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The Crack Project: On Philippe Bourgois

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If you know me, you know that I am fascinated with crack, the dominant discourse around it and the lack critical discourse around it, as it pertains to Black + Latino inner city neighborhoods. And how it affects men, women and children differently.

I plan on doing a post on my crack project proposal, but I just wanted to excerpt In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Phillip Bourgois real quick. My two favorite quotes from the introduction are:

This book is not about crack, or drugs, per se. Substance abuse in the inner city is merely a symptom – a vivid symbol – of a deeper dynamics of social marginalization and alienation. Of course on an immediately visible personal level, addiction and substance abuse are among the most immediate, brutal facts shaping dily life on the street. Most importantly, hoever, the two dozen street dealers and their families that I befreidned were not interested in talkign primary about drugs. On the contrary, they wanted me to learn all abou ttheir aily strugges for subsisstence and dignity at the poverty line.

The other quote is,
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The anguish of growing up poor in the richest city in the world is compounded by the cultural assault barrio youths often face when they venture out of their neighborhood. This has spawned what I call “inner-city street culture” : a complex and conflictual web of beliefs, symbols, modes of interactions, values, and ideologies that have emerged in opposition to exclusion from mainstream society.

I love this idea of a culture developing in opposition to being excluded from mainstream society. It totally avoids treating Black and Latino’s from the hood like pathological deviants.

#ummhmm.

Thoughts?

The Connection Between Protecting and Dominating Women

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Within the comments section of my post “Black Women x The Streets x Harassment” , which Latoya has up on Racialicious, Gregory Butler explained the connection between being protected and being dominated in a straight forward and profound way. He writes,

It took me years to reach the point where I could defy the social pressure to ?Be a Real Man? ? and it was not an easy process to learn how to treat women like human beings rather than objects.

That?s a sad commentary on how masculinity and manhood are defined in our society ? but yet and still that is very very real.

And for the men of our race, devalued as we are in all other areas of life, it?s easy to cling to being a ?Real Man? and all the abusive sexist bullshit that goes along with that.

Incidentally, that whole ?protecting? women by walking on the outside when you walk down the street, holding doors ect is part of that same sexist idea about ?being a Real Man? ? so I wouldn?t be so quick to embrace that form of patriarchal masculinity either.

Just read the discussion thread on this article http://bit.ly/9g2Y00 and you?ll see men defending that man walks on the outside custom basically because that position makes it easier for them to fight other men

Of course, when guys fight over a woman, it?s really not about ?protecting? her at all ? it?s about a man asserting and defending his property rights over that woman when those property rights are being infringed on by another man

Again, I apologize for misunderstanding your post ? but I stand by my opposition to chivalry, which is NOT the opposite of sexism, but merely a more polite form.

This hit home.

I once had an ex who said that if a dude said something to me on the street that he wouldn’t fight him.

I thought this was absurd.

I also come from a place where people get socked or even shot at for stepping on the wrong persons sneakers or giving the wrong person a mean mug or looking at the wrong persons lady friend.

Violence was always ready to pop off in East Oakland, California.

Lets hear this again,

when guys fight over a woman, it?s really not about ?protecting? her at all ? it?s about a man asserting and defending his property rights over that woman when those property rights are being infringed on by another man her at all”

This issue of ownership is what my ex was talking about at the time.

The basic assumption that he was challenging was that I was not a piece of property to be defended or fought over. This seemed like it made sense on one level, but on another level it was absurd, because it went against much of which I was socialized to accept.

However knowing what I know now, in 2010 about the legal history of women White women and Black women as property in this US society? (I just completed a class on Race and Conquest in Colonial America), I KNOW that there is connection between ideologically women being seen as property and women being legally treated as property,? which is rooted in English Common Law doctrine La Feme Covurt.

