Nov

Gang colors. Do colors matter?

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The first time Jose had a gun pointed at him was five years ago, when he was 14 years old.

He was sitting on the curb at 21st and Folsom streets waiting for a friend when a car slowed and a pistol appeared in the opened window, aimed straight at him. The man brandishing the weapon said only two letters, “m” and “s,” for Mara Salvatrucha, a criminal street gang.

“I actually got angry,” said Jose, whose name has been changed. “I just looked at him and yelled, ‘Are you serious?’”