|
POS334-L: THE RACE
AND ETHNICITY BOOK REVIEW DISCUSSION LIST |
Elijah Anderson. Streetwise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban
Community, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1990
Date:
Wed, 02
Feb 2000
From: Clayton Cobb clcobb@ILSTU.EDU
Subject: Review: Streetwise (Clayton Cobb)
Streetwise: Race, Class, and
Change in an Urban Community, by Elijah
Anderson. University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, 1990
reviewed by: Clayton Cobb <clcobb@ilstu.edu>
Streetwise: Race, Class, and
Change in an Urban Community by, Elijah
Anderson, was written as his
fourteen year (1975-1989) case study in which
he explored the area of
Village-Northton, which encompasses two
communities- one Black and low
income to very poor, the other racially
mixed, but becoming increasingly
middle to upper income and
White. Anderson's focus is
on the nature of the street life and public
culture, how this diverse group of
people "got it on" or related to one
another in public settings.
He explores the dilemma of both Blacks and
Whites, the ghetto poor and the
middle class, caught up in a struggle for
comity and equality while living
in an urban environment. Anderson deals
with the political and social
issues we have discussed in class such as:
public vs private education,
gentrification, youth culture, socioeconomics
and the ramifications of poverty,
violence and drugs.
The bulk of Streetwise: Race,
Class and Change in an Urban Community
focuses on Northton, a low income
Black community located in the large
northeastern industrial city of
Philadelphia. The logic of racial
oppression has left the Northton
area poverty stricken and devoid of middle
class leadership. Highly educated
Blacks have abandoned the community in
search of professional
opportunities in corporate America and the
realization of the American dream
in elite residential suburbs. The Black
residents who remain are locked in
a culture of poverty by declining
opportunities for meaningful
employment in the economy of the central city.
For many young Blacks, the
underground economy appears to be the only
escape from a life of
destitution. Drugs have become a threat to health
and safety in the community.
Anderson's book contains interviews with
young Black people who are caught
up in a world of drugs and violence.
These stories reveal a serious
breakdown in relations between "old heads"
(Old Black men) defined by
Anderson as "a man of stable means who believed
in hard work, family life, and the
church (female old heads, grand motherly
types who were seen as wise and
mature figures in the community were
equally important) and "young
heads" young Black men. The sense of trust
and confidence that allows old
heads to lead young heads to manhood and
instill within in them a sense of
purpose has been replaced by alienation
and profound disrespect. For
a new role model is emerging and competing
with the traditional old head for
the hearts and minds of young boys. He
is young, often the product of the
street gang, and indifferent to the law
and traditional values.
Anderson points out that young Black men and women
are now forced to live in a
different world, one in which their presence on
the street is considered menacing
to society. In this world, young women
are addicted to crack and become
teenage mothers, and young men drop out of
school and become immersed in a
life of crime during the early stages of
their lives. To survive in
this world, they learn the laws and etiquette
of the streets.
Young Black males, dressed in the
uniforms of jogging suits, expensive
tennis shoes, and heavy gold
chains frighten the older Black residents of
the ghetto, the Black middle class
and their upper class White counterparts
in the neighboring suburb.
They like to walk around looking as mean as
they can, because these young
Black males are powerless in the larger world
of wealth and power, they rule the
smaller world of street interactions and
everyday encounters.
Anderson portrays these young men
with an urgency to be accepted among
their peers, so they adopt their
youth culture and take on the street
mannerisms that, to Whites, label
them as dangerous and threatening.
Anderson's account of sex codes
and what it is like to be young, Black and
female is equally powerful.
Sexually active by the age of twelve, many
girls in the Village-Northton ghetto
have their first babies by the age of
fifteen or sixteen. The
fathers of these babies wander off with other
males bragging about his sexual
exploits (again seen as youth culture),
leaving the girls to turn to her
on family and her peer group for
support. The fact of
children having children thus becomes an element of
life in the neighborhood, as girls
praise each other's babies and give what
support they can to each
other. Anderson points out that having babies
becomes the only thing of value in
a girl's life, and these young mothers
often feel the need to dress her
baby in the latest and most expensive
clothes that fit rather than a
size larger that the baby can grow into. As
time goes by the baby, who was
once important to the young mothers, becomes
a burden, an obstacle to fun and
to further sexual adventure. Young
mothers may tire of the work
involved, thus creating a special role for
grandmothers, some of them in
their mid-thirties, who may often take on the
responsibility of raising the
child as one of their own. Obviously this is
not the case of all families in
the Village-Northton ghetto, for there are
stable families in even the most
desperate neighborhoods, and not all
fathers will abandon their roles
as fathers. But the overall pattern is
one that seems destined to produce
infants, who will often reproduce the
despair of their own childhoods,
or lack of childhoods.
No other aspect of life in the
Village- Northton ghetto is more chilling
than the influence of drugs,
particularly crack cocaine. Crack destroys
everything that makes a viable
community possible. Friendships and trust
are turned into mechanisms for
hooking new addicts. Crack "zombies," in
Anderson's account become more
desperate and more dangerous than what used
to be called "junkies,"
for they approach crime with a new boldness. As
Anderson writes, "They seem
to lack a sense of reality and the immediate
consequences of their
behavior." The drug crisis has given rise to addicts
who scavenge the area with sad
tales, or who aggressively beg for
money. Some even go door to
door, alarming residents. These people also
commit a large amount of the local
crime, so residents believe. But unlike
ordinary thieves and muggers,
crack addicts are desperate people who are
not always sensible, and they make
take chances ordinary criminals would
not risk, thus making the streets
and public spaces increasingly
dangerous. The old heads and
strong women of this community look on in
shock and dismay as crack
establishes a new status hierarchy in the community.
In the Village-Northton area, at
least two distinct but overlapping
cultures give the appearance of
coexisting in relative peace. The first
comprises the middle class Whites,
along with a small number of middle
class Blacks and others.
