What Is The Street About

Elijah Anderson’s Code of the Street A Book Review By: Kelsey Sena Elijah Anderson’s Code of the Street is an ethnographic account of street violence portraying in the African American communities of Philadelphia. In these economically deprived and crime ridden communities, the Code of the Street is a subculture that governs behavior and violence. Anderson combines elements of respect, loyalty and even honor as an system used to regulate social interactions upon these neighborhoods. As a result of joblessness and enduring racism in this society, inner city African American are pressured to abide the Code of the Street as an order to survive.

Elijah Anderson is a sociologist who is also the author of Code of the Streets. His main purpose of this book was to conduct research in poor inner city neighborhoods. He wanted to know why people who reside in certain neighborhoods act the way they do. Anderson wanted to understand how people follow the Code of the Stress and what influences them to follow this code. The code of the streets is defined as a set of unwritten rules an individual follows when they are in the streets or in the hood.

In Neon Vernacular, Yusef Komunyakaa brought to the forefront the struggles of African American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. They fought for the freedom of the very ones that denied them their freedom to be equal and the same as their white counterparts. The collection of poems delves into the everyday matters that were a constant reminder for the African American soldiers that they were free to fight, but not free to be as the white soldiers. An analysis of Komunyakaa’s work opens the eyes of those who felt that the Vietnam War zone was an equal opportunity for all those who fought for America. In addition, the realities of racism that existed in the Vietnam War are highlighted.

Paul Watt and Kevin Stenson, The Street: It’s a bit dodgy around there’ safety, danger, ethnicity and young people’s uses of public spaces, chapter 15 in Geographies of youth, youth cultures: Cool places The aim of this chapter is to question young people’s feelings and experiences when moving around a town in the South East of England. The town, named Thamestown by the authors. The area in which Thamestown is location, is described as a predominantly white, wealthy middle class area of the south east of England. Between June 1994 and July 1995 Watt, Stenson and other researchers investigated, how an ethnically mixed group of young people use public spaces in terms of danger and safety. Several key points arise in this chapter. Racial segregation

In the book “Code of the Street” introduction, the author Elijah Anderson gives you an outlook on how a city can go from wealth and poverty in just five miles. Anderson’s ethnographic portrayal of urban life in black America through a journey down Philadelphia’s historic Germantown Ave, which connects the appreciation of newly suburban Chestnut Hill and Philly’s main line with the generally less civil society of Germantown proper and its outlying ghetto’s, where a code of the street old as poverty and oppression itself governs the interactions of both willing and unwilling members. The story starts in Chestnut Hill which is often called "the suburb in the city," and finishes in the Northern Liberties subdivision.

By far the most interesting topic to me the semester was The Code of The Streets by Elijah Anderson. After reading this, I started searching for solutions in my head. I refuse to believe that this is “how things are”. It’s unacceptable. The “eye for an eye” and “snitches get stitches” mentality that the people who live in black inner city communities is very troubling. What’s even more troubling is the fact that it’s due to their lack of faith in the justice system, rightfully so. These people are living in a world where they believe that the police are against them. The police, who are supposed to be their protectors are, in many cases, doing the opposite. However, I don’t believe that police officers are the enemy. I do think that everyone,

In Streetwise, Elijah Anderson (1990) discusses the social forces at work in an urban area he calls the Village-Northton. His is a sociological field study of the daily interactions between the residents of an area encompassing two communities--in his words, "one black and low income to very poor (with an extremely high infant mortality rate), [and] the other racially mixed but becoming increasingly middle to upper income and white" (Anderson, 1990, p. ix). In keeping with valid sociological fieldwork, Anderson (1990) immersed himself in the community from the summer of 1975 through the summer of 1989.

Throughout the article “The Code of the Streets,” Elijah Anderson explains the differences between “decent” and “street” people that can be applied to the approaches of social control, labeling, and social conflict theories when talking about the violence among inner cities due to cultural adaptations.

Poetry is often used as a form of writing to express emotions or tell a story. The poems “LA Nocturne: The Angels”, by Xavier Villaurrutia and “Meditations on the South Valley: Poem IX” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, are two distinctive poems. In Baca’s poem he expresses the disbelief and the sorrow of the death of a boy named Eddie. While, in Villaurrutia’s poem reveals an expression of secret desire men have. Baca and Villaurrutia’s poems, both use repetition, imagery and metaphors in their poems to convey their message.

The greatest problem that the society faces in the inner city black community is the interpersonal violence and aggression created by the troubled youth in their society. By simply living in this kind of violent, innocent people are affected by crimes such as burglaries, carnapping and drug related incident and shootings.

In this paper, I plan to first describe the “Code of the Street” which is a term coined and a book written by Elijah Anderson. I would also summarize and describe two journal articles that test Anderson’s idea of the “Code of the Street” for a more definite explanation. I will tell how the two articles that I have chosen relates to some of the concepts that Anderson talked about in the book. I will then define general strain theory and social learning or differential association theory. Lastly, I will explain how general strain theory and social learning theory or differential association theory explain some of the behaviors that were seen by the individuals in the book published by Anderson. I will point out some of the individual’s behavior and demonstrate whether it may lead to crime or whether the behavior was learned in any way.

Love makes people become selfish, but it is also makes the world greater. In this poem, the world that the speaker lives and loves is not limited in “my North, my South, my East and West / my working week and my Sunday rest” (9-10), it spreads to “My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song (11). The poem’s imagery dominates most of the third stanza giving readers an image of a peaceful world in which everything is in order. However, the last sentence of the stanza is the decisive element. This element not only destroys the inner world of the speaker, but it also sends out the message that love or life is mortal.

In the profile article “Jimmy Santiago Baca: Poetry as Lifesaver” author Rob Baker, who also is a creative writing and English teacher proves to not only the readers but also the National Council of Teachers of English the significance of poetry. The authors main point is that poetry saved Jimmy Santiago Baca’s life, he shows us how by explaining the emotions when Baca began to read poetry; he then went on to write poetry and even publish his own works while still in prison, after Baca’s release, he became a dedicated teacher who also works with gang members and teaches workshops.

When his beloved becomes lost in a world full of hardships, Baca refers to this poem as a spiritual guidance to help them find the right path to their destination. In addition, if Baca and his beloved ever crossed paths, he will provide her directions. Hence, the poem serves as a map to guide the reader a sense of comfort and

In the poems “The Wanderer” and “The Dream of the Rood,” anonymous authors give way to the idea that an Almighty God will solve every problem a person has by doing two things: 1) drawing upon the memories of a warrior who has lost everything near and dear to him due to war, and 2) entering the dream of a man who has been exiled and isolated. Each piece takes its reader through the trials and tribulations that one may not relate to in this era, yet the reader is still there alongside the character wanting them to find peace with their world and themselves. Initially, it is believed that the characters will overcome their hardships and achieve the happiness they seek. However, as the reader delves deeper into the character’s story, there is an overwhelming sense of incompleteness. What actually happens at the end of each piece is not written in stone - telling us the story is not whole - nor has a conclusion been reached. The intrapersonal thoughts being shared with the reader reveal the obstacles that keep an overall wholeness from occurring.