Sociology

3 Pages 705 Words

During this semester, we have covered many articles. After reading “The code of the streets”, by Elijah Anderson, I realized what the inner city is really about. Anderson’s views on the code of the streets were strictly about how to survive as far as protecting your self and providing for your self. He breaks it down into two groups and then compares the two groups how society views us African Americans. The two groups were the “decent” and “street’ families. The decent families have an average job, take care of their family and are some what educated. Many of them go to church and play a major part in their children’s schooling. They teach their children no to get involved in violence and they are strict. On the other hand, the street families are the total opposite. They are drug users and they are prone to violence. Anderson shows that some of the reasons for a lot of these problems originate from their environment. If you grow up or live around a drug infested neighborhood, then most likely you will result to drugs. In the community, due to lack of jobs, and employment discrimination, a lot of people turn to violence and Anderson is trying to let mainstream know that they need to know the code of the streets.
Another article we read was William Julius Wilson’s article, “When work disappears”. Wilson talks about how the employment woes. Jobs are widely available, but due to race and lack of individual initiative, jobs are limited. Jobbing is so ridiculous, that adults in many inner city neighborhoods are not working in a typical week. “Joblessness triggers other neighborhood problems that undermine social organization, ranging from crime, gang violence, and drug trafficking to family breakups”, says Wilson. It seems that you can’t get a job because of your race or your background. People are so fed up with it, they move out but that causes problems for other residents. When a lot of peo...