Compared with most of their Black neighbors,
these people appear highly
privileged. Some have money, and many are well
educated, having grown up in
suburban communities and attended some of the
finest preparatory schools,
colleges and universities in the country. Most
residents are liberal on social
issues, but the rise in Black-on-White
street crime pushes many toward a
more conservative stance, in which racial
intolerance often emerges.
Generally, Villagers are concerned with "good"
education for their children, a
clean and safe neighborhood, property
values, and intolerance toward
people who are different from them or deemed
less fortunate. Thus many
people, particularly recently arrived Whites,
see residents of the Black ghetto
as desperate and perhaps dangerous and
feel a need to protect themselves.
In regards to education, they are
blinded by the assumption that all
public schools are inferior, and they
readily send their children to
private schools, bypassing important
opportunities for community
involvement. Eventually they move to the
suburbs for the schools.
The picture that Anderson paints
in Streetwise is not of Black
underdevelopment and misdirection in
the Village-Northton ghetto, but of a
pattern of social isolation and
racial oppression affecting the social,
economic, and political
development of Black communities across
America. The efforts of the
government must encourage the private sector
to take the initiative to take an
interest in the poverty stricken
inner-city neighborhoods and do
things they may normally consider as beyond
the call of duty, and the Black
residents of inner cities should look to
better themselves, they should
want more than to rule the ghetto, but to
rule the world, for the welfare of
our cities is at stake.
From: Ian Garrett ijgarre@ILSTU.EDU
Subject: The Streetwise Book Review (Garrett)
Streetwise, Elijah Anderson. University of Chicago Press,
1990.
Elijah Anderson tackles the always familiar, yet always changing concept
of race relations in America in
his book, Streetwise. The focus is between
two econonomicly, socially, and
racially different communities in the
Philadelphia area, and how the
people attempt to co-exist with each other.
The study reflects on the changing
faces of each community over time,
between the early 50's up to the
beginning of the 1990's. Anderson focuses
upon the communities' variance of
opinions toward the impact of drugs, sex
codes and family behavior, as well
as the perception of the black male and
his role against his most notable
adversary, the police. Rooted within
these differences is the examination
of how both areas and their
inhabitants see themselves, and
others.
Early in the story, Anderson makes relevant the fact that both communities
are supposedly subjected to the
same problems, however, the black community
suffers the most over time. Today,
(late 1980's) inhabitants of the
Northton area during its less
turbulent times that have moved into the
suburbs face a continual onslaught
of negative reaction from their white
counterparts in "The
Village"; an area adjacent to Northton becoming
increasing upper class and white.
Many of those in the Village that have
seen the deterioration of the
Northton area generalize that blacks that
emigrate out of the area into more
livable areas also bring their
'baggage'. Village whites believe
this baggage, will slowly lower the land
value of their area whilst
increasing crime and other community problems.
In this case, many outsiders of
Northton are quick to point that "they"
(blacks) are the biggest threat to
community safety and financial progress.
However, Anderson asserts that in
areas such as Northton, a lack of
educational opportunities, moral
values, and hope lead to a general lack of
respect toward people and property
by younger generations of blacks. These
issues, along with the constant
fear and unprecedented withdrawal by black
and white middle America has
helped lead to total isolation of the black
underclass, causing many of the
deplorable social and economic conditions
we see in numerous ghettos of
urban America.
The political and social aspects of life within both communities is what
Anderson focuses his analyses
upon. Northton is a predominantly lower
income African American community,
whereas The Village is economically
empowered and
becoming a completely a white
middle and upper class community. In order
for the reader to understand the
strife between the areas, Anderson
stresses the opinions of the
"street", namely those who live in the
Northton area. The responses of
many in the Northton community only
reiterate the idea that America as
a whole has given up on them. Without
sufficient opportunities for many
to empower themselves, a problematic
cycle emerges in areas that need
the most support from the neighboring
communities, as well as others.
Black middle class individuals that have
left the area for "greener
pastures" in the suburbs create a vacuum to those
that used to live in the black
neighborhoods. With no strong black role
models to look up to, many of the
Northton youth find themselves going down
the illegitimate path to find
respect and stability. Most youth in the
Northton area found their success
through drugs and violence. The drug
problem is examined, and the book
begins to make firm assertions about why
such issues are evident. The
heightened deterioration of the black
community stems from the
introduction of crack cocaine in the early 1980's.
Anderson makes the claim that
cocaine is the most visible and volatile icon
that has led to greater
destruction of the black community. With its
increasing number of addicts,
'crack' causes individuals to "do things they
would never usually do--like steal
or even kill family in order to sustain
their addictions. The drug becomes
the most important object to the users
and sellers, and only deteriorates
the image and vitality of the community
by attracting younger victims.
This cycle is what seemingly dooms the black
community more than any other.
However rousing and true, Anderson
makes the mistake of making most of his
comments from the view of the
black community. This subjectivity makes the
book a bit more frustrating to a
black male--such as myself. There are
massive generalizations of
"crack whores" and "drug pushers" that the
reader must almost forcibly assume
that they are black. We
are perceiving to understand that
this is strictly a black problem that
only affects African Americans in
predominantly low income black
communities. The fact is that
these problems are extremely universal. Mass
media has a tendency to shine the
spotlight upon the problems of African
Americans. White America has
constantly seen "race relations" as a
"them-us" issue. It
never seems to be a "we" issue.
Along with the problem of drugs, the family structure falters as younger
adults that already have no
legitimate financial opportunities in their
area resort to those of
the illegal means (drugs,
prostitution, wedlock). Biological and surrogate
parents lose a grip upon their
children to the streets. In addition, the
older citizens of Northton, that
have lived through the progress and the
debacle of the community, are
often less respected
and become targets of anger
.Families begin to break apart, and the
community loses more continuity.
