Don't All Inner City Youth Face the Same Challenges?

My mother and I have taken to sponsoring children in and out of our family who are struggling to pay school fees due to social ills that have trapped them in a life of dire poverty.
About a year ago, I considered making our personal service large scale and creating a program that would provide scholarships to children in conflict zones in Africa who are willing, but unable to attend secondary school because they can no longer pay their school fees. The children I was interested in targeting are those in Northern Uganda, who end up leading a life of vagrancy or joining the army because they see no other way to lead their lives. Discourse surrounding this issue usually characterizes these children as victims to their society and left with no other alternative. The Northern Ugandan region is filled with NGOs working frantically to rescue these youth from their wayward or dangerous lifesytles, so that they can be educated and possibly face a more promising future.
I put this project on hold, mostly because even though I still have a passion to helping impoverished children and youth, I have taken more of an interest in urban cities. And as I've explained with my experience with Tony, I empathize even more with children who are living in city centers, surrounded by affluence and opportunity, but are not afforded the opportunity to benefit from the development around them.
Since my return to the US, I have thought about the affinity I have grown towards helping urban slum youth and American NGOs, who flock overseas war torn regions, preventing youth from being conscripted into the army and rebel factions, and wonder why the same sentiments are not directed towards youth in American slums, who join gangs.
Youth gang members are almost always characterized as perpetrators of violence, victimizers, and more importantly terrorizers of their community. Encouraging them leave their lifestyle is a task usually relegated to former gang members. Other citizens are terrified of this group and wouldn't dare approach them, even on the grounds of reform.
I wonder, why the images of these two youth are seen so differently. They both kill, steal, and participate in violent acts in their community. They recruit other youth and reject most societal norms. But why are the African children viewed as helpless and conscripted into their lives of violence and left without other viable options for self-development, while American youth are viewed as willing terrorizers, who choose to follow lives of crime and dangers to society, who usually can't be saved?