In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

Violence arises in the underground economy for many reasons. One of the earliest ways mentioned by Bourgois is the use of violence to, ironically, keep the peace. Drug dealers like Ray have to look tough and in control. Vulnerability would mean bad business or a threat to their life. Ray mixes friendship with violence and cultural respect, creating an effective combination of fear so that he’s respected and his business flourishes. This use of violence is brought up again later when Bourgois discusses the history of El Barrio. Although Puerto Ricans ran the streets when he lived there, the area was once controlled by the Italian Mafia. While the Mafia has little sway now, their use of violence as an effective tool for obedience has been internalized by other cultures. Violence also creates a silent majority that lives in fear of abuse and views the violent minority with anger or apathy. Primo and Caesar often tell Bourgois that they have to be violent because if they aren’t, they will be seen as weak and subsequently preyed upon.

Also stemming from history, violence in El Barrio is a negative trait that has been and still is passed down from generation to generation. Bourgois believes that men like Primo and Ray don’t realize the full impact of growing up in homes where fathers and grandfathers were abusive to both wives and children. This violence is seen as the prerogative of a male in a male-centered household and society. Often, this violence is a physical expression of impotence and helplessness. Bourgois points out that in brief times when men do obtain legal jobs, this violence tends to disappear, thus tying it to the cycle of being pushed back into the underground economy and feeling helpless. Another important offshoot of this violence is the creation of female-headed households. Even though larger society views absentee fathers as a main reason for the failures and problems of children in the inner city, Bourgois slams this critique by stating that poverty itself is the main culprit for the problems growing kids face. In fact, women allow themselves to be abused far too much and for too long before they do something about it. The acceptance of violence from mothers stems once again from a cycle that has cast them as the abused since childhood.

Bourgois also looks at social marginalization, which he calls "apartheid" (19), in places like New York. For Bourgois, this apartheid breeds violence and "institutionalized alienation" (175). Society at large decries the violence of the inner city without realizing that its apathy and refusal to be involved with inner cities allows violence to continue and flourish. Jobs and projects that take individuals out of the inner city and attempt to change cultural values, even troubling ones, ultimately fail. Also, the infrastructure of the inner city is allowed to crumble without aid. An “us” and “them” mentality is supported, and has been, even from politicians and scientists. This all leads to internalized inferiority, which then leads to drug abuse and other facets of the underground economy, which then lead to violence in its many forms.

History plays a large part in the lives of Bourgois’s friends in El Barrio. One of the greatest changes historically, and one that was still being fought when Bourgois was researching, is shifting gender roles. The traditional, old-world view of Puerto Rican households centered around a large family headed by a male who provided for his family economically. This male figure demanded respect and received it. As Bourgois has shown, however, none of the men in his narrative are able to fit this outdated mode of masculinity. Caring for and supporting a family has morphed into hypermasculinity, where men try to have as many sexual partners as possible and take out their anger on whatever female is closest to them that has lost their respect. This behavior is ultimately a sign of how impotent men have become in a society where they are supposed to be the breadwinners.

Bourgois uses the unusual case of Candy to show how women’s roles are fighting back against male-dominated ideas of gender. Candy is Felix’s wife, and she reinforces male views by allowing abuse, even to the point of losing five pregnancies through an abusive husband. When Candy finds out that Felix is cheating, however, she changes her views. She begins to sell crack like men. She also flaunts her sexuality and takes multiple lovers, with Primo being a lover while Felix is in jail. She abandons her kids occasionally to make a place for herself in the underground economy, although her actions can also be seen as necessary for supporting her five children. Candy enters the male-dominated space, and her gender shift angers the men around her. Candy’s attitude is viewed as a threat, even if others don’t explicitly vocalize this. Instead, they use terms derogatory terms to demonize her for doing the same actions they do as men. When Candy’s daughter is raped, they blame Candy’s failure as a woman and a mother. Candy’s actions, however, show how women can be just as integral to the underground economy. Her actions also show how successful women can be in this economy when given a chance and demonstrate agency on the part of women, even if this agency can be viewed as "self-destructive" (285).