The remaining chapters of Streetwise show what Northton looks like to the
outsiders. Although he continues
to chronicle the issues of violence and
racism between the two
communities, the following chapters speak of those
living around Northton, The
perception of the black male to others, namely
whites, and the conflict between
the police and the black male. Anderson is
able to extract the opinions of
many in the white community, and as
expected, man of them are the
same. Village whites continually used the
reference that race relations is
strictly "them versus us" analogy.
Anderson writes about constant
bouts of fear and uncertainty by many
Villagers that must commute
through the Northton area. In a move that is no
less ironic, middle class blacks
of Northton had also shown the same
sentiment. Sometimes, that
sentiment was more aggressive that that of their
white counterparts. It is here
that one can understand the burgeoning rift
between that of the black middle
class and black underclass. Although the
problems are evident, Anderson
stays true to the "streetwise"
interpretations of how things are
seen and done by those that live between
both areas.
In an idea that goes beyond streetwise, the suburban white community has
tried to flee the problems of the
ghetto, however increasing numbers of
predominantly young white males
and growing numbers of females are grabbing
on to the "ghetto"
lifestyle and mentality. Numerous scores of suburban
white males are attempting to
identify with what they see as the "hip"
things to them as conversely
tragic problems in many black communities. In
this sense, it is beyond
streetwise. White males and females see "hustlin",
ballin", and drug usage,
among other negative staples of the black
community areas as interesting and
compelling. It has provoked a greater
sense of violence and disrespect
toward authority in many suburban
households. Pop culture has
constantly glorified this image as being cool.
It's almost as if many of them
want to portray these images and characters
they only see. One major
difference---they only see it on television and
print media, many do not live in
such areas. If one looks around any local
mall, especially in the
suburbs, it is truly staggering. A problem that
many in the black community are
trying to escape is the same one that
suburban america finds hugely
entertaining, profitable, and popular. As
the issue becomes more pronounced,
it will be interesting to see how
suburban America handles this
growing problem in their neighborhoods.
In Streetwise, Anderson chronicles the racially dominant problems in the
paper, such as interaction and
social differences in attitudes and actions.
Towards the conclusion of the
book, we find that Anderson sheds a racial
'silver lining' across what seems
to be a never ending problem to those
living in such areas. Anderson's
mission in Streetwise is to show that in
spite of many of us have differing
backgrounds and the living conditions,
there exists a medium. That medium
is to attain knowledge of those that
live in both areas. This
knowledge, helps for each member of Northton and
the Village, among others, to at
least make strides to understand the
cries, fears, and issues of each
community. Such simple knowledge may help
lead to lessened amounts of white
flight, drug usage, and black on black
crime. Seemingly it is a
proverbial long shot, but it is a legitimate try.
The message is entrenched in the
fact that whites must do a better job of
not withdrawing, but understanding
the code of the street. A community is
only as good as its people.
Sometimes it takes the help of many areas to
help resurrect one that has fallen
by the wayside. The knowledge of being
"streetwise" may not
tear all the barriers down between the two races, but
it may provide a firm foundation
to build from in the always changing and
highly frustrating issues of race,
social and economic relations within
urban and suburban America.
From: allana michelle hennette <amhenne@ILSTU.EDU>
Streetwise: Race, Class,
and Change in an Urban Community by Elijah Anderson
Every day a number of us
walk down a street or into a grocery store and upon
doing this we encounter
people. These people are of a mixed
race, gender, and
socioeconomic status, but
most of them are simply doing the same things we are
doing, going to an
appointment or buying a gallon of milk.
But many of us take
a mental inventory of
these people. We look at their clothes,
their shoes,
their faces for signs of
similarities or differences, and if we decide there is
something different we
may look longer. The question is what
are we looking
for? Signs that the person could be a threat or a
nuisance is often the
answer. In the Village-Northton community the
question is asked often and the
answers are unsettling. The community in question is racially and
economically
diversified and the
residents living within the communities are learning how to
live with one another in
a quickly changing area.
Village-Northton is a
fictitious name for an area near a larger, industrial
city that houses
universities, factories, corporations, and a large
population. The Village is an area of racially mixed
middle to upper class
residents. The Village
range from residents of more than twenty years to newly
arrived yuppies that buy
cheap and gentrify the areas. Residents
of the
Village tend to have
mixed feelings about the gentrification of the area. Many
see it as a boon, while
others see it as insidious. The area is
being cleaned
up and beautified, and property
values are rising, but residents that cannot
afford the higher rents
and property taxes are being forced out, often into
crime stricken
ghettos. Village residents do not see
their community as
perfect or crime free,
but rather as a fairly safe community in which to raise
their families.
On the other hand,
Northton is the antithesis of the Village.
It is a crime
and poverty ridden area
which is home to a large black population.
Many of the
residents are working
people who simply cannot afford life in the Village or
the suburbs, but are
forced to reside in an area which poses a threat to their
well being. Unfortunately, not all residents of Northton
are legitimate,
hardworking citizens; the
problem of drugs runs rampant on the streets and in
the youth of
Northton. Drug dealers can be found
with ease, often spotted by
the street “uniform” of
Adidas or Fila shoes and clothing, a hat, possibly
jewelry or a large
radio. This uniform is the sign of
ill-gotten gains and
many of the younger
residents of Northton attempt to emulate these drug
dealers, beginning a life
of crime that many cannot escape. Other residents of
Northton include welfare
mothers, street gangs, and drug addicts, all of which
contribute to the
problems of the community.
The problems that face
Village-Northton are diverse, but most of the residents
believe the root of the
problem is in drugs. Crack cocaine is
blamed for
everything from street
crime to unwanted pregnancy to unemployment and
justifiably so. Drug dealers look and act in a specific
manner which may
either gain respect or
disdain from neighbors and many young residents want to
imitate the dealers by
dressing as the dealers do and dealing or running
errands for the
dealers. The young residents see the
dealers as a success
because they wear the
proper clothes, wear expensive jewelry, and drive nice
cars and since most of
the young people have no other role models, the drug
dealer becomes
theirs. Babies and children go hungry
because their mothers use
any money she gets to buy
crack. Men and women turn to crime and
aggressive
begging for money to get
their highs. All of this makes Northton
an unsafe and
undesirable community in
which to live, although thousands live there.
