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

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology, Urban, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies
Cover of the book Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City by Elijah Anderson, W. W. Norton & Company
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elijah Anderson ISBN: 9780393070385
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Publication: September 17, 2000
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company Language: English
Author: Elijah Anderson
ISBN: 9780393070385
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication: September 17, 2000
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English

Unsparing and important. . . . An informative, clearheaded and sobering book.—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post (1999 Critic's Choice)

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. The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong, loving, decent family, and we meet many heroic figures in the course of this narrative. Unfortunately, the culture of the street thrives and often defeats decency because it controls public spaces, so that individuals with higher, better aspirations are often entangled in the code and its self-destructive behaviors. Writing in the tradition of Jane Jacobs and William Julius Wilson, the author delineates the true workings of city streets. His most interesting characters are not the bullies and dealers, but the decent folks, young and old, who through entrepreneurship and creative self-help strategies are forging a viable alternative, an escape from the code of the street. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award, 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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Unsparing and important. . . . An informative, clearheaded and sobering book.—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post (1999 Critic's Choice)

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. The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong, loving, decent family, and we meet many heroic figures in the course of this narrative. Unfortunately, the culture of the street thrives and often defeats decency because it controls public spaces, so that individuals with higher, better aspirations are often entangled in the code and its self-destructive behaviors. Writing in the tradition of Jane Jacobs and William Julius Wilson, the author delineates the true workings of city streets. His most interesting characters are not the bullies and dealers, but the decent folks, young and old, who through entrepreneurship and creative self-help strategies are forging a viable alternative, an escape from the code of the street. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award, 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.

More books from W. W. Norton & Company

Cover of the book Roger Williams: The Church and the State by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Law and Disorder: Absurdly Funny Moments from the Courts by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How Investors Can Profit from China's Booming Economy by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Weird Life: The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Lucy by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Three Bargains: A Novel by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book A Stranger's Mirror: New and Selected Poems 1994-2014 by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition) by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book What Are They Thinking?!: The Straight Facts about the Risk-Taking, Social-Networking, Still-Developing Teen Brain by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book Fastnet, Force 10: The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing (New Edition) by Elijah Anderson
Cover of the book The Love She Left Behind: A Novel by Elijah Anderson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy