East Harlem: El Barrio

In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, Philippe Bourgois, narrates about structural violence in East Harlem around the 1980s.  The lack of money and resources led people to use drugs and violence as a easy way out of these problems. “East Harlem is a nursery of all kinds of law-breakers; there are nests of narcotics, thieving stealing, cheating and every conceivable kind of law-breaking. The country is flooded with criminals from here. A taxi driver would not dare go through 113th Street east of Second Avenue after dark: an armored car would be the only thing safe.” This quote well describes the fear people feel when they think of East Harlem; they feel it’s not safe. People got themselves dealing with drugs and violence because they thought it was the only way out of this poverty. Their lack of education made them feel as if this was the only way to get easy money.

            Money was an important factor in structural violence but it was not the only reason why people entered this face. Bourgois says, “Ray’s followers did not remain loyal to him solely out of fear and violence. Some of the older members of his network genuinely liked him. He was capable of reciprocating friendship" (pg27). Bourgois remarks how having a relationship with Ray made him feel privileged and good and secure. He mentions feeling accepted by the people in the neighborhood because of being involved in the drug business. He was a victim of racism and police brutality when he first moved in to Harlem, and this made him feel as if he didn’t belong. He was skinny and white and people saw him as an undercover cop or a white drug addict. Being part of this illegal drug selling and the usage of violence gave them a sense of togetherness with one another.

            East Harlem is a very diverse neighborhood. Immigrants from all over live here and discriminate each other. They feel as if the only easy paying job is drugs. Bourgois explains that El Barrio did not only entail criminals but racism and the lack of money and resources, forced people to repeat this circle of drugs and violence.

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.

Frank's Reading Reponse 09/21

Structural violence is introduced in Philippe Bourgois' book, entitled In Search of Respect, as he points out the difficulties Puerto Rican individuals had during the 1990s in New York City. When Bourgois explains his experience growing up downtown, we get one of the best example of structural violence of the novel. Bourgois explains the outcast feeling he felt while growing up downtown as "neighbors do not have nicknames, and when one shares the elevator with them, they usually do not even say hello or nod an acknowledgement of existence" (Bourgois, 35). Although in the eyes of the general public this isn't a crime, however, living in a place where one feels unwelcomed forces people to leave and stay around their own kind. Bourgios, unfortunately, was one of those individual that after growing up had no choice to move to East Harlem where he felt welcomed and everyone made one another feel safe despite the constant violence happening. Ultimately, moving to a Puerto Rican based neighborhood and drugs being the means of survival, Bourgios, in order to feel appreciated and united with others, had no choice but to join the drug world that East Harlem represented. This type of structural violence might not seem like a crime but when one analysis it, one can see that depriving others from living in their nice neighborhood in order to achieve success just creates more crimes and violence in other communities.

A structural violence that I see today aside from the novel is the educational system. I've attended New York City's public schools most of my life and I've noted that the ways classes in middle school and high school are broken down is by the level of "intelligence" one child bears. Which in my opinion is a horrible way to keep students who did not do so well one year to continue to fail in their education. Why not disperse these student with those who did do well and see if the hard work of those who do well can inspire them to do the same but placing all these "rotten apple" in one room is not going to help to better the education of these students.

In Search for Respect

Spanish Harlem
"El Barrio"

In Search for Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, Phillippe Bourgois talks a lot about structural violence . One of the many concepts depicted in this excerpt was the idea of police brutality and how thats directly related to the on-growing problem of racism. One of the stories told by one of the characters in the book, Caesar, was of how a bunch of cops started beating on these two black crackheads, for assaulting a girl. Caesar explains that it wasn't just a regular “throw-you-up-on-a-car- extra hard” kind of beat down, but the kind of beat down where there was nothing but blood on the floor. He explains how they were taking turns beating on the two men, and it primarily was because they actually enjoyed it and actually look forward to doing things like this on a daily basis. Throughout the story, one of the most impacting lines I read was “That’s terrorism with a badge.”(36) This ties into the idea of police brutality because its basically saying that police officers now a days take their badge for granted, demonstrating superiority and using it to their advantage. It was never ok to brutally abuse someone, despite the crime they have committed, and in the case of the story, being that the two men were black, that counts as a racist act. 

