Cornell University Press The Truce: Lessons from an L.A. Gang War

This ethnography of a gang war in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Oakwood, just blocks from the famed Venice Beach boardwalk, provides a rare eyewitness account of the urban violence pervasive in the recent history of the United States. With seventeen people killed and more than fifty injured, the hostilities over ten months in 1993 and 1994 marked the peak of gang violence in the history of Los Angeles, a city once labeled the "gang capital of the nation." The conflict began as a quarrel among individuals, some of whom had gang affiliations. Over time, the feud engulfed families and soon grew into a sustained clash between African American and Latino gangs. Eventually, victims fell who were not members of opposing gangs, but who fit certain racial and gender profiles. The conflict began to take on the attributes of what one local newspaper sensationalized as a "race war." Karen Umemoto lived nearby during this conflict and undertook two years of ethnographic research during and immediately following the spate of killings. She now offers a nuanced analysis of the trajectory and eventual end of this acute crisis. Her interviews with gang members, neighborhood residents, business leaders, police officers, and gang-intervention workers reveal the complexity of contemporary American urban conflict. The Truce highlights the differences in interpretations among combatants, witnesses, and law enforcement agents and others whose actions often had unintended consequences. Drawing on her experience living in multicultural Los Angeles and on the latest scholarship in a wide variety of disciplines, Umemoto provides much-needed guidance for policymakers and concerned members of the public faced with violence in an ever-changing urban landscape. Review "The Truce is a sophisticated and timely contribution to the growing literature on urban street gangs. Umemoto has produced a well-written, empirically rich analysis of intra-racial gang conflict that works on multiple levels. Students of criminology, urban studies and race-ethnic relations will be well advised to include this important new work on the book shelves."--David C. Brotherton, John Jay College of Criminal Justice "The Truce is a very well-written and insightful narrative about a flare-up of ethnic gang violence in an old beach community of west Los Angeles. Karen Umemoto accounts for community-police relations as well as the role played by organizations and agencies. This book contains excellent analyses of legal and political events that took place under a cloud of moral panic fanned by media coverage."--James Diego Vigil, University of California, Irvine "I know these streets--several friends were Mar Vista/Venice residents. I've also spoken at Venice High School and walked the canal bridges and boardwalk countless times over the years. Next to such violence, I also read poetry. The poor divided is nothing new; but this level of hate has roots and Karen Umemoto comes closest to uncovering the complex source of racial animosity across this land. Armed with history and solid analysis, Karen also helps toss the seeds of peace into the blistering heart of such conflicts."--Luis J. Rodriguez, author of Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA and Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times About the Author Karen Umemoto is Associate Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.