Code of the Street

“One of the most salient features of urban life in the minds of many people today is the relative prevalence of violence.”

Here, Anderson points out that life in the inner city is assumed to be violent. Those living in more affluent urban neighborhoods or suburbs often stereotype major urban centers as having a higher threat of criminal violence.

“Of all the problems besetting the poor inner-city black community, none is more pressing than that of interpersonal violence and aggression.”

While Anderson acknowledges that Black communities in inner-city contexts are faced with a great number of challenges, interpersonal violence—particularly between people who belong to the same community and thereby face the same challenges—is the most notable challenge.

“Almost everyone residing in poor inner-city neighborhoods is struggling financially and therefore feels a certain distance from the rest of America, but there are degrees of alienation, captured by the terms ‘decent’ and ‘street’ or ‘ghetto’, suggesting social types.”

Urban poverty causes alienation due to detachment from mainstream society and its economic possibilities. Anderson asserts that this detachment is exacerbated when hierarchies or distinctions are made within inner-city communities.