Isn’t that what I said? And there’s a whole literature on gangs and community. That was my only point.
“In these circumstances, talking about ‘Muslim’ gangs makes about as much sense as calling Colombian gangs ‘Catholic’.”
And the IRA also I guess?
Obviously using such definitions you’ll end up with a hybrid.

As as far as Mexicans in the US there’s a separation between “Chicano” culture, the culture of long term poverty of the Mexican American community in the US, and recent immigrants from Mexico.

“but if you believed everything the Tory working class said about Britain…”

And if you paid more attention to the Tory Working class then they wouldn’t be such a problem.
The issues are economics and class.

The problems are mostly very similar to the ones you see in the US with poor miniorities: gang trouble in some neighbourhoods, anti-immigrant sentiments from people who feel their jobs are threatened. In these circumstances, talking about ‘Muslim’ gangs makes about as much sense as calling Colombian gangs ‘Catholic’.

But the bombs in Spain and Britain, and a political murder here in the Netherlands, have added an extra dimension, including a lot of fuel for anti-immigration groups. Imagine how the amnesty-for-illegal-immigrants debate in the US would have looked if Mexican groups had blown up trains.

This is entirely true, but they patently don’t need to, and this rather misses the point about preparing the ground for radicalisation. It’s a possibility that’s almost too obvious to need stating, but I seriously doubt that the Beeston bombers spent their first years falling out of their high-chairs while trying to change the channel to Al-Jazeera.

You really have to live here to appreciate how ingrained the Corruption-of-society-send-in-the-riot-squads message is in the British media. I’ve never seen anything similar anywhere else, although I imagine the Iranians would run them close.

The Guardian UK Muslim gangs ‘are taking control of prison’

Mark Graber at Balkinization on theory vs pragmatism in the logic of the First Amendment: Free Speech & Human Dignity.

“I wonder whether Britain’s problem with homegrown jihadists might have anything to do with the fact that we’re one of the few western European nations whose national press routinely tell us that we’re a depraved bunch of drunken, dissolute slappers and scumbags sorely in need of a bloody good thrashing”

The jihadists can read everyone’s press, not just yours

But what about your Africa project? They’re rioting against intruding labourers in South Africa.

I see that ditty is available on a T-shirt now.