Oreoluwa David Dada
Dr. Thibodeau
Reading # 14
March 4, 2018
Code of the Street
In the depressed and crime filled part of the city, the normal rule of law is weak and not dominating,
instead, the codes of the street is most dominating. In the search of for respect in such a society, people
tend to master these codes especially the violent part. Knowing the arts of the code helps in times of
troubles against violence. It tends to the strive where police actions are limited.
For Anderson to understand the uniqueness of the selected way of life, he underwent some research,
alongside interviews with some of their rich and their poor ones, to their prisons to their markets, to
their teenage to their older ones who are teachers, drug bandits, etc. for the sake of protection and
privacy, Anderson decided not to publish their names. Of what he gathered, none is more urgent and
dis-hearting than the violence and aggression such as car-jacking, drug related shootings which exposes
people to death.
This adaption to a violent life which is common to poor folks is a result of unemployment, inadequate
socials amenities, background and color, drug trafficking. The impact of young people in this kind of
environment is the sudden exposure to aggressiveness. According to analysis, some family stick to some
kind of value called the “decent”. The decent and the street way of life help balance the society. But its
effect on the young generation is predictable. Young ones who is brought up with the strict moral value
still must blend and handle themselves in the street life environment to survive. This is because the
street is built on the “street violent behavior” and for efficient living, one needs the knowledge of the
codes.
The hard truth is that what originated these kind of lifestyle is the sense of separation from the basic
societal functions which the poor black feel. A system based on lost hopes on the police, jury and those
who could help secure lives. Where self-defense is dominant, where the young ones try to survive
against all odds. Where they often feel rejected which makes them dabble into the street to earn
respect which they feel is the only way to express themselves. The code sees the white men as those
with ultimate power. The conduct of the street can’t really save the black man from the white folks
when being attacked by them- he is on his own.