Violence and the Inner City CODE

Elijah Anderson
Introduction 

Interpersonal violence wreaks havoc daily on the lives of persons living in low-income, inner-city neighborhoods. Simply living in these areas places youth at risk of being socialized into aggressive behavior. Elijah Anderson describes the “code of the streets” that has emerged from interactions within these settings. This code, unfortunately, reinforces the use of violence within inner-city neighborhoods and threatens to further degrade relationships between young persons and authority figures. 

Key Points

1. The “code of the streets” refers to a set of informal rules guiding interpersonal behavior in inner-city neighborhoods.
   • These rules prescribe proper comportment and the proper way to respond when challenged with violence or the threat of violence.
   • The rules regulate the use of violence, and therefore legitimate the use of violence when the “rules dictate that violence is the proper response to a challenge.”
   • The rules are established and reinforced through interpersonal contacts in everyday life.
   • Everyone knows that violation of the rules will bring penalties.
   • Knowledge of the code is mainly defensive; it is necessary to know the code for operating in public.
   • The pervasiveness of the code, and its strict enforcement on the streets persuades even parents who reject it to encourage their children to abide by it for their protection and well-being.
   • RESPECT lies at the heart of the code. One is to be treated “right” and granted the deference they deserve.
   • Respect is hard-won and easily lost. It must be constantly guarded and defended.
   • The rules of the street provide a code by which respect is earned, defended, and lost.
   • Clothes, jewelry, gait, language, and grooming reinforce normative expectations of behavior in inner-city neighborhoods
   • These rules might change by neighborhood, city, or ethnicity of the participants. But the key features of rules for earning and maintaining respect are common to the inner-city experience.
   • It is important to demonstrate “nerve” on the streets. To uphold the code even when severely challenged on the street. Otherwise, one will suffer the penalties of “violation of norms” as these are dealt by those adhering to the inner-city code.
2. The code exists as a subculture within inner-city neighborhoods because residents, particularly youth, feel cut-off (alienated) from mainstream society. When people have few opportunities, or perceive few opportunities to gain respect within mainstream culture, they devise a set of rules by which to earn respect outside the mainstream norms.
3. The code serves as a mechanism for gaining respect for those who adhere to it. Given its separation and differences from mainstream culture, however, the act of adhering to the code ironically creates a greater separation between those who adhere to it and those who adhere to the “code” of mainstream society. This is the vicious cycle of 1) alienation from society, 2) street code behavior as a substitute for mainstream norms, 3) further separation from mainstream norms.

Enlightened but not Surprised

Everyday it seems that I am enlightened by something one of my student’s tells me.   Nothing surprises me anymore, just enlightens me.  One of my students is a male model and is trying to get in the porn industry.    He is making very good money.  When I have talked to him about the morality of what he is doing, he very kindly tells me that he worships Satan.  I really love this kid and pray for him daily.

Most of my students have someone in their family who has been killed by gunfire.  Many of my students have been shot themselves and even have shot (and possibly killed)  other people.   One of my students was shot three times.  He was too close to a gang target and suffered the consequences.  To someone who has not worked in the inner city, it may be alarming. However, to me and most of the experienced teachers I work with,  it is the norm.

How do you make a difference with these students?  This is what I am constantly asking myself.  Teachers and staff are very limited in what we can do, partly because of the time.  We have two sessions, and only have students for four and a half hours.  I pray for my students daily.  I am also praying for opportunities to make a difference.

Last year I tried to start a teen fathering group, but no one showed up except some teenager mothers.  We met several weeks until time changed and it started getting dark.  Although  it does not bother me, I did not want to have the students waiting for a bus at dusk or dark.  Most of our male students are proud that they are the “baby daddy,” however, they really do not want anything to do with their children or baby mammas.

The one thing that I am good at is being myself and loving students.  Most of them know it.  I never stop internally brainstorming about what I can do for my students of the inner city.  Because we are required to work 50 plus hours, I am limited with time and also  financial resources.    What I do for students is really “as you go into the world” kind of stuff and of course the teaching.

Share you ideas on what can be done for the inner city in general and in schools specifically.   Shalom!

It’s all about the kids!

Sometimes organizations that serve children such as schools, churches,  and foster care agencies are organizationally health challenged!  Often, the pressures and demands coming from the “higher ups”  make life as an employee very difficult. This was true when I worked many years ago for a foster care agency as a community relations coordinator.

The organization considered itself a ministry, however the way it treated people made it suspect.   The program director with whom I reported was catching the most grief.  During this time she kept telling me, “it’s all about the kids.”  Although she did not stay with the agency long after this and subsequently I left also, her motto has always stayed with me.

Teaching in the inner city is all about the students.  They are the reason I have a job and am committed to continuing as a teacher for as long as I possibly can.  I had my students write a response to the question: “What would you do if you were invisible.”  It was amazing how many of them wrote about going into stores and banks and walking out with money or merchandise.   Although I am not that surprised, it was a character education.  With this in mind, I guess character could be defined as, “who you are when you are invisible.”

One of my goals is to help my students change the way they think of themselves through teaching English Language Arts and Reading.    If I keep in mind who I serve, then I will be closer to achieving that purpose.

A Blessed Vocation

Teaching in the inner city is a blessed vocation.  Getting there is an education.  That is why I ride “the second bus.”  The second bus is transportation and also a metaphor for the way I contextualize  the inner city.  This blog will be a reflection of my journey to and work in the inner city as a high school Inclusion English Language Arts and Reading teacher.

Before getting on the second bus, I get on the first bus which is the Park and Ride located only a few miles from the small town I live in Katy, TX.  The 30 mile ride takes me into downtown.  It takes about 35 minutes at 6:00 in the morning.  After I get off the first bus, I then walk 7 blocks and get on the second bus which takes me into the Fifth Ward and to my school in about  15 minutes.   My purpose for this blog is to educate those who would not normally visit the inner city and hopefully inspire someone  to make a difference.

I am not exactly sure of where I am headed each day as a writer, but I know where I am going as a rider, so come on along for the ride.  If anything, it will not be boring!