According to Wikipedia the? La Feme Covurt doctrine says that,

…husband and wife were one person as far as the law was concerned, and that person was the husband. A married woman could not own property, sign legal documents or enter into a contract, obtain an education against her husband’s wishes, or keep a salary for herself. If a wife was permitted to work, under the laws of coverture she was required to relinquish her wages to her husband. In certain cases, a woman did not have individual legal liability for her misdeeds, since it was legally assumed that she was acting under the orders of her husband, and generally a husband and wife were not allowed to testify either for or against each other.

Keeping the legal history in mind I am going to back to the streets and patriarchy.

Over Memorial day weekend, I was reminded of this notion of protection
and domination isn’t clear cut.

My intuition is cold, and so I try and follow it as often as a can.

This means most people will look for any possible real causes for your erectile issues and recommend the correct treatment. purchase viagra from india Blessed are those who don’t discount cialis check this site out experience it their entire life. This disturbed sugar level of blood can create very unfavorable situations for the affected person and imposes a lot of restriction in diet pattern and life style. http://www.midwayfire.com/documents/Press%20Release-%20Santa%20Run%20Route%202013.doc buy cialis in australia Because DHT only affects certain areas of the body, the penis relies on certain vitamins and minerals to achieve maximum health and erectile function is strong, uk viagra prices and numerous psychological issues can get in the market different brands like Kamagra, Kamagra oral jelly, Silagra, Zenegra, and Forzest etc. On Memorial day, I was walking up 8th ave to 14th street to
get my favorite taco’s from the taco truck with my gentleman
friend.

I was scantily dressed. Tank top, poom poom shorts, flip flops.

It was about 90 degrees that day.

I saw a man walking towards us, kinda bent, at the spine at a 40 degree angle.? He was off his meds and on something else. Disheveled. Thin. But lightweight diesel. Kind of like a zombie with a moderate “pimp” walk.

He reminded me of that reoccurring junkie character in the Spike Lee movies.

I knew that if he was close enough to me, he would try to touch? or grab me.

I also knew that if he did that somebody was going to go to jail that day.

Within a split second, I told Pepe, “Blood move to my left side” and we switched places.

With the quickness (and I was glad b/c sometimes he can’t hear me and I would have hated to have had to repeat myself.)

I was closer the street. Pepe was between us. Pepe ain’t a little dude.

As the addict man walk by us he yelled out “Man you suppose walk on the outside her near the street.”

I was relieved.

I followed my intuition.

My rationale is that if he was willing to talk to a grown man like that then he would also be willing to try me.

I had a few questions in my head after this happened.

How was patriarchy working in this situation? Did I have to choose between the possibility of one person dominating me and being protected by another?? In some ways yes.

Do I feel like I did the right thing?? Yes. Under the circumstances.

I also think about how these issues are not clear cut.

When was the last time, maneuvering on the street that you followed or failed to follow your intuition? What happened?

What do you think of Gregory’s idea that “when guys fight over a woman, it?s really not about ?protecting? her at all ? it?s about a man asserting and defending his property rights over that woman when those property rights are being infringed on by another man”?

Any other thoughts?

Thinking about Tea Cake + Violence

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You all know that I LOVE me some Their Eyes Were Watching God.

A couple of weeks ago, Mark Anthony Neal posted a piece about Tea Cake as an Imagined Black Feminist Manhood.

I like the idea of taking Tea Cake for this purpose. However, I was insistent that Tea Cakes violence be dealt with front and center.

In particular, I took issue with the fact that Neal rephrased the beating as occasional hitting. Which was problematic.

We went back and forth over it,? and he came to see my point about the importance of violence being acknowledged and I acknowledged that Tea Cake represents a possibility, not perfection. But I been on the symbolism of Janie and Tea Cake? since January. TC and J helped me open my heart to Loving and being Loved again.