The drug culture of Northton is also
considered a threat to the Village.
Dealers move into the
Village to peddle their goods and recruit young people to
join in the drug
culture. Crack houses can be found
filled with people who are
selling drugs and their
bodies for money or a high. This
affects the entire
joined community because
problems in one area are certain to ooze into the
other. Residents attempt to control the drug
problem with vigilantism and
police involvement, to
some avail, but when some see the arrest of a drug
dealer as putting the man
out of work, other issues must be encountered.
Although most residents
consider the arrest of a drug dealer an improvement in
the drug situation, it is
also understood that someone is waiting to take his
place the next day.
Race relations in the
Village-Northton area range from neighborly to cordial to
unfriendly and
beyond. Anderson, a resident of the
village, attempts to
befriend many residents,
black and white, as well as observe them from a
distance. He uses these interviews and observations to
illustrate the
relations between the
residents. He often refers to incidents
in which a
single white woman is
walking alone at night and she encounters one or several
black men. As a safety measure she will go onto a lit
porch or begin walking
faster, and in response,
the men will either laugh or assure the women that she
has nothing to fear. This incident is not one uncommon anywhere
in America;
often fright will
overpower common sense or any street wisdom the woman may
have.
Anderson’s investigation of
the Village-Northton area tends to focus most often
on the negative aspects
of life. The declining housing
opportunities, the
rising drug culture and
the rise of other illegal activities contribute to this
unfavorable view, as well
as the lack of job opportunities and legitimate role
models. Drug dealers who only care about themselves
have replaced the old
heads of the past, the
legitimate role models that have steady jobs and a good
family life. Residents of Northton are slowly turning to
welfare and crime as
their income, rather than
looking for a legitimate job, but the job
opportunities are limited
to low paying jobs in fast food or other service
industries. Of course there are other residents of
Northton who work long,
hard hours for their
status in the community, who work to make life better for
their families and
themselves, and those are the people who receive little
exposure. More disclosure should also be given to the
old heads who are
attempting to steer the
local children in the correct direction, to give them
some guidance when their
parents are away or at work. These
citizens look
after the kids, but now
there is no one new to replace the aging old heads, the
younger men and women
have turned to a simpler life of crime and drugs or they
simply do not have the
time and energy to put into a local child.
As the old
heads die or move, no one
is there to replace them, which leads to a bleak
future for the local
children.
The interactions between
the police and the local black males are also seen in
a bad light. There is a distinction between local police
and the city police
and the local police seem
to be mostly helpful and aware of the problems in the
Village-Northton
area. In this area “a young black male
is a suspect until he
proves he is not. The burden of proof is not easily lifted.”
(192) In
government classes we
learn that a suspect is “innocent until proven guilty”
which is an absolute
contradiction to the occurrences in the Village-Northton.
Anderson relates observations
of how young, black men are constantly harassed
by the police even though
these black men have every right to be where they
are. Also interesting is the way that these
young, black men will defer to the
police when they do
arrive. The young men will say “sir”
and not look them in
the eye, many will
abandon their usual type of dress, especially the “gangster
uniform” if he is
constantly harassed, in order to gain some reprieve from the
unrelenting
harassment. Some of these young men
will quit wearing a coat or a
hat because someone else
has one that is identical in order to avoid being
confused with someone
else in the likelihood that a crime may be committed.
Most of these young,
black men try to avoid the police if possible, but
sometimes the police seek
out trouble. These officers were called
Nazis by the
local people because of
their size and attitudes as well as for their
brutality, and are often
an unwelcome sight in the community.
Anderson clearly focuses
on the largest problems of the Village-Northton
community, the poverty,
drugs, lack of trust between blacks and whites, which
is a problem of any large
city in America. The working class of
America is
often banished to ghetto
or low-income areas because the wealthy take their
homes in the name of
gentrification. Most of the people of
the Village lack
the street wisdom that is
necessary to live in the city and especially in this
specific area where
contact with people of other races occurs daily. Fear and
uncertainty are poorly
hidden behind the faces of these residents who act out
of this fear of blacks
rather than attempt to learn the street wisdom that
would enable them to live
more comfortably in their community.
By placing some of the
blame on the de-industrialization of Eastern City and
some of it on the federal
government’s economic plans, Anderson tries to
explain why the rich are
getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The
lack of low skill, low
education jobs has moved away from the city leaving
unskilled, poorly educated
workers without real job opportunities.
They are
forced to work at fast
food restaurants and other low paying jobs that rarely
pay enough to support
themselves and not to mention a family.
The government’s
discontinuation of many
programs also contributes to the decline of the poor.
They no longer can rely
on supplemental income from the government, which puts
these people in desperate
situations, and they often turn to crime or they try
to leave their
neighborhoods in search of better opportunities. The
opportunities of the poor
diminish every time a wealthy person moves into the
Village and takes over
another home, driving the property costs and property
taxes up and the less
affluent residents into the ghettos.
The fear that the
white people feel is
often unnecessary because they lack the street wisdom to
differentiate between a
black man who is going about his business and a black
youth who is looking for
trouble. White people tend to group all
blacks into
the category of trouble
makers or drug dealers when there are so many different
categories of people, not
only black, but also white, who are legitimate as
well as trouble causing
members of society.
Anderson, a resident of
the Village-Northton community, is a black man who
investigates the area by
interviewing and observing the day-to-day happenings
of the people and the
streets. He encounters drug addicts,
police officers,
and “old heads”, all of
which present and add interesting accounts to his
observations. Especially interesting is the manner in
which these people
conduct themselves on the
streets. Anderson labels this conduct
either street
etiquette or street
wisdom, which he likens to a scalpel and a hatchet by
stating that “one is
capable of cutting extremely fine lines between vitally
different organs; the
other can only make broader, more brutal strokes. (231)
This street etiquette and
wisdom must be learned through experience and over
time, one cannot simply
acquire this expertise. Street wisdom
is essential if
one is to live and thrive
in the Village-Northton community, and Anderson finds
several examples of
street wisdom and the less distinctive street etiquette
throughout his years of
observation. Both are tools of
survival, but street
wisdom could also be a tool
of community building and friendship, which is an
important tool in an area
such as the Village-Northton where suspicion and
distrust follow many
people everywhere they go.
