Comparative Racialization and Unequal Justice in the Era of Black Lives Matter: The Dylan Yang Case

Through a close examination of the Dylan Yang-Isaiah Powell case in Wausau, Wisconsin, we argue that while Hmong experiences may have remained marginalized or invisible in the era of Black Lives Matter, this case and the mobilization efforts around it suggest both commonalities and disjunctures among boys of color, especially in relation to the US justice system. The Dylan Yang case, in which a Hmong teen was convicted of murder for the stabbing of another boy, perceived to be black Latino, in an altercation at his home, demands comparative racialization analytics to gain perspective on the implementation of unequal justice. Unpacking the effects of the gangster stereotype, especially for Southeast Asian youth, we suggest how, despite the Asian American model minority trope, Hmong American boys have been racialized as monstrous thugs comparable (but not identical) to their black and Latino counterparts, and thus treated by law enforcement as suspects in need of “cataloging” as part of the school-to-prison pipeline. We also delve into the actual practices of young men in order to reveal their strategies in tense and conflictual multiracial contexts, then turn to issues such as long sentences and juvenile solitary confinement that imply the disposability of young lives of color. We conclude with a curation of links to articles, blogs and social media that we invite readers to explore using the critical lens we provide