So, you know the historian in me went back and re-read the passage where Tea Cake beat Janie. I was actually light weight mortified and reaffirmed that I stuck to my guns because of the explicitness regarding his motivations and reaffirmed.? Hurston writes,
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When Mrs. Turners brother came and she brought him over to be introduced, Tea Cake had a brainstrom. Before week was over had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relived that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss. Everybody talked about it the next day in teh fields. It aroused a sort of envy in both men and women. The way he petted and pampered her as if those two or three face slaps had nearly killed her made the women see visions and the helpless way she hung on him made the men see dreams.

“Tea Cake you sho is a lucky man,” Sop-de-Bottom told him. “Uh person can see every place you hit her. Ah bet she never raised her hand tuh hit yuh back, neither. Take some uh dese ol’ rusty black women and dey would fight yuh all night long and next day. Nobody couldn’t tell you ever hit ’em. Dat’s de reasons Ah doe quit beatin’ mah woman. You can’t make no mark on ’em at all. Lawd! Wouldn’t Ah love tuh whip uh tender woman lak Janie! Ah bet she don’t even holler. She jus cries Tea Cake.

Yeah.

What was bugged out was when I re-read it, its like he beat her on general principal.? Like I’m insecure, so let me knock the shit out of you a little bit and let everybody know wassup. #ummp.

Thoughts about Tea Cake and Janie?

Remember when I went from looking for Tea Cake to becoming Janie?

Josephine recently said that she BEYOND becoming Janie, ummhmm.

On (Black) Masculinity: It’s Fragile + Illusive

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Harry Brod’s essay “Studying Masculinities” has some straight ahead information on teaching and understanding masculinity.

I reread it last night and was reminded of how good it is.

I am going to post excerpts below, with some comments.

On How Privileges Work

[All]Men, as do whites [men and women], have a vested interest in not asking questions about sources of privileges. Any form of oppression maintains its power by masking how it operates, making its structure as invisible as possible. To shed light on masculinity is therefore at least potentially to threaten patriarchy.

Ahhh. This why my conversations with @beautynubian are so illuminating on Twitter. We stay talking about patriarchy, gender roles and what it means to have a gendered political identity and be? going out on dates. #somuchwin.

So much of masculinity and femininity rests in asking the why people do what they do? Is it natural, taught or a combination therein?

Or we look at what is being assumed when an action is taken, ie, walking on the outside when walking down the street with a woman. Who gets to walk on the outside when TWO women are walking down the street?? #ummhmm.

On Questioning Masculinity

Quoting Michael Kimmel “…for a man to admit that he has questions about masculinity is to admit that he has failed at masculinity.”

So eloquent. Yet so direct.

On the Uselessness of? Blaming Men for Sexism

For at least some men, moving away from being personally blamed for sexism facilitates moving toward taking personal responsibility for it.? It is difficult, if not impossible, to take effective steps towards positive personal and political change if one imagines oneself thereby to be taking steps in opposition to oneself.? But if I see that my target is not myself but rather social forces and what they have done to me, I find such steps become not only possible but desirable.

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Its another thing to be at brunch and my gentleman friend feels like I called him a four letter word because I said that he did something that was patriarchal. What he doesn’t know is that there are SOME WOMEN that I don’t care to be around because THEY are hella patriarchal. The issue isn’t whats between your legs, but your politics, whats between your ears. How you think about stuff. #ummhmm.

I like this paragraph by Brod because it gets at getting men to see the social forces at work, and not simply blaming them for being sexist. What is the benefit of doing something like that? Where is the space being created for education or transformation. There is none with blame. That doesn’t mean I’m not gonna call a negro man or woman out if they are outta pocket. But it does mean that I will open up a discussion, if the person is willing. Or leave them alone if it is taking too much work.

On Men In Masculinity (Feminist) Studies Classes

Men who are willing to question masculinity to the extent of devoting a semester to examining it therefore pose? threat to their own and other men’s power.

The act of simply being willing to question masculinity and learn about it threatens how society is organized. #ummhmm. Peace to the men who are willing to learn.

Another quote that I found interesting is from Global Gender Issues in the New Millennium.