In addition to the
gaining of street wisdom is the hope that educational
opportunities will expand
and government programs will be re-instated.
Anderson looks to
education and skills training as a savior for the poor
residents of this
community. The disparity between public
schools and private
schools is a growing
problem, but most residents are not able to send their
children to private
schools, so these children are forced to go to school in
facilities that are old
and dilapidated and to learn from teachers who are
inexperienced or out of
touch with current educational ideas.
These are the
few suggestions he poses
on how to improve the Village-Northton situation and
these hold true for
nearly any large city.
From: Casey & Erin Fennessey fenne@DAVESWORLD.NET
Subject: Review of Streetwise (Erin k. Fennessey)
cc:
ekfenne@ilstu.edu
Review of Street Wise:
Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community;
author, Elijah Anderson;
by Erin k. Fennessey
How can the influence of drugs
dealers, crack addicts, violent criminals, and abusive police officers on
racial tension in an urban atmosphere be addressed ? STREET WISE addresses the
problems associated with all of those issues by examining the levels of
division and disparity that have emerged between two real communities
consisting of a mostly black ghetto, fictitiously labeled Northton, and a mostly white but slightly
more diverse neighboring middle class
community, labeled the Village.
Personal accounts from residents living in Northton and the Village
illuminate some of the cultural barriers and harsh economic realities that
separate these communities. However, it
is the pervasive fear of violence that provides a common bond between these
communities. Introduction of the drug economy, and the influence of rapid and
extreme social changes in Northton and the Village over the last several
decades have resulted in severe alienation between generations, social and
economic classes, and racial groups. In
an attempt to breach these detrimental divisions on a superficial level, the
author, Anderson, proposes a brand of street wisdom that may help new
inhabitants of the Village negotiate the menacing streets. In light of the severely crippling dilemmas
these communities are faced with on a daily basis, the implementation of
“street wise” behavior equates to the application of a Band-Aid on a wound that
requires stitching
Anderson spends a great
deal of time and effort explaining the dynamics of these two communities. From the early 1800’s to the present day,
major social changes based on class and ethnic composition impacted the
neighborhood. Every major social
movement since the 1950’s left its mark on the attitudes and values espoused by
the traditional Villager. Traditional villagers
are a mixed lot left over from a society of Quakers, counterculturist from the
70’s, anti-war organizers, college students, professionals, and a working class
who have long been committed to the neighborhood. The counterculture of the
sixties and seventies is portrayed as an era in the Village when tolerance,
individual expression, and relative racial harmony existed. Those values may
have carried more weight within certain segments of society at the time, but
bitter racism and inequalities have long been a part of the broad scope of
American culture. Northton was a
byproduct of economic development that resulted in racial segregation. As the
Village organized to improve property values, Northton became a separate
community composed of black residents who could no longer afford to pay for
property upkeep and property taxes within the Village. The exhaustive coverage of the gradual
division of a single community into two diametrical societies provides a backdrop
for the underlying attitudes that affect the current relationship between the
communities. Anderson tried to develop an historical framework that would
explain the wide range of backgrounds and attitudes expressed by the different
segments of society within the Village. The attempt to incorporate the
expansive development of traditional and alternative belief systems within
these two communities leaves the reader with a lot of information and very
little substantive analysis.
An examination of the
traditional relationships and social interaction between the “old heads”, older
male role model figures, and the youth culture helps the reader identify with
the people of Northton, and begin to understand the forceful impact the current
social changes have had on the fabric of their community. Old heads traditionally represented a
socializing force, outside of family relationships, responsible for teaching
young men values such as, “commitment to honesty, hard work, independence, and
family values,” (pp. 70). Strong criticism of today’s youth by old heads within
the community is an example of the generation gap that has developed into a
chasm between segments of the community.
Community values and standard of behavior have ceased to be enforced by
the older generation. Many people find
themselves adapting to behavior that would otherwise be unacceptable, because
they live in a constant state of fear.
Drug related violence and petty crime forces people to deal with the
young people in their community with fear and trepidation. Miss Porter, an older resident of the
community, explains how she used to look out for the young people in the
streets around her home. She assumed the responsibility of admonishing, and even on occasion spanking young children
that strayed into inappropriate or dangerous behavior (pp. 74-75). Now adults
feels inhibited from even speaking a harsh word to unsupervised youngsters
causing trouble on their own doorsteps.
Old heads in Northton find themselves trapped in the same precarious environment that often defeats the young people of their
community. The pervasive use and sale of drugs transforms the casual social
interaction that occurs in the course of every day life to become an element
vital to survival. A void in the
community was created by the breakdown of the role model relationship between
working class adults and children.
Traditional role models are now readily replaced with the appealing
quick material benefits of the drug culture.
The former sense of community that bound the people of Northton together
deteriorated into estrangement between neighbors. In an attempt to explain this divergence, Anderson sights
unemployment, the introduction of the drug economy, and the associated exit of
the black middle class which traditionally acted as a, “stabilizing social force,”
in the community as the key reasons the community has deteriorated into a
ghetto( pp. 57). This very basic analysis identifies some of the key aspects
that affect the community but it fails to comprehensively explain the vast
discrepancy in values and culture over one or two generations.
Incidence of divorce,
teenage pregnancy, and single parent families reliant on welfare to make ends
meat have also played a detrimental role in the community of Northton. Anderson attributes these rising trends to
the impact of poverty. Young men seek to gain as many conquest as possible
without getting caught, while young women are left with unplanned and
frequently unwanted pregnancies.
