Over the past few weeks, starting with Black Picket Fences, we have gotten a closer look at the roles that gangs play in Black communities across the country. Of course, gangs are portrayed by the mass media as an entirely destructive force, but gangs play multiple roles within these communities. Some of these roles have a positive impact; others have a negative impact. It is well publicized how most gangs take part in the drug-selling business as well as participate in violent crime. However, it is seldom discussed how gangs function as social and support networks both within the gang itself and extending into the community. The people who form these gangs are from the communities and areas where the gang resides and forms its territory. Therefore, they are personally invested in these communities and aren’t purposely trying to destroy them. I’m not going to argue that they don’t cause harm to the communities however. The drug dealing and violent crime are certainly not constructive and are often detrimental. The dual impact of gangs on communities makes it difficult to decipher if gangs are a positive social institution for the communities or a harmful band of criminals. The answer is probably somewhere in between.