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Sureños (Spanish for "Southerners" *) are a group of hundreds of Chicano street gangs with origins in Southern California. They are connected with the Mexican Mafia prison organization; opposing the Mexican Mafia is the Nuestra Familia, which similarly has spawned a street chapter, the Norteños. The traditional rivals of the Sureños are the Norteños ("northerners"). The dividing line between Sureños and Norteños has traditionally been Bakersfield, California.
Gang identification The Sureños were the first California gang to make use of gang colors to distinguish themselves from other gangs. The state of California prison system provided railroad handkerchiefs to inmates in one standard color: blue. Chicano inmates from Southern California selected the blue bandanas to identify themselves. Once a member of the Sureños "graduates" off the street and into the prison system they are designated a part of the Mexican Mafia organization. The Sureños identify themselves with the color blue, mostly with Los Angeles Dodgers (the baseball team of their home town), Duke University, and San Diego Chargers apparel. Their gang number is thirteen, using Arabic or Roman numerals, or a combination of both: 13, XIII, or X3 and other creative means of symbolism. This signifies the 13th letter of the alphabet, the letter M, meaning "La Eme" or "The M"; the Mexican Mafia. Numerals are also incorporated into the tattoos, such as Tres Puntos (Spanish: "Three dots") or X3 for the number 13 (see also: Three Dots Tattoo) which is the representation for the number three within the Aztec numeral system Which also stands for mi vida loca(my crazy life). SUR 13 or SUR X3 is a common gang tag and is the abbreviation for Sureños 13. An additional significance of the LA Dodgers lies in the numbers corresponding to letters of the alphabet: | ||||||||
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