JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
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Dangerous, growing, yet unnoticed: the rise of America's white gangs
They talked on the phone and had lunch when she visited. At first, she told Ivey she wasnât interested in more. âWell, I just gotta woo you then,â he responded.
By then, Ivey was getting clean, writing, praying, working out and trying to imagine his own future. She could sense his sincerity and dropped her guard. âI think God put us in each otherâs paths for a reason,â Kristina says now.
In February 2012, Ivey rented a house for him, Kristina and her six-year-old, who is now 12. He adopted her on Valentineâs Day 2013.
Like many gang members, Ivey had never had a real job or even a driverâs license, but a friend referred him to a plumbing and remodeling company. He started regrouting floors at KFC and clearing sewer drains for $10 an hour, moving to $15 in five months. When one of his bosses died two years ago, the other made Ivey his partner.
In 2017, the couple bought the 2,100 sq ft home in Rankin County cheap because it needed work.
âWho wouldâve ever thought? I lived in shacks. I never stayed the night in a house like this ever in my entire life,â he says.
Over the last year, Ivey built a large deck for Sunday cookouts, positioned a flatscreen for Nascar viewing and turned his garage into a workout studio with a large Confederate flag over his weight set.
âIâm not racist, but I like the flag,â he says, calling it defiance of those who put rednecks down. âPeople up north like to make fun of us.â
Still, the flag was gone in December when the black photographer he had gotten to know for this article visited. âI didnât want to hurt Imani,â he says later. âThe flag is not about racism to me.â
Iveyâs brother Danny, who is now in rehab, had turned Aryan Brotherhood in prison, tattooing a swastika on to his chest. But Ivey says he has spent too much time around black people with similar struggles to think heâs superior to them.
He also doesnât believe âwhite privilegeâ is a thing. âI think itâs wealth privilege. I donât care what color you are, if youâre poor, you get treated like crap. Because I never had none of that white privilege,â he says.
âWe have the same problems as all other races when it comes to money, social stature, living with nothing, drugs, addiction, poverty,â Ivey says. âAll that is all too real for a lot of us.â
Ivey attends a church by the interstate with a few black members. He works on houses in formerly lily-white South Jackson, where race demographics have flipped since his family house-hopped there. But he passed on talking to kids at a Jackson YMCA about avoiding the gang life.
âItâs all black kids,â he says. âTheyâre not gonna listen to my cracker ass.â
Today, many locals are surprised to learn that white gang members ran drugs and kicked in doors for two decades between Jackson and its majority-white suburbs.
âWe watch the news every morning,â Ivey says. âMy little girl comes in here and says, âWhy do black people commit so many crimes?ââ
âBaby, because we have Jackson news, and thereâs two-thirds black in Jackson,â he tells her. âWhite people do bad, too.â
By then, Ivey was getting clean, writing, praying, working out and trying to imagine his own future. She could sense his sincerity and dropped her guard. âI think God put us in each otherâs paths for a reason,â Kristina says now.
In February 2012, Ivey rented a house for him, Kristina and her six-year-old, who is now 12. He adopted her on Valentineâs Day 2013.
Like many gang members, Ivey had never had a real job or even a driverâs license, but a friend referred him to a plumbing and remodeling company. He started regrouting floors at KFC and clearing sewer drains for $10 an hour, moving to $15 in five months. When one of his bosses died two years ago, the other made Ivey his partner.
In 2017, the couple bought the 2,100 sq ft home in Rankin County cheap because it needed work.
âWho wouldâve ever thought? I lived in shacks. I never stayed the night in a house like this ever in my entire life,â he says.
Over the last year, Ivey built a large deck for Sunday cookouts, positioned a flatscreen for Nascar viewing and turned his garage into a workout studio with a large Confederate flag over his weight set.
âIâm not racist, but I like the flag,â he says, calling it defiance of those who put rednecks down. âPeople up north like to make fun of us.â
Still, the flag was gone in December when the black photographer he had gotten to know for this article visited. âI didnât want to hurt Imani,â he says later. âThe flag is not about racism to me.â
Iveyâs brother Danny, who is now in rehab, had turned Aryan Brotherhood in prison, tattooing a swastika on to his chest. But Ivey says he has spent too much time around black people with similar struggles to think heâs superior to them.
He also doesnât believe âwhite privilegeâ is a thing. âI think itâs wealth privilege. I donât care what color you are, if youâre poor, you get treated like crap. Because I never had none of that white privilege,â he says.
âWe have the same problems as all other races when it comes to money, social stature, living with nothing, drugs, addiction, poverty,â Ivey says. âAll that is all too real for a lot of us.â
Ivey attends a church by the interstate with a few black members. He works on houses in formerly lily-white South Jackson, where race demographics have flipped since his family house-hopped there. But he passed on talking to kids at a Jackson YMCA about avoiding the gang life.
âItâs all black kids,â he says. âTheyâre not gonna listen to my cracker ass.â
Today, many locals are surprised to learn that white gang members ran drugs and kicked in doors for two decades between Jackson and its majority-white suburbs.
âWe watch the news every morning,â Ivey says. âMy little girl comes in here and says, âWhy do black people commit so many crimes?ââ
âBaby, because we have Jackson news, and thereâs two-thirds black in Jackson,â he tells her. âWhite people do bad, too.â
