Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City

Provides an in-depth, insider's look at the life of inner-city black America by delving into the codes that exist among peers and the overwhelming control the code has had continuously on the community throughout recent times.

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.

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.

Anderson, a University of Pennsylvania social science professor, won respect for Streetwise (1990); here, he looks at neighborhoods he observed in that study, focusing on the social organization of street life in both poor and wealthy communities. A key aspect of Anderson's analysis is his description of the oppositional, even outlaw culture, developed by alienated young people with no lawful job opportunities who become involved in the drug culture. Equally important, however, are families on the same blocks, struggling to raise kids, forced to "campaign for respect" on terms set by street kids. It is the complexity of those neighborhoods that is at the heart of Anderson's book; he devotes chapters to "the decent daddy" and "the black inner-city grandmother in transition" as well as "drugs, violence, and street crime." Readers concerned about the current state of the inner city, as well as those who understand that youth violence predated Littleton, will want to read this cogent analysis. Mary Carroll