Sometimes these patterns of behavior stem from a desire on the part of a
young girl to provide a home of her own, preferably with the young man as a
provider. Young women often find they
are unable to convince the young father, or more importantly the fathers
mother, to accept the baby. For the young fathers who do accept a baby as their
own, the role of parenting is often carried out by infrequent contact, and
perhaps intermittent monetary support.
While this behavior is not initially acceptable to the young girls
family, the addition of a baby into the family is usually accommodated though a
support system that allows the mother to continue to engage in social
interaction among her peers. Social
interaction between young women who have babies has lead to a phenomenon
described by Anderson as a, “baby club”
( pp. 123-124). Many young girls
treat their babies like dolls dressed in new and expensive clothing which is
shown off as a sign of status, even if they are surviving on welfare. The development of this new disjointed
family unit tends to contribute to the overall burden of poverty in the
community. Most of the children who
fall prey to these circumstances are from single parent families
themselves. Children raised in strict
two parent families have a better chance of getting through their childhood
without the complications of unwanted
pregnancies, but the lure and availability of drugs in the community can
undermine the strongest families desires to protect their children from
becoming street kids.
Anderson’s observance of
social interaction between these communities emphasizes the treatment of black
males by society at large and by the police specifically. In contrast to the sometimes ingenious ways
the residents of Northton have contrived to deal with the threat of crime in their
community, an increasing majority of Villagers respond to young black males
moving about their community with a level of fear that exacerbates the existing
problems. When Villagers encounter
young black males in their community, their common reactions range from obvious
avoidance to wary recognition. Any
reported incidence of harassment, mugging, rape, or murder circulates through
the community, and leaves in its wake a tangible atmosphere of paranoia. A highly visible presence, and a guaranteed
response by the local police tends to assuage the Villager’s rumpled sense of
complacency. Local police officers
response to crime in the community includes strict observance, and on occasion
harassment of any young black males walking through the community. While the local police have established an
uneasy working relationship around the young black males within the Village and
Northton communities, the same can not be said about the state police force.
Anderson interviewed several young men who reported serious instances of
misconduct by state troopers visiting the Northton community. The tensions developed between the Village,
Northton, and the police force result in cautious and sometimes ambivalent
neighborhoods.
The true substance of
this book lies in the recognition of grim social trends that have surfaced in
some form or another in almost every American community. Anderson’s suggestion
that modifying the social aspects of our behavior may help minimize racially
based conflict resulting from typical day to day interactions with strangers is
laughable. These vivid and insightful accounts of social interaction are
valuable only insofar as they bring about reflection, recognition, and
understanding of seemingly insurmountable obstacles that must be dealt with by
the people of this nation. How many young people in our grade schools and high
schools will be directly and indirectly affected by drugs? How many junior high and high school classes
can count single parents among their peers?
From identifying the new importance of fashions recognizable as “street
wear,” to the observance of young women
and their babies socializing with
peers, the trends observed in these two communities over the last few decades
provide snapshots of significant widespread cultural trends in America. Other
than a minimal reference to the necessity of action from Washington to resolve
some of the problems in the Northton community, no viable solutions are
recognized or recommended. Street
wisdom may or may not help a few people adapt to urban life without becoming a
victim of crime, but the demoralizing forces of racial prejudice, crime,
violence, and the influence of the drug culture on lower income urban
communities should not be brushed aside without attempting to formulate a
meaningful analysis.
From: Justin Mayo jdmayo@ilstu.edu
Streetwise by Elijah
Anderson
Elijah Anderson’s book
about the communities of “Northton” and “the Village”
was an interesting take on
the problems which face racially mixed urban
communities. Mr. Anderson provided a detailed historical
account of the area
and then proceeded to
analyze some of the problems that occur in these
communities. These problems, as seen through Anderson’s
eyes, include a
growing distrust amongst
all of the races, a decreasing amount of role models
for the young black
population, and a lack of what Anderson calls “street
etiquette” among the
white population. However, Mr. Anderson
never gives a
solution to the problems
he presents. He never gives any
possible answers and
instead seems to place
blame on one group.
One of the aspects I
found very interesting in Anderson’s analysis of the area
is in his description of
the area only twenty, thirty years before the events
he goes into more
depth. Before becoming an area full of
racial tension,
Anderson describes the
area as being racially diverse and harmonious.
He
includes interviews from
people of all races discussing the openness of the
area. From this environment, through a process of
relocation and a series of
events, the area slowly
becomes one with growing hostilities amongst the
races. As time moves on, the area changes from one
of tolerance to one of
growing intolerance.
Anderson provides some
interesting examples proving how the two races seemed to
separate thus creating
tensions between. One such example
involved the Village
school. The racial make-up of the school was 60%
back, 40% white. These two
races took classes
together and as such, tolerance was apparently achieved.
Then the school changed
the way it taught their students. They
split their
classes into “open” and
“traditional” classrooms as education progressed.
However, according to
Anderson the black families did not want their children
to fall behind in
classwork. Therefore, instead of
progressing with the
school, they kept their
children in the traditional classrooms.
Most white
families did the exact
opposite therefore causing a form of unforced
segregation.
As these children grew
up, Anderson discusses the fact that black children
seemed to loose their
role models. What Anderson calls “old
heads” and “old
hens,” older men and
women who would guide the children as they grew up
teaching them how they
should behave. They acted as role
models for the
younger generations. As drugs and other criminal activities began
to encroach
upon the area, the faces
of these role models changed. Suddenly,
the
hard-working, older
generation did not seem as glamorous and secure. Instead,
the flashy clothes, cars
and jewelry of the drug dealers seemed better.
Therefore, the younger
generation seemed more successful providing a new form
of role models.
