One thing I started to realize when I was younger was the difference in mentality between the Chicano gang members and the Blacks.
Chicano gangs as well as Whites were a bit more likely to accept official hierarchies than Blacks. From speaking with Black gang members, many of them will tell you how they take pride in not following orders from anyone directly. They have more of an issue with authority. Even though being from a gang has rules no matter what, Black gang rules both on the streets and in prison are much more loose. Whereas Chicanos and Whites have strict gang rules and take pride in that while looking down at Blacks as being unorganized and primitive. Blacks in turn see the Chicanos as being weak as individuals in the sense that they're willing to follow orders from some higher up.
I'm only speaking SoCal though as I've heard/read different about other places.