The Territory, Surfer's Desert Summary

Mike Davis, a writer and urban critic based in Los Angeles interviewed in 1993, discusses the changes he has seen in California since his childhood. He describes the feelings of self-destruction among a generation of kids who are susceptible to despair. He thinks the gang truce is miraculous. It shows that there is a generation that refuses to commit suicide. The truce also represents the reestablishment of traditions of pride and struggle linked to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Davis notes the rise of Latino gang violence and increasing gang activity among the children of recent immigrants. He calls on the city to put more resources toward making contact with the kids. Davis says the city refuses to talk to its own children. By labeling them "looters" and "gang-bangers," the city fosters an environment of fear...