From gang member to professor, CSUEB grad publishes new book

• August 3, 2011 5:15am

CSUEB alumnus Victor Rios grew up in the Oakland ghetto. He was a gang member and juvenile delinquent. Out of his sixty-eight “homies,” only two graduated from high school, and only Rios graduated college. He earned an undergraduate degree in human development from Cal State East Bay in 2000, then went on to earn a master's degree, and a doctorate in ethnic studies.

In his new book, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino (NYU Press, 2011), Rios details his three year study on a group of forty delinquent Latino and African American boys in Oakland. He found that many of these boys found themselves in a vicious cycle, “caught in a spiral of punishment and incarceration as they were harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, even before they had committed any crimes, eventually leading many of them to fulfill the destiny expected of them.”

He also writes about  his admission to Cal State East Bay.  “I was accepted by California State University, East Bay, under “probationary status.” I told myself, “Probation? I’m already on probation, so it won't matter.” I didn't realize that probation in college meant I would be expelled if I received below a C average, not that I would have a probation officer following me to every class I attended. “ 

Despite living his first two years at CSUEB in a run-down West Oakland “shack” with a cracked foundation, termites and ever-present crack dealers on the porch, Rios graduated in four years.

Listen to Rios’ interview with NPR’s On Point.

KL