Police brutality and racism amongst the system is something that corrupts our neighborhood. It not only makes people feel less safe in the streets, but it also makes us think that we aren’t safe in the hands of the people who we depend on the most for security. As it was said in the reading, “Should just put animals out there patrolling the streets… ‘cause they’re worse than animals. It’s like they’re animals with a mind.” (37)

Police brutally is also closely related to the idea that higher powers have total control over everyone else who doesn't fit the category. Due to the fact that they are peace keepers and have to be respected, it seems like they use that as an excuse and it ends up corrupting them. I have seen this many times on the news, and it has proven over and over again, how police can get away with many things just because of the badge they wear. 

Searching For Respect.

The Structural violence started 1980s. The drug businesses and violating laws among the police in East Harlem. I think the drug dealing business in Harlem is what led police to have inner city apatherd. This is what led the political-social-economic force of structural violence.  For example,  on page 34, “Street culture’s violence pervades daily life in EL Barrio and shapes mainstream society’s perception of the ghetto in manner completely disproportionate to its objective danger.” However, people in this neighborhood had work jobs illegal in order to have have money that came along with respect. The character Ray gain respect by running an illegal businesses.  For example on page 19, “Business was blooming and the  heavyset, thirty two year old Puerto Rican crack entrepreneur was surrounded by his coterie of employees, friend and wanna be acquaintances”.The people who suffered from the Structural violence in East Harlem was Puerto Ricans, Black, and an one particular white boy. The one particular white boy was the character Felipe. He was getting racial profiling from police. It seems that in East Harlem it’s not the norm to see a white boy in Harlem. For example on page 30, “I was repeatedly stopped, searched, cursed, and humiliated by New York City police officers on the beat. From their preparative there was no reason for a white boy to be in the neighborhood”.  It was like the police  trying to say only people with other skin types belong in the drug field place.  While Felipe was balancing life in the dangers scene in  Harlem Ray became someone new. Ray’s approach on business changed. I think has he got so successful running his business with the drug dealer life he had a changed of heart. He wanted to do something positive. Somehow, he suffered from the drug business was he lacked the “cultural capital”.  On page 28, “He was completely incapable of fathoming the intricate rules and regulation of legal society despite his brilliant success at directing a retail network doe crack distribution.” Ray lacked the ways to do things the legal way. He didn't even have a New York ID. All he need was an ID in order to be who he wanted to be was to be a successful entrepreneur the legal way. He wanted to changed his business ways. His approach being coming a person better when had his first legal economy businesses.

Daou Traore

In Search of Respect written by Philippe Bourgois deals with poverty during the 1990's in East Harlem 110th Street. The book deals with dilemmas that these Puerto Ricans crack dealers face as they choose to have low income jobs and lack of respect from upperclassmen or they choose to sell illegal drugs and have respect within the community. A character in the book who i believe is suffering from structural violence is Ray. Ray is a guy well known in the community whom everyone respects. He is the owner of the crack dealing business taken place on 110th and Lexington. On page 28 it states "Ray lacked the " cultural capital" necessary to succeed in the middle class- or even the working class- world." the only money Ray really made was through selling crack, and this is something he wanted to change about his life. Political laws also prevented him from being successful because he could not have any from of identification in order to keep a legal business. after staying away from crack dealing, he opened up a social club where people could go party or hang around. Unfortunately, in 1992 it was also shut down because it was not wheelchair accessible.
in my opinion, crime and violence will continue if political and social laws prevents people from attaining their full potential freedom. Since he did not have the cultural capital and also illiterate , it lead him to start an illegal business as a mean to support himself. as an individual, Ray is really confident about himself and also uses violence and terror in order to receive respect from his fellow neighbors. The really hard for those who are poor. As Primo" we're poor, thats true, but we're supposed to struggle and make something of ourselves.its just a harder struggle because we are poor." ..." you have to do good for yourself in order to achieve, and you have to achieve in life in order to get somewhere.. the struggle is harder for the poor but not impossible just harder. This is one of my favorite quotes because it leaves us a message to never give up nor lose hope no matter what.

Reading Response: In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

  

                                                                     

      

   

             According to Philippe Bourgois, the author of In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, East Harlem is impacted by structural violence. There are many forces that can lead to this structural violence in the community. These factors include economic and social forces. The majority population in East Harlem consists mainly of low-income Puerto Ricans and African Americans. These people are viewed as the outcast of society due to their race, income and ways of living. East Harlem is engulfed with theft, murder, drugs and violence. The author states: “Mainstream society unconsciously uses the images of culture violence of terror to dehumanize… and to justify its unwillingness to confront segregation, economic marginalization and public sector breakdown” (34). The segregation of this society from the upper-class has effects on the many low–income neighborhoods gaining access to basic rights. These impacts have caused many low income residents deciding to participate in illegal activities as their way of life.

