1940s L.A.

Gang Member - the first black gangs were formed in reaction to

white supremacist gangs such as the "Spook Hunters".

So, during the late 1940s, shortly after the end of World War II, a number of
southern-California whites -- largely comprised by war veterans -- began
banding together and ended up forming such anti-minority gangs as Hells
Angels and the Los Angeles-based Spook Hunters.

Then, it was on. Members of those groups, and frequently with the backing
of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriffs
Department, began carrying out violent attacks against black and Hispanic
individuals as well as predominantly-black-and-Hispanic communities. Quite
a number of blacks and Hispanics were maimed and murdered and many of
their homes and businesses were badly damaged or destroyed altogether.

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