Down The Mean Street Thomas Analysis

Down The Mean Streets, published in 1967, is a memoir of Piri Thomas life experiences. Thomas is a Puerto Rican and Cuban Latino who was born into poverty with a father who immediately made Thomas feel like an outsider. He grew up in Spanish Harlem where kids would often mistake Thomas as a black man due to his darker skin color, which was the beginning of violence in his life. During the Civil Rights Movement, Thomas sought out to find his place in the world by moving down south with his friend Brew. Following his mother’s death, multiple fights, heroin addiction and shooting a police officer, Thomas finds himself in prison. He describes his conflicts with the color of his skin, the need to belong, and addiction to the reader from his point of view. At first glance, Down The Mean Streets is simply a memoir of a Latino man struggling with family, …show more content…
Each of Thomas’ life experiences conveys the affects discrimination has on these socially constructed categories. The memoir challenges the reader to determine the underlying meaning behind Thomas’ behaviors. In each situation, I tried to put myself in Thomas’ shoes to see how I would feel and respond. This was difficult because I come from an opposite lifestyle. I come was born into a higher socioeconomic class with a typical white, catholic family. My family dynamic was ran around the typical gender roles with power and value emphasized in education, finances, and family. Therefore, I originally read the piece as a story of a criminal who made poor decisions based on racial conflict. Using the materialist lens, this book completely opened my eyes to recognize these relevant issues that are ignored or pushed aside everyday. I now question the reasoning behind everything from the governments’ actions of power relations to the culture conflicts the public is placed