The article analyses the isolation and stigmatization in the development of an underclass. In this analysis the case of Chicano Gangs in East Los Angeles is considered. The case of East Los Angeles is not an isolated instance, only of esoteric concern. In city after city, the minority youth gang is either clearly defined as a social problem, as in Los Angeles and Chicago, or is currently being created, as in my own city of Milwaukee. In these "new" cities, many of the processes in the historical sequence outlined earlier are recurring. These include media sensationalism, an enhanced criminal justice system response, and an effective breakup of solidarity within minority communities. Times have changed. There are still voices of protest even as there were in Los Angeles during the 1940's. Some of these voices echo our recent history. Thus the Eisenhower Foundation report defines minority youth crime as "a form of slow rioting" that calls for major developmental efforts within minority communities. It urges that crime prevention in the inner city be viewed not as an end in itself by as a "means to secure the neighborhood for development" and to alleviate the causes of crime. This is a sophisticated analysis but it continues to neglect intra-community differentiation.