            The struggles from structural violence, causes great hardship and suffering for many people in El Barrio, especially poor minority races neighborhood despite who is rich or poor. The text states: “Primo: [interrupting] Felipe it’s not only the white man…that makes it harder for us. We’re poor… It’s just harder struggle’ cause we’re poor…This country’s based on making money” (54-55). This statement seems to be accurate to the points of view of the society. Many people believe that poor people will suffer the most due to their low social economic status as we judged people by their status in the society. However, this seems to be a different case from Ray’s life. In the book, Ray is illustrated as the most powerful person in the East Harlem community. He is considered a rich person because he makes a lot of money and owns luxury cars. However, he suffers from the structural violence as he cannot read or write and also lacks “cultural capital” knowledge, which is a sense that one needs in the working class world. This is unfortunate because Ray has to live with no driver’s license or any form of legal identification that is necessary for working and operating any legal businesses.

            There are many examples that illustrate how this neighborhood suffers from the structural violence. Residents in East Harlem are living with the pressure from racist discrimination. Many people, especially the whites and middle class, feel that poor Latino and African-American neighborhoods are dangerous for them and should not be interfere with. This can be illustrated through the examples of how outsiders or even police officers believes that the author, who is white, is crazy for living in East Harlem neighborhood. Another example is how people in the community are living in the environmental crime. In the ‘Racism and the culture of terror’ section, the author illustrates through examples from his life experience that he get mugged once or how his Filipino landlord was mugged in the hallway of his apartment building. He also mentions how the toughest of the drug dealers in Ray’s network would be accompanied for protection during the night time. These people are living in life cycle of crimes, insecure and unpredictable place as they don’t know how or when they will get robbed or randomly searched by police on a daily basis.

In Search of Respect Reading Response

In Search of Research: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Philippe Bourgois is an examination of the lifestyle, people and culture of Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) in between 1980s and 1990s. Felipe’s five year stay at Spanish Harlem helps put the readers in his shoes and gives us an account in a world that is hardly heard of. The book talks about his encounters with drug dealers, crack houses, addicts, dishonorable police force and even gives a bit of history behind the forces that causes these things.

There are many concepts of structural violence through the reading. One of the relationships he develops while in Spanish Harlem is with Ray. Ray has almost no way of moving up in the world. Even mentioned by Bourgois, Ray had the smarts to run crack distribution yet ultimately he was naïve to the legal side of business. He failed multiple times at trying to have a successful venture. Like with the Laundromat, he was always thwarted by the legality of things. He never had the ability to acquire the needed documents to run a business. Although, even if it was possible I do not think he would of gone far, as it seems his only interest was his illegal business and having a front to launder money.

Another account is the little historical lecture on how economically unstable Puerto Rico and its effects on the generations of people later. A little while after the U.S. started its military occupation of Puerto Rico hundreds of thousands of farmers had to leave their land yet still needed to find work. Years later after World War II, many people left Puerto Rico and some settled in East Harlem. These people found work until the global economy changed again, this time the people did not have a place to ago. Still needing to eat, many of these people  resorted to illegal activities just to keep a roof over their head. Unfortunately some people like Ray, Primo and Caesar seem born into this self-destructive world. Bourgois goes on and even says “…the streets of East Harlem have always produced violent, substance-abusing felons no matter what immigrant ethnic group happened to be living there at the time.”

