In Mexican and mainly South American culture there is a very old word a cultural word: MACHISMO. Being MACHO. Being a MACHISTA.
A very old manly custom that simply means you are an asshole. You don’t take shit from nobody. You can’t be messed with. Warped masculinity in the Mexican world. You mix MACHISMO with GANGS and DRUGS and you get a fucking bomb. Machistas only know guns and knives. Being rough and tough.
“Don’t let that vato walk up on you ese! That pendejo needs to get gat!”
With machismo there’s no pause button. Whether its your wife, a child, a dog, a cat, a fellow gang member, an enemy etcetera… If they needs to get got, they get got.
I imagine African American youths and white boys in the early part of the last century while interacting with these immigrants adopted machoism or machismo into their gangs as well.