Attitude to gangs needs total rethink

It seems to me, the concept of gangs such as Mongrel Mob, Black Power and the like, are considered acceptable to New Zealand society, even though their members end up in court again and again.

The coverage of the Christchurch trial of the Mongrel Mob member charged with the murder of prostitute Ngatai Manning begs an interesting contrast regarding our attitude towards different kinds of gangs.

On one hand, our readership struggled mightily with the concept of the Right Wing Resistance group right here in Masterton, as covered in our feature a couple of weeks ago. The coverage was unique and unusual, and presented an uncomfortable reality of another facet of New Zealand society - the concept of the white supremacist.

Yet gang documentation is nothing new.

Actor Ross Kemp, who portrayed EastEnders' hard man Grant Mitchell, presented an award-winning documentary called Ross Kemp on Gangs some years ago. The shows, which included New Zealand's Mongrel Mob, was largely the gang's point of view. Viewers were presented with some uncomfortable realities, and had to make up their own minds.

The thing to ponder is this: I agree the Right Wing Resistance is an ideal that most reasonable people find utterly abhorrent. A newspaper gets complaints for giving it the time. But it is a concept that carries very little real threat or danger.

The ideals are so unworkable within the structure of New Zealand's culture, the group can't really grow, or even survive. They are vaguely threatening in safer environments (for them), such as Christchurch, when every so often an Asian student gets pushed into the Avon River. But generally, it's pathetic.

But a newspaper gives coverage to the Mongrel Mob, or Black Power, or other gangs, all the time, because they commit criminal acts. Crimes are of public interest.

It seems to me, the concept of gangs such as Mongrel Mob, Black Power and the like, are considered acceptable to New Zealand society, even though their members end up in court again and again.

Yet we foam at the mouth at the ideals of a tiny club of white supremacists who keep their heads down and barely have the where-with-all to contemplate any kind of crime?

It's because they're an obvious target of absolute unacceptability - which helps us ignore what we should really be saying no to.