In Search of Respect by Phillipe Burgois focuses on the social and political aspects of Puerto Ricans living in East Harlem. This book explores  the dilemmas felt by the crack dealers as they choose between having  low paying jobs and  lack of respect from upper class men or  fast money job by selling crack  where they implement respect in the community in which they live. However, the respect earned through the community is usually through their violence ways. For example, Ray is an example of an individual suffering from structural voilence. According to Burgois on page 29, Ray suffered with his business because he did not have the legal licences for his business to remain. "The first legal business Ray attempted to establish was a Laundromat. He was unable to wade through the bureaucratic maze of permits however and gave up after a few weeks... and abandoned the project". This reveals the struggle Ray went through just  to be successful and be a better person. Political laws were preventing him from being successful. However, his establishment of his social club was successful because he kept it clean, forbade drug selling and rented space for parties or outdooring events. Unfortunately for him, his social club was shut down in 1992 because it was not wheel chair accessible. Crime and violence will continue to prevail if social and political laws prevents people from their freedom of establishing businesses or being employed.He had no means to be an active participant in his society. Bourgois stated that Ray lacked “cultural capital,”;He was illiterate  and therefore he had to find means to support himself.  As a result, he had to start using drugs, sell drugs and use violence to earn money and respect from upper class men or even people in his community. Ray felt very confident as an individual and he felt very powerful because among his fellow drug sellers, he became the leader. The dialogue between Caesar and Primo explained why economic struggle was prevalent in East Harlem. Caesar, Primo and  Phillippe  stated an important reason for the violent actions and crime in East Harlem. Caesar stated, “We’re never going to inherit nothing, unless we hit the Lotto.” This concludes that Life in East Harlem was very difficult. Primo also replied by stating, “You have to do good for yourself in order to achieve, and you have to achieve in life in order to get somewhere... The struggle’s harder for the poor, but not impossible: just harder" (54). These statements represents the extreme levels of dilemmas that existed  during that time. Therefore, the pressure on people to achieve something in life convinced the poor to engage in illegal practices by selling drugs.

Christian Persaud

In Search of Respect

Reading Response:

One of the many factors that lead to the structural violence depicted in this story is prejudice. Prejudice is a rampant issue among the powers that be in order to keep a certain social class in check. A quote from the story: "[East Harlem is] a nursery of all kinds of law-breakers; there are nests of narcotics, thieving stealing, cheating and every conceivable kind of law-breaking." We can derive that continued unjust and unequal treatment of an oppressed group will only lead to them having to cut corners and straddle the line of being criminals. In the story, we see these individuals as a group of drug dealers that have to resort to crime to survive.

The repercussions of structurally violent neighborhoods do not only involve criminals and their gang affiliates: “Within the neighborhood’s long heritage of a substance abuse-driven underground economy, heroin and cocaine have been the most disruptive to the daily quality of life.” Structural violence is not only among the wrongdoers in the community. As these very people are indeed deprived of income, we can see its effects become embedded in the infrastructure, the communities and the way people decide to deal with the everyday struggles that come with it. For example, we see in the story that a common occurrence in these types of neighborhoods is burned down establishments with the sole purpose to conjure up insurance money for owners. As we see in the reading, many have to resort to unethical and shrewd tactics as a method of survival.

As Primo says in the story: “You have to do good for yourself in order to achieve, and you have to achieve in life in order to get somewhere.” He then says, “The struggle’s harder for the poor, but not impossible; just harder.” These quotes contain the essence of what goes on in Primo and his friends’ lives everyday. Although that are in unfavorable conditions, they cannot sit back and rely exclusively on faith and devotion. There are no easy ways out for them and they have realized it very early on.  

Selling Crack in El Barrio

"El Barrio" Spanish Harlem

    In the story, In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, by Phillippe Bourgois. Mr. Bourgois moved to Spanish Harlem, in the 1990's  to study the racial segregation and economic marginalization on the inner city. He explores the struggles and tensions with living among, working with, and writing about poor, inner-city minorities. Many people living in the community lived in constant fear. The neighborhood had a lot of drugs, violence, robberies, gang rapes, and countless of other illegal activities. Ray, was a big time drug dealer, well respected, and had a lot of power on the streets. He had a group of people working for him. Ray, had a lot of street smarts, but not much book smarts, he did not know how to read. Bourgois, put him on the spot when he asked him to read an article he was in. He had a hard time, and stumbled over the words he walked out in embarrassment and shame. Primo, had to warn Bourgois, to make himself scarce around the game room for the next few weeks for fear of what he would do to him.

    Ray, lacked the "cultural capital" necessary to succeed in the middle-class, or even the working class world. Ray, had dreams to buy an abandoned building, renovate it, and establish a legal business. But, despite all his cars and wads of cash padding his pockets, he never had a drivers license or any other form of legal identification. He was helpless outside of the streets. Ray, had no concept of how to deal with bureaucracies. He attempted to open up a laundromat, but was unable to wade through the bureaucratic maze of permits, and gave up after a few weeks. The "structural violence", Ray faced was that he was denied a legal income. I wouldn't consider this employment discrimination at all. He didn't have the proper education and documents needed to get these businesses up and running. Ray, chose to run the streets as a child instead of staying in school, and getting the proper education needed to make it in the working class world. You have to go after what you want to make it in this world. Nobody is going to hand anything to you. 

