When you hear of the name MS-13, what comes to mind? You would be correct to say MS-13 is a notorious criminal gang. But could you identify what country started MS-13, and what are its origins? Many believe MS-13 was started in Mexico and migrated into the U.S., and others associate any Hispanic-Latino gang as being MS-13. They would all be erroneous. The birth of MS-13 was right here in the U.S., specifically, East Los Angeles.
Roberto Lovato in his book entitled, Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas, explains in a clear and conscience approach the rise of MS-13. He does so by returning to El Salvador and painfully uncovers his father’s, “complicated history.” It was during this era, the time of his grandparents and parents in El Salvador, that gave rise to today’s gang, called MS-13.
Lovato is a child of Salvadoran immigrants. He was born, and grew up, in California just at the time MS-13 and other Latino gangs were forming in East Los Angeles. He experienced, first hand, the brutality of these gangs and learned how his father survived in a world were violence and trauma were a way of life. Where the machete was not used as a farming tool, but as a weapon of choice to make a statement.
In the late 1970’s and 1980’s, Salvadorans came to the U.S. to escape civil war, poverty, and violence. They mostly settled in California, specifically, Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the gangs from El Salvador followed and integrated with the larger and more influential Mexican gangs. The El Salvadoran gangs came under the protection of La Eme, Spanish for ‘M.’ MS-13 means “Mara Salvatrucha” and later a ‘13’ was added, which signifies the thirteenth letter in the alphabet, ‘M.’ Hence, they are called, MS-13.
Lovato tells the story from his own eyes, memory, and present-day interviews. I finished the book in record time, unable to put it down. But more importantly, I learned another example of how bad public policy affects generations. Throughout the book, Lovato seems torn between the life he built here in America and the life of his relatives in El Salvador. The violence and the gang life he saw and experienced in El Salvador and America should never have happened.
There is one particular small part in the book that had a great impact on me. It occured when Lovato reported an overwhelming number of Salvadorans without gang affiliations in Los Angeles were being identified by law enforcement as gang members. As a result, law enforcement took one of two views; they were either a gang member or a gang supporter. A senior Immigration and Naturalization Service Officer reported to the LA Times, “that’s not a gang anymore (MS-13), that’s a culture.” In one small statement, an entire culture was labeled and stereotyped.
If you are seeking to understand Latino gangs, Lovato’s book is an excellent source. Although he may not have intended it as a sourcebook, I highly recommend this text for any criminal justice curriculum. Thank you, Mr. Lovato for your work and for sharing your life’s experiences.
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