“…Heternormative masculinity is an extraordinarily fragile and unstable construct and identity that leaves men having to prove repeatedly that they have “it”. They are put in constant fear and anxiety that they will be dubbed less than real men and therefore, be demoted down the gender hierarchy and be subjected to greater violence by other, higher men.”

This has me thinking about how men are subjected to violence in similar to how? women are, but under difference circumstances. It all turns on “conform to the way its done”? or get smashed. Gimmie your number, or imma call you a ______ and slap you. Act like a man or imma sock you in the face and call you a _____. You get my drift?

How do men deal with this psychologically?

Especially Black men, constantly having to be on guard, performing.

Isn’t this shit a lot of work? Ya’ll get tired. How you deal with it? Do it ever drive you crazy?

Thoughts about the fragility of masculinity?

Acting White and Black English

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If you correct my English I might curse you out, give you a side eye,
or a simple blank stare.

If I am not at work,? I don’t speak standard English. It is not what
is most comfortable to me.

Last year, on one of my blog posts cross posted on Racialicious I began to explain in the comment section how I don’t use standard English, unless I have to.

One comment in particular reminded me of how we “blame the victim”,

  1. blueblack wrote:

    The inability to speak standard english will only create a permanent underclass of young African-Americans who lack the communication skills to navigate through 21st century America. To make a conscious decision to speak a certain way when in a non-professional environment is one thing, but the sad reality is that the overwhelming majority of these young people don?t have that option. They can only communicate in a manner that screams ? I am completely uneducated!?

    Posted 29 Nov 2009 at 9:31 pm ?

My response to this is that the unwillingness to speak standard English does not create an underclass.

A society whose minimum isn’t a livable wage, creates a permanent, multi generational under caste.

Furthermore, the Dec 1st NY Times article on how Ivy League educated Black men are scrubbing the negroness from their resume’s because they can’t find employment flies in the fact of? “pull up your pants, speak English and get a job” narrative.

Ann Ferguson’s Book Bad Boys: Public Schools and the Making of Black Masculinity is probably my favorite book of the forty or so I read last year. Its social justice oriented, theoretical and it centers the voices of Black boys.

Below I will provide excerpts from Ferguson’s book with a brief response, to some of them.

Black Kids Don’t Want to Act White

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So basically, Black kids aren’t hating on Black kids, the institutions are hating on them. #umhmm. There is some truth to that.

Acting White as a Radical Critique

“…the claim that “acting white” is a prerequisite for success becomes and insight on the part of youth into the normalizing techniques of the institution…This theory emphasizes the reproduction of class relations through schooling…it propounds that success and social mobility …is dependent on the mastery of middle class linguistic codes, lifestyles…”

Why do Some Children Choose Black English?

“…they are exposed daily to Received standard English daily through family, community, television, movies and the classroom.”

Quoting P. Trudgill ” To suggest to a child that his language and those with him he identifies is inferior in some way is to imply that he is inferior.”

“Useni Perkins contends that Black children use [Black English] because it is more in harmony with the millieu in which they must survive? pliable speech they need to navigate the locale.”

So Black children use Black English, or a variety of home languages because they need it to get from point A to point B, and to be connected with their families.? I understand that. Its about time that the rest of us do as well.

One of the social costs of assimilation is being separated from your families or LOSING your friends and having to start over. There is very little conversation around this issue. Yet it pervades the lives of high achieving-low income students of color.

Language tells people where we come from. It is also an indicator of how much power our parents have in society, as education tends to reflect our families class status, i.e.? we move out to the suburbs so our kids can go to “better schools.” Or we stay in the hood because that is all we can afford.

People don’t know what do with me, because I am fast talking, country, Brooklyn, I have hella “been to’s” and if you come at me sideways I MIGHT get rational and legal. #ummhmm.

Thoughts on Black English and Acting White?

Do we choose language as an act of survival?

Black English a language?