    I was born and raised in Spanish Harlem, also known as "El Barrio", and reading this story brought up a lot of old memories.  I grew up on 110th Street and Park Avenue in Lehman Projects, it wasn't the best neighborhood, but my mom did the best she could to make sure my brother and I was well taken care of. I remember the days of going to the library on 110th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue, and having to pass the drug dealers, alcoholics, and the heroin addicts nodding off on the street corners. It always amazed me how they would lean forward at the waist, but never fell down. Growing up I never knew how dangerous it was growing up in that neighborhood. I was pretty much sheltered as a child, and was never allowed outside by myself unless I was with my mother or brother. I remember seeing crack vials with the colorful tops, and hypodermic needles under the elevated metro north tracks on Park Avenue. My mother would shop at "La Marqueta", which was a market from 112th Street to 116th Street and Park Avenue, that sold meats, dry goods, and ethnic foods not available elsewhere in the city.

    The neighborhood is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York  City. It is mostly made up of Puerto Ricans, and now has a rising number of Mexicans, and Dominicans.

Reading Response 09/22

Structural violence clearly stems from the powers held higher up. I was baffled after reading the encounters Philippe had with the police as wells as how the police responded to situations in El Barrio. I think there are many factors to take into consideration when discussing what leads to structural violence. It would appear as though income and the people in the neighborhood (or associated with the neighborhood) play a part their respective parts in contributing to structural violence.

El Barrio is a neighborhood in which an assortment of drugs are being bought and used. This plays a big part in structural violence because it's illegal which forces the police to be in and around at all times. It doesn't help when there are crack houses in the neighborhood with people abusing drugs. Nobody wants that in their community but it was a source of income so they had no choice. Not only do you have drug users in the neighborhood but you get the behavior that comes along with the drugs. We constantly hear everyone talking about this wild attitude you have to have in El Barrio to earn your reputation in the streets. A perfect example of this is when they talk about how crazy Ray is and how he raped an old man. This kind of attitude is a bad example for the kids growing up in the neighborhood. Everybody suffers when this kind of behavior is preached.

  When Caesar tells Philippe about the two muggers who were beat down, I was disgusted (Page 36 and 37). The police are the ones who are supposed to protect and serve the people but in the instance, they are taking turns beating up two muggers. But this is all part of the vicious cycle that is El Barrio. Two people steal jewelry from a woman and beat her up which is that wild lifestyle that these people live, only to have karma head right back in their direction later that day. Nobody wins in situations like this and it's a shame because they're better ways to handle situations like this but everybody thinks force is a the quickest, easiest way for people to learn when it's not. At the same time there is still a lot of good in the neighborhood.

Early in the story we find out that Ray gave money to a friend in need. Candy (the recipient) was very appreciative and felt that Ray did these things out of the goodness of his heart. We also see Ray trying to set up "clean" businesses, which is a sign that he really does want to do the right thing in his heart but, again, this viscous cycle of the street life has him caught up in the wrong things. This really is a tough one the people with good intentions because at the end of the day reality takes over and we see this in the next chapter with all the gang fighting with the Italians. In neighborhoods like this is seems that everybody suffers.

Selling Crack in El Barrio

In his book, In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, Philippe Bourgois, writes about Structural Violence in East Harlem. Harlem has always been known as a dangerous neighborhood filled with crime, drug use, poverty and violence. As Bourgois mentions in the book, Harlem has always been filled with crime regardless of the ethnic group living there at the time. “[East Harlem is] a nursery of all kinds of law-breakers; there are nests of narcotics, thieving stealing, cheating and every conceivable kind of law-breaking. The country is flooded with criminals from here. A taxi driver would not dare go through 113^th Street east of Second Avenue after dark: an armored car would be the only thing safe.” I feel that this quote in the book describes perfectly Structural Violence in Harlem. Its like everyone thinks its not safe regardless of what goes on there and who lives there.

