Code of the Street

The focus of this chapter is on another key figure within the context of inner-city families: the Black grandmother. Anderson argues that “the black grandmother holds a special place among her people, both in folklore and in real life” (206). Consequently, the role of the grandmother in the inner-city has become institutionalized, to the point where being a Black grandmother in inner-city communities has its own accompanying set of expectations and traditions, such as the expectation of providing economic stability for the whole family or serving as its emotionally resilient backbone. Anderson argues that grandmothers have become especially important to Black families as crack cocaine has spread through neighborhoods. When a grandmother’s daughter develops a drug addiction, the grandmother must now step in, offering her daughter “tough love” while also becoming a de facto mother to her grandchildren. Anderson tells the story of Betty, a grandmother whose first-person account addresses many of the key issues of the chapter, including her own daughter’s drug use. Despite the adversity she faces, Betty fully accepts her role as grandmother, even to the point where she must quit her job and rely on welfare in order to adequately care for her grandchildren while her daughter struggles with drug addiction.