In Search Of Respect Reading Response

“In search of respect: selling crack in El Barrio”, a book written by Philippe Bourgois, the author talks about his experience living in East Harlem, also known as “El Barrio” in Spanish. Throughout the chapters, Bourgois goes into detail about many examples of structural violence which is committed by the government.

            Bourgois explains that many people in Harlem are jobless due to the lack of jobs. The lack of jobs leads the people to sell and produce drugs in order to make a living. For example, Bourgois talks about Ray, Ray was crack business man and owned a crack house. Ray was unable to have a job due the lack of education. As Bourgois mentions in the chapter, “In his private conversations with me over his aspirations for the future, he often seemed naïve or even learning-disabled. He was completely incapable of fathoming the intricate rules and regulations of legal society despite his brilliant success at directing a retail network for crack distribution.” Many residents of “El Barrio” lack the social skills and knowledge required for a job outside of Harlem. The only jobs they can have is selling drugs. This is a perfect example of structural violence because the government didn’t provide the resources in “El Barrio” to give the people an opportunity to get a better job.

            Another example in which the government practiced structural violence is the “urban renewal” program as Bourgois explains. Bourgois explains “Typical of the public sector poverty policies form the period that result was the physical destruction of several dozen square blocks of functioning, working community. Despite several denunciations in the local press, tens of thousands of the last remaining working class Italian-Americans in the neighborhood were displaced by bulldozers in the name of “sum clearance.”  Bourgois explains that the problem was not originated in the 1990s but it has been a problem for years. Many residents were stripped of jobs because the government wanted to do a sum clearance which only made it worst for the residents of ‘El Barrio”

            There are many structural violence committed against the people of “El Barrio” many which stopped them from having a normal life outside of “El Barrio”. Many residents was left to fend for themselves due to the lack of resources in the neighborhood.