In this book, Ray is shown as an example of someone who has suffered from Structural Violence. Ray resorted to selling drugs and has become somewhat of a drug lord in East Harlem. The author writes, “Despite all his cars, and the wads of cash padding his pockets Ray did not even have a drivers license or any other form of legal identification. He was helpless outside of the cocoon of El Barrio’s streets.” Although he has “juice” and is well respected by the people in his neighborhood, he lacks cultural capital.  “Unable to save face, he desperately angled the paper to get a fuller beam from the streetlight above us, and screwed his face into an expression of intense concentration. I suddenly realized what the problem was: Ray did not know to read.” In this part of the story the author gives Ray a newspaper to read, but to his surprise he finds put that this powerful man, does not know how to read. Ray also does not have any form of identification, which prevented him from obtaining any licenses to own businesses. He attempted with a Laundromat, a bodega and a social club, but eventually all of them failed. In Harlem Ray was very important, powerful and had a lot of money, but outside of Harlem he was no one.

We also see examples of structural violence in the authors experience n Harlem. He mentions that when he first told people about his plan to move to Harlem they thought he was crazy. He also says that the few people, who would visit him, would make him go downstairs and meet him at the door of their cab. Bourgois’ being skinny white and in Harlem was perceived as either being an undercover cop, or a white drug addict. Although he is perceived this way, it helps keep him safe because people will not think to mess with him. He also gives examples about his run in with cops, most of which did not go very well. One story that he mentions that caught my attention was the one where he explains to the cop what he is doing in Harlem and they think that he is just trying to mess with them. His accent also has them believe that he is trying to make fun of them. In on instant where he was just admiring the sunset, he had to show the cop his ID to show that he wasn’t loitering. TO which the cop replied that he was crazy for choosing to live there. His friends, Primo and Cesar taught him that it is important to have an image or persona. That you cant let people think you are too nice. You have to make them think that you are mean or crazy.

East Harlem: El Barrio

According to Philippe Bourgois, East Harlem during the 1980s was suffering from structural violence. He believes that the social issues and the lack of money minorities had at this time, led them to find violence and drugs as their way out of these obstacles. For example, Bourgois mentions how Ray lacked “cultural capital,” which means that he did not have the knowledge to participate effectively in society. Ray did not know how to read or write and therefore had to use drugs and violence to earn money and respect from others. As the head of drug dealers, he felt socially and economically powerful that his lack of education was no longer an obstacle for him. Caesar and Primo also during a conversation with Philippe, point out an important reason for why people do violence and crime in East Harlem. Caesar says, “We’re never going to inherit nothing, unless we hit the Lotto.” Primo responds, “You have to do good for yourself in order to achieve, and you have to achieve in life in order to get somewhere. If you lay back, its cause you want to lay back, and then you want to cry out for help later. The struggle’s harder for the poor, but not impossible: just harder" (54). This dialogue represents the desperation people in East Harlem with economic struggles had in the 1980s. This desperation persuaded some of the poor to get into drugs and violence because it was the guaranteed way to get fast money.

Money however, was not the only reason why people entered the business of drugs and violence. Bourgois also from personal experience realized how welcoming the atmosphere is to work for a drug dealer. He says, “Ray’s followers did not remain loyal to him solely out of fear and violence. Some of the older members of his network genuinely liked him. He was capable of reciprocating friendship" (27) .In addition, Bourgois mentions how having a privileged relationship with Ray made him feel good and secure. Being part of this drug business made Bourgois feel accepted in the neighborhood because he was no longer an outcast. When Bourgois first moved to East Harlem he struggled with racism and police brutality. He was profiled as a white drug addict and the police did not understand why somebody of his skin color would be there. People had the belief that whites were not supposed to be in African-American or Latino neighborhoods unless they were drug addicts or undercover cops. This is another example of how racism led people to seek a sense of belonging in the community. The racism going on caused people to become isolated and feel unprotected because even the police would beat up black muggers with a smile on their faces. Therefore, joining gangs and selling drugs was a way to feel united with others.

One argument Bourgois  brings forward  In Search of Respect is that East Harlem was not violent and full of crime just because of the ethnicity or social class of its inhabitants but because of other factors as well. As Janes Jacobs says in The uses of sidewalks: safety, city danger has nothing to do with minority groups or the poor but with deeper social problems. East Harlem has dealt with the arrival of immigrants that have discriminated each other, with gangs that demonstrated drugs as easy pay, and has received Puerto Ricans that had to abandon their cane fields in order to work in the city. What Bourgois is trying to inform his readers is that El Barrio did not consist only of criminals but also of people that due to racism or economic struggles got stuck in this cycle of violence and crime. 

