dominance in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles. In an effort to strike back against the Crips and the violence the Crips were unleashing within Los Angeles neighborhoods, a rival gang, the Bloods, was created.
In 1972, Sylvester “Puddin” Scott and Vincent Owens formed the Pirus Group out of Centennial High School in Compton. The Pirus Group was originally associated with the Crips. However, after facing hostility from several neighboring Crips sets (the specific chapters or divisions of the gang), members of the Pirus Group severed all ties with the Crips and formed their own gang—now known as the Bloods. The name, the Bloods, was reference to Blood, the nickname for street gangs who were not affiliates of the Crips. The members of the newly formed gang adopted the color red to differentiate themselves from the Crips—who wear blue.
Later, Tuemack “T” Rodgers, founder of the Black P Stone Bloods, set out to combat the Crips’ expansion within Los Angeles neighborhoods. He called a meeting, at Manual Arts High School, where four gangs agreed to join together, believing there would be safety in numbers. Smaller gangs in the area, such as the Brims, Athens Park, and the Black P Stone Bloods, merged with the Bloods with the intention of protecting their neighborhoods and their families from the Crips.
The Bloods’ membership was much smaller than that of the Crips and continues to be so. As a result, the Bloods rely on a sense of unity and loyalty among members. Once a person joins a Bloods set, he is in that set for life; a person cannot get out or flip (switch) to another set without his blood being shed (a saying referred to as blood in, blood out). Because of its strong rivalry with the Crips, the Bloods evolved into a gang involved with violence, drugs, and lives of crime. As of 2018, there are roughly 70 sets in the city of Los Angeles as well as a significant presence of Bloods sets in New York City, known as the East Coast Bloods (or the United Blood Nation), which originated in the early 1990s. The sets are often differentiated by the names of neighborhoods or streets the members are from or live on.
Many of the men in the gang grew up in poor, single-parent households and witnessed firsthand drug addiction and the effects it has on families and neighborhoods. Joining the Bloods allowed such men the opportunity to form a brotherhood with other men in their community—something that they may not have experienced before.
Symbology
Because of the various sets, the Bloods have multiple gang indicators to identify themselves and other members. Members wear red articles of clothing such as T-shirts, bandanas (also referred to as flags), jewelry, handmade beaded necklaces, and other apparel. As representation of the right side, Bloods may wear their flag on the right side, their hat tilted to the right, or their right pants leg rolled up. Most members have one or more gang-related tattoos or brandings that signify rank, leadership, set affiliations, and years of involvement in the gang. One of the most well-known Bloods tattoo is a dog paw, referred to as triple o’s, given to many members upon initiation, and made with the barrel of a gun. Other tattoos include five-pointed stars, crowns, weapons, tears/blood drops, pit bulls, the set name, or the word blood.
Hand signs are used as a form of communication between members to greet each other, signify warnings, or intimidate other gangs and nongang members. These hand signs include, but are not limited to, blood spelled out in the five-pointed star, the letter B and the letters CK (meaning Crips killer). Bloods members also engage in gang graffiti, which can be used to disrespect members of another gang or claim territory.
Along with hand signs, tattoos, and graffiti, Bloods use a distinct dialect when engaging with each other. Popular gang sayings include Krab (a derogatory name for the Crips), CK (Crips killer), and SuWhoop (a greeting among Bloods). Bloods also replace most of the letters C in words with B. YG, also known as Young Gangster, is a rapper who joined the Bloods in 2006 at age 16. He is known for his song lyrics and titles that replace the letter C with Bs. For example, some of his song titles include Bool, Balm, & Bollective, Too Brazy, Bompton, and Bool. Another example of Blood symbology in modern culture is rapper Cardi B and her outward display of affiliation with the gang. She regularly wears the color red and replaces the letter C for Bs in her music. For example, some of her song titles include Binderella and Bartier Cardi. These examples show that the Bloods’ culture continues to be prevalent in modern-day society.
Rivalry With the Crips
During the 1980s and 1990s, gang violence in Los Angeles increased significantly. From 1985 to 1990, there were 2,682 gang-related deaths, twice as much as in the previous 5 years. Physical fighting was replaced with the use of guns and drive-by shootings. If a gang killed or jumped a member of an opposing gang, retaliation was certain to occur. Gangs were expected to seek revenge on those gangs that attacked them first. In 1984, Keith Fudge, a Bloods member known as Ace Capone, was attacked by members of the Crips. He was sitting in his car with two friends when a group of Crips approached the car, held him and the other Bloods at gun point, and stole the car. Staying true to the gang’s rule of retaliation, Fudge and the other gang members later found and attacked a house party being hosted by the Crips. Armed with a shotgun and rifle, the Bloods opened fire on the house and all of those inside; five people were killed, including two Crips members and a 13-year-old girl. This incident became known as the 54th Street massacre and was the beginning of a new era of fighting between the Bloods and the Crips.
In the spring of 1991, motorist Rodney King was video recorded being beaten by White Los Angeles police officers. When the officers were acquitted of using excessive force in 1992, riots broke out in the streets of Los Angeles. The Bloods and Crips, along with other rioters, looted stores and engaged in other sorts of chaos throughout the neighborhoods. Over the next several days, 54 people were killed. In response to the loss of life in such a brief span of time, the gangs decided to call a truce. This agreement to keep peace between the gangs only lasted 3 months.
In the year following the truce, the gang-related death toll dramatically increased. In 1993, on Halloween (October 31), in Pasadena, CA, a member of the Bloods was gunned down on the street by members of the Crips. To avenge their fallen gang member, a group of Bloods began searching for the Crips responsible. The Bloods saw figures walking in the dark and opened fire—rather than firing upon rival gang members, the Bloods fired on a group of 11 young boys out trick-or-treating for Halloween, killing three of them. This incident is now referred to as the Halloween massacre.
Drug Trade
In the 1980s, gang members began to drift away from typical gang life toward drug dealing as a means of funding. Access to the large amounts of money possible from the drug trade led to the ability to purchase higher tier weaponry, which in turn led to more violence. Thus, violence between the Bloods and the Crips increased as the fighting shifted from protecting neighborhoods to claiming and controlling turf for drug trading. In 1987, violence was so high, there was one gang murder every 24 hr in Los Angeles.
As gang turf wars became more frequent, gang violence began to seep into other neighborhoods, resulting in the death of innocent victims. For example, on January 30, 1988, Karen Toshima, a graphic artist from Long Beach, CA, was murdered after having dinner with a friend. She was shot after being caught in the crossfire between two gangs. It has been argued that the introduction of gang members into the drug trade has changed the original structure of gang life, leading to more murders and more fights with life-threatening consequences.
References:
- Barganier, G. (2011). Fanon’s children: The Black Panther party and the rise of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Database. (Accession No. 3473869)
- Covey, H. (2015). Crips and Bloods: A guide to an American subculture. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.
- Howell, J. C. (2015). The history of street gangs in the United States: Their origins and transformations. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
- Myrics, O., Holmes, C., & Jordan, C. (Director). (2006). Why we bang [Motion picture on Documentary]. Los Angeles, CA: Ghetto Logik Entertainment.
- Peralta, S. (Director). (2008). Crips and Bloods: Made in America [Motion picture on History/Documentary].
- Schroeder, J., & Sowards, T. (Directors). (2005). Slippin’: Ten years with the Bloods [Motion picture on Documentary/Crime]. Berlin-Mitte, Germany: Kino International.
- Yuille, L. K. (2015). Blood in, buyout: A property & economic approach to street gangs. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2585476