%0 Journal Article
%T Racism, Schooling, and the Streets: A Critical Analysis of Vietnamese American Youth Gang Formation in Southern California
%A Kevin D. Lam
%J Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement
%D 2012
%I Purdue University Press
%X This paper is an analysis of the relationship between educational experiences, street life, and gang formation for Vietnamese American youth gang members in Southern California. I use critical narrative methodology to center the life and experiences of a Los Angeles area gang member. His narrative substantiates how racism in schools and on the streets works together to impact and inform gang formation. Schools were sites of inter-ethnic conflict and racialized tension, and streets were spaces for contentious interactions with the police. In addition, I place the Vietnamese American youth gang phenomenon in larger historical and political contexts such as California¡¯s anti-youth legislation, representations of Asian American youth, and U.S. geo-politics and imperialism¡ªfactors that have serious material and ideological implications and consequences.
%K Youth gangs
%K Vietnamese Americans
%K racism
%K critical narrative methodology
%K inter-ethnic conflict
%K criminalization
%U http://jsaaea.coehd.utsa.edu/index.php/JSAAEA/article/view/101/141