Reforming Gang Members

Professor emeritus Albert R. Marston’s proposals to subsidize gang members (“Ripe Time for a Constructive Shift?” Commentary, June 29) make my blood boil.

How many times do the media and academia need to be reminded? Most black youth in South Los Angeles are not members of gangs. It is the decent, honest, churchgoing young people in South Los Angeles who deserve our attention, not gang members.

Marston’s proposals are even more ludicrous when they are aired at a time that Los Angeles Unified School District faces catastrophic budget cuts.

If we are serious about providing opportunities for the youth of South Los Angeles, we should begin with the public schools in that area. Let’s build public schools in South Los Angeles with such a wide array of academic, counseling and vocational education programs that they become institutions young people will want to attend rather than to drop out.

Let’s back up our commitment to education with viable job opportunities and college financial aid packages that offer something for everyone. This is a far better incentive for getting gang members off the streets than any of the hare-brained ideas Marston proposes in his article.

WILLIAM JOSEPH MILLER

Los Angeles