Product Description

Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk. This incisive book examines the code as a 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. An individual's safety and sense of worth are determined by the respect he commands in public--a deference frequently based on an implied threat of violence. Unfortunately, even those with higher aspirations can often become entangled in the code's self-destructive behaviors. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33435 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780393320787
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
As sociologist Elijah Anderson shows in the detailed and devastating Code of the Street, the senseless crime in the inner city represents a complex, though ultimately self-defeating, set of social mores. These mores, called "codes," stress a hyperinflated sense of manhood through verbal boasts, drug selling, sexual prowess, and--ultimately--violence and death. "At the heart of the code is the issue of respect," Anderson writes, "loosely defined as being treated 'right' or being granted one's 'props' (or proper due) or the deference one deserves." Anderson reveals a world where unemployment is rampant, teenage pregnancy is common, and social and educational achievement is viewed as "acting white." Although Anderson states that racism is a major factor for this condition, he notes that this type of behavior is further exacerbated by modern economic and political forces, and that it has existed as far back as ancient Rome.

As an African American himself, Anderson moves through the middle- and lower-class Philadelphia neighborhoods with ease, interviewing a variety of subjects, all of whom deal daily with consequences of urban decay--from the high-achieving young woman who had to reject her poorer relatives to better herself, to the former delinquent who tries to go straight after returning from prison. For Anderson, these are the true heroes of Code of the Street: people who overcome the temptations of the streets to help create a better space for the next generation. --Eugene Holley Jr.

From Publishers Weekly
Not content to sugarcoat problems or to stockpile blame, Anderson (Streetwise and A Place on the Corner) takes a piercing look at the complex issues surrounding respect, social etiquette and family values in the multicultural neighborhoods along Philadelphia's Germantown Avenue. A major artery of the city, the street reflects the vast social and economic difficulties confronting many of the nation's urban centers. The book soars above other, similar studies when the author takes on the so-called "code of the street" in black areas. A journalist and professor of social sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, Anderson explores the differences between the "decent" families and the "street" families that form the spine of the communities, stressing the daily pressures that shape their choices and goals. He presents candid interviews with such residents as Diane, a principled single mom with four sons, battling valiantly to keep her family out of the trap of despair; Don, an aging gypsy cab driver and churchgoer; and Maggie, a dutiful mother who falls victim to drugs. Some of the book's most compelling chapters deal with the high cost of the drug culture and violence to the inhabitants of the inner city. Alternating between straightforward narrative and interviews, and without pandering to racial stereotypes, Anderson uncovers the confrontation between hard-working families struggling against tremendous odds to preserve their dreams of a better life for their children and the code of the streetA"the thug life"Athat is often the worst enemy of African-American communities. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Anderson (social science, Univ. of Pennsylvania) examines inner-city street rituals and violence with brilliant narrative style. Senseless violence, the ghetto's conspicuous and ubiquitous feature, does not usually occur at random; rather, it is triggered by a violation of the etiquette of the street, where the law has no relevance and the police no control. Survival requires the vigilant observance of unwritten rules governing every social interaction. A "wrong" eye contact may mean disrespect to the established pecking order, with potentially lethal consequences. Joblessness, racism, alienation, drug abuse, poverty, and hopelessness breed violence. But against all odds, pockets of thriving, loving families remain powerful forces of decency and hope. A new crop of authors, including Fred Taylor (Roll Away the Stone: Saving America's Children, LJ 1/99), are spelling out solutions to the dilemmas Anderson describes. A sobering work; highly recommended for all libraries.AChogollah Maroufi, California State Univ., Los Angeles
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

YOU must read this book (that means everyone)
Elijah Anderson has done an outstanding job of explaining the sociological, economic, and geographical factors that contribute to the mentality commonly seen among young men in the inner city and the violence that can emerge as a result.
As a young black man that grew up in a two parent home in suburban Maryland, I was extremely confused when I left my small town for middle school. It was there that I was first exposed to black children with less fortunate financial backgrounds, single parent homes, and low value of education and order. As Anderson explains, even in the suburban regions of Maryland adjacent to D.C. inner city attitudes, styles, trends, and even volatility can be seen in young blacks as a result of 'cultural diffusion'. A phenomenon which has a peculiar property of moving up the socioeconomic ladder in the black community.
What I appreciate about Mr. Anderson's book most is that it has finally helped me to answer the question of 'WHY', which has tormented me for almost 15 years. Why have I found myself to be different than many of my black peers as a young man and an adult when all I wanted was a good education, a good job, and to live a decent life. EVERY person, Black or White who has found themself glaring at the low socioeconomic black community and wondering what is wrong, or quoting Bill Cosby Rhetoric while watching a group of hoodlums bully any and everyone off of the sidewalk, or turning up your nose at a pregnant 19 year old girl yelling at her toddler as she mopes down the sidewalk... YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. Understanding is the beginning of dealing with what has become everyone's problem.

We All Live By The Codes
Elijah Anderson's Code of the Street is, as one would expect from an observer with Professor Anderswon's track record, extremely valuable in demystifying and humanizing the behavior of both the good and the bad of the people who live in the nation's black ghettos. With his usual keen eye and ear, and his interest in human behavior, and his good humor, Anderson puts us right on the streets of Philadelphia (and every other urban area), walking among the well-to-do and the striving and the desperate as we track Germantown Avenue from the environs of comfort and affluence back to the inner city. The book's value in explaining the behavior of those at the bottom of the society, whether that behavior is good or bad, as the normal reaction of human beings when faced with an extreme situation can't be over-praised. His description of the code of the street also rang bells for me that all of us, including those that live and work in far more rarefied environs, also operate by codes of behavior that, in both their good and bad manifestations, are fundamentally no different than the ones identified here. They, usually, are just expressed in a more genteel fashion.

I Can See Clearer Now
Code of the Street corrects the myth, held by many, that the inner city underclass does not want to work. The book has helped me to discuss with my two foster girls, the difference between decent and street people how to recognize the game. I read passages to them and we discuss, in depth, the issue. I urge all parents, especially foster parents, to read this book. I had repeatedly observed the Code but like a jigsaw puzzle, not understanding how it all connected. Thanks to Mr. Anderson, he enabled me to see the picture entirely as it exists.