Reading Response 09/22

Reading Response 09/22

Philippe Bourgois, author of In search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio discusses the theory of the culture of poverty in East Harlem. He claims that the cultural battle for respect in El Barrio has negatively affected people’s decisions of choosing crime over the legal way to succeed. He also shows examples of structural violence that occurs in neighborhoods like East Harlem.

Ray, who owns crackhouses in East Harlem, is someone who suffers from structural violence. He drives his own cars and has a lot of money, but he does not have a driver’s license or any kind of legal identification. Without any identification, it is very hard to apply for almost anything in this country or prove that you are who you say you are. Bourgois states “He had no concept of how to deal with bureaucracies. New York City’s Department of Motor Vehicles rejected the photocopy of his birth certificate when he applied for a license, insisting that he needed a picture I.D. (Bourgois 28).” This department of the state government is responsible for providing people with their licenses and other forms of identification. He was being deprived of a driver’s license which will eventually cause him to have a run-in with the law if he ever gets caught driving without one. Ray wanted to work as a legal businessman but the “bureaucratic hoops” were keeping him from doing so. This political force has led to the structural violence against Ray who is only trying to create a legal business for himself but he can’t because he is unable to get the necessary documents he need.

We can also see how Ray has a hard time keeping some of his businesses. Bourgois states “The first legal business Ray attempted to establish was a Laundromat. He was unable to wade through the bureaucratic maze of permits, however, and gave up after a few weeks. He then bought the lease on a bodega…..but ran afoul of the bureaucracy once again and abandoned the project (Bourgois 29).” This quote conveys that Ray wanted many times to build something positive for himself but there was always obstacles that faced his way. Ray continued to suffer from structural violence when his businesses were not able to be successful. His social club was successful just until the City shut it down because it was not wheelchair accessible. There are many different types of violence that can occur. In this case Bourgois presents, the government was making it difficult for Ray to legally succeed with his businesses. Crime will continue to increase if people are not given the opportunity to do something legal and positive in their community.

Reading Response 09/22

(Here's a scene from West Side Story that depict the racial tension 

Between the Italians and Puerto Ricans)

In the book Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Philippe Bourgois, the story took place during the 1980’s to the early 1990’s where crime in New York City was at an all time high. But what is the root of all these violence? It’s the historical pattern of the place that leads to the poverty, crime, and the war on drugs. It all started with the Italians immigrating in East Harlem dating back to the 1880’s, they were unable to coexist properly with the already residing neighborhood and they were looked at as the minorities. In 1983, the New York Times denounced the “lawlessness and vindictive impulses of many immigrants from southern Italy living in East Harlem.” However once the Puerto Ricans started immigrating to East Harlem, the hates towards Italian subsided and the hate transitioned into the newcomers.  Thus started the gang wars between Italians and Puerto Ricans in East Harlem. Caesar’s 37 year-old cousin recollects a memory from the gang violence, “I remember when the whites moved out. I lived on 112^th and we used to have fights with the Italians all the time. Those were the gang years. There was a lot motions around there – they still there (60)”. Regardless of ethnic group, East Harlem is described as one of the worst district in New York City. Having filled with poverty and violence, it has been one of the centers for crime, which involves more police officers, and the involvement of police officers leads to reoccurrence of police brutality.  Caesar was narrating to Philippe an event happened earlier after two people mugged a girl and police came in and took turns beating the two thieves up, “ It was not a normal beat-down like: throw you up-on-a-car extra hard. I’m talking about ‘take your turn buddy’ [grinning]; hold ‘em right here [punching] and BOOM and BOOM and this guy goes BOOM (36)” Everyone in the neighborhood suffers from this regardless of race, Philippe who is white is also susceptible to police brutality. Police either assume he’s an undercover cop or he’s a crazy crack head. Due to his scrawny physical features, he’s always assumed as a drug dealer.  The oppression will increase due to more drug dealers, and crime activities, The New York City policed even deployed their new unit to East Harlem, known as Tactical Narcotic Teams, also known as TNT. The TNT pulls out people from the street late at night and even dragged people out from their own apartments.