Profiling Culture: An Examination of Korean American Gangbangers in Southern California

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and Police Chief William Bratton have declared war on Southern California's street gangs.' The gang problem, they argue, is insidious and should be considered a national problem akin to terrorism.2 The parallel between gangs and terrorism is instructive, for profiling is a controversial yet significant issue for both. While profiling and the war on gangs affect all gangs, the ramifications of both have largely focused only on African American and Hispanic gangs. Indeed, among the least studied type of gang is the Asian American gang in general and the Korean American gang in particular.3 According to one scholar, the dearth of scholarly literature on Asian American gangs is due to the fact that "Asian gangs are not perceived as a serious threat by the non-Asian community or media" because the majority of Asian American gang-related crimes are "committed against other Asians"; therefore, non-Asian American communities are rarely affected.4 Notably, there is even less literature on Korean American gangs.' This is