Kyrese Adams Safe Haven Written Part

Kyrese Adams New Black Ethnographies Final Safe Haven The year is 2068. The civil war brought about complete destruction and chaos in the United States. After the election of Donald Trump and increased activity involving hate crime, blacks and whites had been more divided than ever. Most of the war was sparked by police brutality. Racial profiling combined with arrests/assaults on blacks by police officers (for ultimately no reason) caused a stir in society. The United States had never been so divided.

Between radical minorities and a growing number of white supremacists, more and more violence began to occur every day. The country was no longer safe for anyone.

It is at this point in the war that blacks along with many other minorities have began to flee to Canada. Word has spread that these people are now living in refugee camps across the border.

The conditions of these camps are not ideal. There is limited food, crowded living arrangements, and illness is being spread at rapid speeds. I am curious to find out more about the conditions of these communities and what the daily life of these refugees truly looks like.

The most pressing matter that I would like to research is the gang affiliations within these camps. There has been word of gang violence between refugees. My biggest concern as an anthropologist, is to discover where these confrontations stem from. Why wouldn’t people with a similar cause and similar stories find more unity in these camps? Why is division such a common theme in the society we currently live in? I am proposing a study in these refugee camps. My plan is to take my team across the border to research and observe. I want to learn about the

everyday life of these refugees, observe their conflicts as a community, and create this speculative ethnography with the hopes that I can bring it back to the United States and educate the general public about the conditions of these camps.

Upon first arrival at these camps the first thing that caught my eye was the amount of diversity among the people. There are not only men and women but transgender people as well.

There are people of all ages spread throughout these refugee camps. The people within the camp colloquially named the camp Safe Haven. With a such a diverse group of refugees not everyone shares the same ideals within the camps. There are many different beliefs and religions. People aligned themselves with gangs that are affiliated with the same or similar beliefs. This alike mindsets forms the bonds within the gangs. These bonds make the members closer than blood.

Not everyone agrees on the same ideals this leads to people trying to force their ideology on others. Some people have no ideals and are neutral. The people that are considered neutral are called by people in Safe Haven the Swiss. The Swiss engage in anti gang initiatives such as social intervention, educational and vocational advancements. Even though the Swiss are neutral and do not engage in gang violence among the camp neutral people can and have become casualties. When people disagree on ideas it most often leads violence or retaliation within Safe Haven.

Men and women algin with one another in most cases. They formed a heterosexual gang rooted in their ideas of catholicism. Hersey is considered to be a sin and is punishable by death in the hetero gang. Violent acts are carried out by the men in the gang, the women excel at engaging in psychological warfare. Together they often share hatred for not only the transgender community in Safe Haven but supporters of LGBT. LGBT community is extremely accepting and open to most things. They are mostly non violent unless heavily provoked. They oppose the

segregation and hate between gangs within Safe Haven. Transgender people are frequent targets of attacks within the camps. They are only a small portion of the population. Being outnumbered heavily leads to daily bullying and harassment In return the transgender community has closed their doors and stopped trying to make peace with people who align themselves not with the transgender community. With few resources to go around as well the men and women rarely share supplies with the transgender community.

Women are seen in similar lights to men within Safe Haven. There is no work in these camps that a man can do but a women is not allowed to do. Safe Haven is home to a powerful women lead gang. Women in these gangs celebrate strength and power for their gender, which is something that women weren’t frequently celebrated for in the past. They derive a lot of their ideals from amazon warriors. The women from this gang are extremely heroic and courageous they do not shy away from confrontation. All of the warriors have tattoos on their bodies. These tattoos carry a special significance to their culture and society. Some tattoos signify inations into the gang, other special experiences. The women lead gang have an alliance with the LGBT community, however they do not fight for anyone other than their own. They share information with transgender gang but not resources.

Safe Haven is a tough place for youths to grow up in. They often grow up to join gangs and continue the cycles of violence. I wanted to discover why the youths in Safe Haven join the gangs. There are many different reasons why a young adolescent would join the gangs in Safe Haven. Growing up in post war society already provided many challenges, the long term effects of war trauma usually lead the youth to have difficulty adulthoods. Adolescentes are sometimes recruited to join these gangs. This recruitment can happen through a number of ways such as risky behaviors, friendship, and family networks. The main reason for the youths wanting to

grow up and join gangs is the emotion and shared experiences. The people in these gangs all believe in the same things, the members usually share the same emotions towards situations.

Alone a youth is going through hell in these camps but when they join a gang they can meet people who share their same experiences of hell. The shared experiences and emotions draw youths in, and ultimately force them into the gang life.

After living among the refugees in Safe Haven and exposure to the different cultures and gang's here I was left with a pressing question, why is no unity amongst all the members of Safe Haven? If you strip down the ideals and religious beliefs they are all refugees in the same boat. I was in search for what unfies Safe Haven. The unity I was searching for in the refugee camp is met here through the gang life. The gangs in Safe Haven give importance to otherwise invisible people (refugees). The gangs become networks of many people making up this community. I learned that in order to see who these people really are and what unifies them you need to take away the gang from the person. The members of the gang believe that without the gang they are nobody, that they are invisible to the world. The gang life not only justifies their existence in Safe Haven, but it gives homes to people who were otherwise lost.

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