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Soc 383 Writing Assignment
Winter 2016
Summary
Urban war zones littered with violence are scattered across the United States. Los Angeles, California has seen its fair share of murder and it is the job of the police officers and detectives to maintain order in the streets. Jill Leovy, author of Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, is also a writer for the Los Angeles times; and she took the liberty of noting every murder that occurred in her city. What would follow was a collection of stories and personal accounts from the streets in the eyes of the gunslingers and the law. South Central Los Angeles is a far cry from Beverly Hills and that is something that gang members took pride and honor in. Like the criminals, …show more content…
The code of the street is an unwritten set of rules that regulates personal behavior. It is a code that must be conformed to if an individual is to gain respect on the street. Some of the main rules include, hostility towards police, lacking trust in people, and placing an emphasis on respect. Elijah Anderson’s concept of the code of the street and decent and street families can be seen throughout The Ghettoside. The two types of families can coexist in one area, often leading to influence on either side. Anderson discusses how in an area dominated by street families, the decent families must partially accept some of the street families’ norms in order to “survive” or not be walked on. Anderson explains that most decent parents will tell their kids to fight back if challenged, with the intent of preventing future attacks (Anderson 1999: 19). Despite their best efforts, the street lifestyle can still get to the decent families. In the case of Dovon, his mother made every effort to ensure that he had an education, that he was not involved in gangs and that he was good natured. In spite of his positive upbringing he was impacted by the streets. The street families group together in a close proximity. Anderson gives the example of Joe Dickens, who is one of many, street families that live in a row within a predominately middle class area. In The Ghettoside, Leovy explains that blacks are unable to escape …show more content…
Wally Tennelle grew up in South Central, which is dominated by street families; he however, was raised in a home that valued respecting law enforcement, staying out of trouble and he eventually became a detective for the city of Los Angeles. In The Code of the Street, Anderson shares the story of Yvette, a girl who grew up in a decent family among street families. She, like Tennelle, was sheltered by her mom and grew up to become a productive law abiding citizen in society. Even after Tennelle became a detective he lived in South Central. He aimed to be a role model and do good for the community (Leovy 2015: 304). He was an underdog in South Central and there was little hope for gentrification. Skaggs was also an underdog in South Central. His drive to help people was hard to come by, but much needed. Jessica Midkiff quickly created a relationship with Skaggs. She looked to him for help and guidance. She was helping him with the Tennelle case and was in danger for talking to the police. Skaggs would often check up on her and take her out to lunch. He instills decent family values in her. She has difficulty finding work outside of a strip club; however, with time she makes small changes such as finding places that do not fully exploit women. She started to smoke less, she applied for other jobs and made lists of goals she wanted to achieve. Two years in
Soc 383 Writing Assignment
Winter 2016
Summary
Urban war zones littered with violence are scattered across the United States. Los Angeles, California has seen its fair share of murder and it is the job of the police officers and detectives to maintain order in the streets. Jill Leovy, author of Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, is also a writer for the Los Angeles times; and she took the liberty of noting every murder that occurred in her city. What would follow was a collection of stories and personal accounts from the streets in the eyes of the gunslingers and the law. South Central Los Angeles is a far cry from Beverly Hills and that is something that gang members took pride and honor in. Like the criminals, …show more content…
The code of the street is an unwritten set of rules that regulates personal behavior. It is a code that must be conformed to if an individual is to gain respect on the street. Some of the main rules include, hostility towards police, lacking trust in people, and placing an emphasis on respect. Elijah Anderson’s concept of the code of the street and decent and street families can be seen throughout The Ghettoside. The two types of families can coexist in one area, often leading to influence on either side. Anderson discusses how in an area dominated by street families, the decent families must partially accept some of the street families’ norms in order to “survive” or not be walked on. Anderson explains that most decent parents will tell their kids to fight back if challenged, with the intent of preventing future attacks (Anderson 1999: 19). Despite their best efforts, the street lifestyle can still get to the decent families. In the case of Dovon, his mother made every effort to ensure that he had an education, that he was not involved in gangs and that he was good natured. In spite of his positive upbringing he was impacted by the streets. The street families group together in a close proximity. Anderson gives the example of Joe Dickens, who is one of many, street families that live in a row within a predominately middle class area. In The Ghettoside, Leovy explains that blacks are unable to escape …show more content…
Wally Tennelle grew up in South Central, which is dominated by street families; he however, was raised in a home that valued respecting law enforcement, staying out of trouble and he eventually became a detective for the city of Los Angeles. In The Code of the Street, Anderson shares the story of Yvette, a girl who grew up in a decent family among street families. She, like Tennelle, was sheltered by her mom and grew up to become a productive law abiding citizen in society. Even after Tennelle became a detective he lived in South Central. He aimed to be a role model and do good for the community (Leovy 2015: 304). He was an underdog in South Central and there was little hope for gentrification. Skaggs was also an underdog in South Central. His drive to help people was hard to come by, but much needed. Jessica Midkiff quickly created a relationship with Skaggs. She looked to him for help and guidance. She was helping him with the Tennelle case and was in danger for talking to the police. Skaggs would often check up on her and take her out to lunch. He instills decent family values in her. She has difficulty finding work outside of a strip club; however, with time she makes small changes such as finding places that do not fully exploit women. She started to smoke less, she applied for other jobs and made lists of goals she wanted to achieve. Two years in