Gonzales has stated in numerous interviews that he “did not create the Homies to glamorize gang life” but many people will make false assumptions that Hispanic caricatures that are wearing baggy cloths, t-shirts, and hats must be gang-related, when in fact they are not. Loco, works as a youth gang counselor and settles disputes between rival gangs in the barrio. Even the most “hard-core” of the original 6 Homies, Mr. Sapo (Frog) is just an ordinary homey from the neighborhood that eats a lot of Mexican food and is not popular with the ladies. Raza also tries to educate the other Homies and encourages them to go to school and become educated and to work to change the system.
Raza’s bio, for example stated that he is very passionate about his cultural heritage and has degrees in Chicano Studies and Latin American and Pre Columbian History. The LAPD in May of 1999 stated that the 6 figures perpetuated negative stereotypes that glorified the gang life style without even examining the six figures individually.Įach Homie has a biography that Gonzales wrote as part of the artwork and if the critics of the Homies had some knowledge of the Homies they would know that Mr. These are the characters that where being associated as criminals, thugs and gangsters. They were available individually in gum ball machines, on a blister card and as key chains. The original set includes, 8-Ball, La Raza, Mr.
There was also a deputy district attorney that stated that, “we’re thinking of putting them in court to show people that if you are dressed like these guys, you’ re violating probation (The negative publicity from law enforcement pressured some retailers such as Jim Plescia of Vallarta Supermarkets to pull the Homies from the market, but was all the negative publicity towards Gonzales’ figures correctly warranted? For example, Detective Morris from the Devonshire division of the Los Angeles Police Department told the Los Angeles Times that “the Homies where negative images that perpetuated negative stereotypes and glorify the gang life style ( Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1999)”. Other criticism suggested that the original 6 Homies figures were gang-related and promoted a violent lifestyle. Gonzales stated that the figures are real people from his experiences, people from the community and people he grew up with. On the one hand there where those that thought his depictions of Chicanos where emphasizing negative stereotypes of Mexican youths in California, but then there were those that appreciated the art and the cultural representations of real people from the barrio. Homies Figures Los Angeles - In 1998 artist David Gonzales had released the first set of his popular miniature Chicano figures, the Homies, but by May 1999 his first set of 6 figures was receiving strong negative backlash about the Chicano representations in his art.
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