From a post by Rod on race, poverty, and “ghetto nihilism”:

And, as one of my teacher friends put it, “Don’t think it’s a black thing only. Poor white people don’t live so differently.” Indeed, the missionary told me that there’s an immigrant Asian family that lives on his west Dallas block. The parents have all the values esteeming hard work, education, self-sacrifice and such that we associate with Asian culture. Most of the kids do too. But there’s a high school age son who has adopted ghetto nihilism, because that’s the culture that rules his public school. He dresses like a gangbanger, carries himself like a gangbanger, and interprets the world like a gangbanger. It’s killing his parents, but the culture the kid lives in has a stronger hold on his heart and mind than his mom and dad do. Similarly, the missionary also said he sees immigrant Mexican families moving into the neighborhood possessing a strong work ethic, and pretty strong family values. But their children easily fall prey to ghetto nihilism.