Anderson also discusses
how white people seem to lack what he calls “street
wisdom” or “street
etiquette.” He explains that, “one
gains street wisdom
through a long and
sometimes arduous process that begins with a certain
‘uptightness’ about the
urban environment, with decisions based on stereotypes
and simple rules of
public etiquette.” (Anderson, Streetwise, p. 6) This is in
part his solution to the
problems of the racial tensions in Northton and the
Village. In a sense, he blames white people for not
having more street
wisdom. In the book, he seems to imply that if white
people had more street
wisdom, all races would
be able to live together with the same level of
tolerance as the area had
thirty years ago.
Anderson provides several
examples of what street wisdom is. For
example,
owning a dog is a form of
street wisdom. Because, as he states,
black people
are afraid of dogs, if a
white person wants to keep away from trouble, he walks
a dog whenever he walks
around the neighborhood. He keeps a dog
at home to
ward away those who would
rob his home. He does these things and
in doing so,
decreases his risk of
becoming a victim.
Another example would be
altering the route you take when travelling to a
destination such as a
store, bank, or bus stop. Anderson
provides an anecdote
about an elderly woman who
now walks with a cane and has altered her route
based on a time when she
was mugged while walking to a grocery store.
This
woman has taken an
incident and learned from it. She has
altered her route and
carries a cane making her
less of a victim. Therefore, she has
become more
streetwise.
A third example of what
one does to become more streetwise is always carrying
some money in one’s
wallet or purse. By doing so, when one
is mugged, they
have some money to give
to the attackers, therefore decreasing the chance that
any other sort of harm
would come to him or her. One becomes
more streetwise
when one learns to take
these different sorts of protective measures.
Everything from owning a
dog, altering your walking route, and carrying money
in case you were to be
mugged are examples Anderson uses to prove one’s street
wisdom. However, Anderson seems to miss a major
point here.
Anderson refers to the
times gone by when the races live in harmony many times
throughout the book. Yet the “wise” white people who are
providing the
examples Anderson uses
are not promoting the same things.
Anderson states
that, “the central
strategy in maintaining safety on the streets is to avoid
strange black males.”
(Anderson, p. 208) This is not the same
feel for the
area in the past that
Anderson gives. On one end, he seems to
be aiming for
that as an ideal, yet he
seems to promote further segregation of the races.
When the white man walks
his dog as protection from the black man, he is
further pushing the two races
apart. The same is true for the woman
who
changes her route in
order to avoid the black man who may be down one street.
When the man carries
money for the sole purpose of being mugged, he is implying
that the black men are
going to do this and therefore drives yet another wedge
between the two races.
As I read the book, I
could not help but get a sense that nobody in this area
had a sense of having
something of their own. Because of the
racial borders
that seemed to divide
Northton, blacks in the area seemed not to have a sense
of ownership in the
area. There is not a sense that they
feel as though they
belong there. They seem to be very protective of what they
feel they may
loose. In addition to this, the white people of the
area do not seem
comfortable there
either. They seem to be afraid and
always living in fear.
They seem to be afraid of
the black people in the area just as the black people
in the area seem to be
afraid of the whites.
Overall, I found this
book interesting. I felt as though
Anderson provided an
interesting perspective
on the area. I appreciated the history
of the area,
but was glad when he
began to actually analyze the current relations. I did
not like the conclusion
about white people being streetwise. I
feel as though
there were other
solutions to the racial tensions that existed.
It seemed to
me as though he blamed
one race for the entire problem and I disagree with this
aspect of his analysis.
From: Laurie Hartzell ogrb@YAHOO.COM
Subject: reply to Erin Fennessey
Erin Fennessey's review of Streetwise is a
well-written overview of key themes to Anderson's book. Simultaneously this review
seems to synthesize several central concepts pervading the discussions of POS
334 thus far. The two communities of Northton and the village both suffered the
results of poor economic and community development. As with the story of
Canarsie, these communities became areas of facial polarization, largely
affected by segregation resulting from poorly integrated development plans. The
sense of community deteriorated in most of these stories after the 70's. The
fact that so many of these communities have suffered from the disintegration of
social relations and a lack of civic capacity demonstrates a theme pervading
many American communities. It is possible that unemployment, as well as the
presence of the drug economy have influenced this disintegration of community
relations. However, blaming this on the exit of the black middle class from the
communities in Streetwise, or in any other US community seems ridiculous.
Middle class neighborhoods throughout the country are suffering from the
disintegration of community; this seems to be an unfortunate theme American
society as of late, rather than a problem of black lower class neighborhoods.
The middle class is not stabilizing force that many of these books have
portrayed them to be. The author of Slim's Table attempted to demonstrate that
the lower or working class blacks share a set of values. Clearly the lower
classes are capable of maintaining a community on their own if they are able to
combine unity with support services from developers and such.
Along with the themes of ethnic conflicts,
and racial and class segregation, Fennessey points out the lack of solutions
being offered. Both Canarsie, and There Are No Children Here, fail to offer a
solution as well. It seems that even the intense conflict among members of this
class in terms of solutions represents the lack of feasible remedies being
proposed by the larger society, let alone congress, or developers.
-Laurie Beth Hartzell
__________________________________________________
From: Melanie McGowan <mkmcgow@ILSTU.EDU>
Elijah Anderson Streetwise.
reviewed by Melanie
McGowan
Crime, drugs,
unemployment, and lack of role models plague the neighborhood
of Northton. This has drastically affected the
neighboring community that
Elijah Anderson calls the
Village in his Ethnography Streetwise.
In Streetwise , Anderson
describes the unique history of these two
Neighborhoods and the
ways that they influence each other.
Northton and the
Village are presumably
parts of the city of Philadelphia (Anderson never
specifically identifies
the city as Philadelphia). The
communities in
Streetwise experienced
many of the problems of large cities in the 1970's
and 1980's. Some of the problems resulted from factories
moving to areas
where they could operate
cheaper, with fewer regulations. This leads to
unemployment. Other
problems include the emergence of drug cultures and
specifically a new
powerful drug, crack. The problems go
much deeper than
simply crime and poverty;
racism and informal segregation have also resulted.
Anderson describes the
Village as a community that had been committed to
diversity. In the 1950's groups such as The Village
Friends and The Village
Development Committee
actively encouraged blacks to join their community.
