Code of the street : decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city / Elijah Anderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, Elijah.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Social conditions.

African Americans.

African Americans--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Social life and customs.

Inner cities--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Inner cities.

Manners and customs.

Social conditions.

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social conditions.

Philadelphia (Pa.).

Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs.

Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Physical Description:

352 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton, [1999]

Summary:

Inner-city black America is often stereotyped by random, senseless street violence. In fact, although violence is a salient feature of the most impoverished inner-city communities, its use is far from random; rather, it is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, how you talk, how you behave, whether you make eye contact, your understanding of the pecking order--such crucial details can have life-or-death consequences, and young people are particularly at risk.

This brilliant examination of inner-city life shows that the code is a complex cultural response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope. The police are greatly distrusted and exercise little real authority here; an individual's safety and sense of worth are determined largely by how much respect he or she can command in public. Such deference is based on physical and psychological control and, too often, on an implied threat of violence.

Elijah Anderson demonstrates that the most powerful force counteracting the culture of the street is a strong, loving, decent family, and we meet many heroic figures in the course of this narrative. Unfortunately, in the most impoverished areas of the inner city, street culture thrives--and discourages open displays of decency--through its domination of public spaces. Surviving means obtaining "street knowledge" and understanding how, for decent kids, to "switch codes" when necessary. As a result, even individuals with higher, better aspirations often become entangled in the code and its self-destructive behaviors.

Contents:

Introduction: Down Germantown Avenue 15

Chapter 1 Decent and Street Families 35

Chapter 2 Campaigning for Respect 66

Chapter 3 Drugs, Violence, and Street Crime 107

Chapter 4 The Mating Game 142

Chapter 5 The Decent Daddy 179

Chapter 6 The Black Inner-City Grandmother in Transition 206

Chapter 7 John Turner's Story 237

Conclusion: The Conversion of a Role Model: Looking for Mr. Johnson 290.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [333]-342) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Storage copy inscribed by Sheldon Hackney by the author.

ISBN:

0393040232

OCLC:

39640019