Some local groups and a national gang expert accuse the world's largest online marketplace of promoting gangs by allowing such merchandise on its popular Web site. And they say the Internet purchases could put naive buyers -- gang ``wannabes'' and others -- at risk for violence.

 

``The bottom line is, if you can go into a store or online to buy something that basically puts a target on your back to get killed, it's a huge concern,'' said Angel Rios, who heads the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force in San Jose. ``This is an issue.''

Gangsta gear a click away

SALE OF GANG-RELATED MERCHANDISE ON EBAY HAS LOCAL GROUPS, EXPERTS UPSET

By Crystal Carreon
Mercury News

Looking for the latest Norteño gangsta rap CD? How about a ``Sureño 13'' T-shirt?

Shopping around for ``gangsta garb'' and other related merchandise is just a couple of clicks away -- on eBay.

Rios, already concerned about local stores selling gang-related merchandise, said he was surprised to learn that similar items were available on San Jose-based eBay.

 

Since its inception in 1995, eBay has been taken to task for providing a marketplace for questionable and even controversial items.

 

A furor over Nazi memorabilia in 2001 sparked a revision of the company's ``offensive material'' policy, which was revisited two years later when several African-Americans protested racially offensive items on eBay and listings that included slurs.

 

Currently, eBay's offensive material policy prohibits any items that ``promote or glorify hatred, violence, or racial intolerance, or items that promote organizations -- such as the KKK, Nazis, neo-Nazis, and Aryan Nation -- with such views.''

 

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said he did not believe advertising the sale of a red or blue bandanna or a T-shirt with the number 13, a symbol for the Sureño gang, violates the policy. Such items would be banned if they contained the word ``kill'' or explicitly promoted a violent act.

 

But San Jose police who have worked with street gangs know that certain colors and numbers signal gang affiliation and can silently trigger challenges.

 

``There is a culture out there where these colors or attire or any type of accessory do incite a negative reaction, a violent reaction from an opposing gang,'' said retired Sgt. Noe Longoria, who worked with the East Side Union School District to try to introduce a dress code to deter the wearing of gang colors.

 

Longoria said the anonymous nature of the Internet allows anyone to go online to purchase merchandise, including items which are increasingly confused with popular culture.

 

``There are kids out there who may not be gang members,'' Longoria said, ``but they put themselves in danger by putting on that attire without truly realizing the consequences.''

 

Mario Paz, director of youth services for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, which runs a series of gang intervention programs, said he knew of two ``wannabes'' who boasted that they had bought a Norteño shirt and belt off eBay earlier this year.

 

``This does promote the gang lifestyle,'' he said of the items on eBay. ``This is unacceptable.''

 

Paz understands eBay's rationale but said the San Jose company should have a better understanding of what these items represent: Norteños and Sureños are two of the dominant gangs in San Jose and are present throughout California.

 

A search earlier this month on eBay found three sizes available for a ``Sureño 13'' T-shirt, several Norteño rap CDs, and a Sureño necklace on sale that included the listing: ``Wear your Sureño Pride! . . . The colors are dark blue and white and it says 13 in the middle of the flag.''

 

Two other online auction sites, Amazon and Yahoo Shopping, recently advertised a handful of gangsta rap CDs, among movies and books listed under Crips and Bloods, Norteño and Sureño. Books and movies were also available on eBay.

 

Jared Lewis, founder of Know Gangs, a Wisconsin-based firm that offers training to police agencies across the country, has posted three complaints to eBay about the gang merchandise. Except for a brief e-mail, eBay has not fully responded.

 

``EBay is definitely promoting the gang culture, whether knowingly or unknowingly,'' Lewis said.

 

EBay's Durzy said whether such items promote a gang lifestyle is open to interpretation. Several mainstream properties, such as NFL teams and even Disney movies, have been co-opted by gangs, but that does not mean the material is gang-related.

 

Eric, who declined to give his last name, designed the Sureño T-shirts that recently sold on eBay. The former member of a Los Angeles gang said he is not promoting a lifestyle but filling a market niche. In the past month, about a dozen of the shirts have sold on eBay.

 

``It's just a shirt,'' he said. ``I'm not trying to promote gangs with it, by all means . . . But, at the same time, the shirt is making money.''