This liberal attitude
held through the 1960's when the Village was open to
liberals and political
radicals. The late 70's and early 80's
brought about
a change in the village,
when "Yuppies" started buying the old Victorian
homes as an
investment. The more conservative
element caused the Village to
lose some of its sense of
community. The Village was also greatly
affected
by the changing community
of Northton, which spilled over into the Village.
In the 1950's, Northton
had been a community of lower and middle class
blacks. As time progressed, the middle class and
professionals started to
leave Northton in favor
of the suburbs. This left an absence of
role
models. Northton had community
leaders called "old heads", both male and
female that gave guidance
to the youths of Northton. These too
became fewer
in the 1970's and
80's. The guidance of the "old
heads" is no longer sought
after by the youths of
Northton. The work ethic that the
"old heads" once
taught seems to be
irrelevant with the absence of jobs. A
new type of role
model has replaced the
"old heads". He is a young
man who appears to be
successful by the clothes
he wears and the car he drives. He is
in fact a
drug dealer, and the
easy, glamorous life that he leads is tempting to the
Northton youth.
While drugs have long
been a problem in many large cities, the crack
epidemic escalated this
problem greatly. Anderson describes the
difference
between the crack addict
and other drug addicts, "One important difference
is the new boldness with
which pipers and zombies (crack addicts) approach
criminal activity; they
seem to lack a sense of reality and the immediate
consequences of their
behavior. In their agitated state,
zombies do things
even other drug addicts
would think twice about and perhaps
resist."(Anderson
p.88). This has lead to an increase in
crime, which
affects both Northton and
the Village. Besides the obvious
problems of
crime in the streets it
has created other problems for members of the
Village community; for
example, the distrust of young black males.
To be
"streetwise" in the Village in part means being leery of unknown
black
males. Black residents in the Village are all too
aware of this fact by the
way that whites react to
them and their frequent questioning by the police.
Anderson writes,
"When young black men appear, women (especially white
women) sometimes clutch
their pocketbooks. They may edge up
against their
companions or begin
walking stiffly and deliberately. On
spotting black
males from a distance,
other pedestrians often cross the street or give them
a wide berth as they
pass." (Anderson p.164). For a
young black male,
people in his community
assume the worst about him simply because of his
skin color and his
age. He is a source of fear for many in
his own
community, and Anderson
believes that he must then work harder to earn the
trust of others in his
community. Anderson further describes
being
"Streetwise" as
the manner in which the middle-class whites and middle-class
blacks conduct themselves
in public. This also adds to not only
the racial
divisions, but the class
divisions as well. Anderson describes that
avoidance of young
unknown blacks; "whites and middle-class blacks are
skilled in the art of
avoidance, using their eyes, ears, and bodies they
navigate safely. Although this seems to work for the
residents, however, it
vitiates comity between
the races. One class of people is
conditioned to
see itself as law-abiding
and culturally superior while viewing the other as
a socially bruised
underclass inclined to criminality." (Anderson p.9).
The police in the Village
also see race and age as cause for suspicion.
Anderson relayed an
interview with a seventeen-year-old black male that he
had observed being
questioned by the police. The police
officer wanted his
name, address, and
information on tough guys in the neighborhood, and then
the officer searched him
and let him go. The man told Anderson
that he was
not in a gang and he did
not have an arrest record. He said of
the
questioning, "I
guess he stopped me on principle, 'cause I'm black."
(Anderson p.195). This
type of harassment is less frequent as the black male
gets older, as is stated
by a twenty-seven- year old black professional that
Anderson interviewed;
"when I was younger, they could just stop me carte
blanche, any old time.
Name taken, searched, and this went on endlessly.
From the time I was about twelve until I was
sixteen or seventeen,
endlessly, endlessly --If
it happened to me today, now that I'm older, I
would really be
upset. In the old days when I was
younger, I didn't know
any better. You just expected it, you knew it was going
to happen, Cops
would come up, ' what are
you doing, where are you coming from?' Say things
to you. They might even call you nigger."
Anderson p.197). The stories of
the police range from
just harassment in the Village to intimidation and
violence in
Northton. In the Village, the young
black male is made aware at
an early age that he is
under more scrutiny than his white neighbors are
from the police as well
as other members of the community.
Another social problem
that has resulted from the deterioration of Northton
is the increasing number
of young single mothers. While this
problem is not
exclusive to poor urban
communities, it is particularly problematic due to
the sense of hopelessness
that many youths in Northton experience. Anderson
writes; "many
Northton adolescents see no future to derail-no hope for a
tomorrow much different
from today-hence they see little to lose by having a
child out of
wedlock."(Anderson p.113). In
addition to the belief that they
have little to lose by
having a child, the problem of teenage, single
mothers is furthered by
the other social attitudes in Northton.
Males gain
status by engaging in sex
with a large number of females. Females
are under
the illusion that having
a baby will better their lives because the father
will take care of
them. According to Anderson, this is
often not the case,
and the father abandons
the woman and baby.
In the conclusion of
Streetwise Anderson offers some solutions to the crime
and division of classes
in the Village-Northton area. Anderson
sees
improvements in education
as essential to help correct the problems.
He
also believes that drug
treatment programs need to be made available, and
that the government
should offer incentives to corporations to invest in
poverty- stricken areas
like Northton. These are very general
solutions to
the problems of the
community. The lack of adequate
education is certainly
a big problem in many
urban areas in the United States. Not
only is it a
problem to obtain the
money to correct the educational system, but it is
also difficult to find
good teachers who are willing to work in schools in
high-crime areas.
Anderson acknowledges that there is a high rate of burn
out among teachers in
Northton, but offers only that the schools need to be
restructured as a
solution.
These solutions are
necessary to help rebuild the community, but Anderson's
recommendations are
obvious cures to the ills of any urban community.
Anderson presents a great
deal of insight into the problems of urban
communities, but does not offer any substantive solutions to the problems.