One of our faithful readers

One of our faithful readers is a California resident who recently visited the Twin Cities and has written us regarding the items I’ve posted on Minneapolis’s gang presence. Deleting only his kind words about the Power Line, I’m posting his message in its entirety as follows:
“Concerning the comments of the Trunk concerning the silence as to gang violence in the Twin Cities. I live in central California in an area with alot of gang activity. One of the things that identifies gang members is the colors and markings of their clothes, mainly black, red, or blue. Many companies are selling hats in these colors. The L.A. Dodgers hats are blue, but recently, they have been coming out in a red style.
“Two weeks ago I was in the Rosedale Mall in the Twin Cities, and happened to be in a sporting goods store that specialized in hats and jerseys. I was shocked at their new line of hats that represented the gang lifestyle, i.e. black with an ‘N’ on the front or similar designs. When I asked the clerk if she knew she was selling gang style clothing, she denied it and told me that they didn’t have any gang problems in the cities.
“As a high school teacher, it bothers me that companies look to make a fast buck selling kids this kind of merchandise. The bad news for you is that if I could tell that the merchandise was being marketed to gangbangers, then you have a very serious problem in your area. A few years ago didn’t they call it Murderapolis? [As noted by the New York Times, they did indeed, and will again.–ed.]
“Next time you are in a local mall, go in and check out what items are being sold in the sports apparel section. If you see a Twins hat in black, then they are in on it too.”