This week, we read about suburban life and the way it impacts different groups such as high school teenagers and African American families intent on holding on to their identity and culture. These readings highlighted the limitations and issues that arise from a suburban lifestyle and the ways that people altered their lives and spaces to accommodate their needs. For example, the young adults of Peachville could not find a suitable and enjoyable way to spend their time, so some of them decided to turn to dealing and consuming drugs. In the case of Sherwood Park residents, they were very particular in advising their children of which spaces and people to interact with in hopes of showing the importance of black identity. In both cases, we see the way suburban life has certain limitations and how people respond to fill their social and cultural desires.

The lack of stimuli in the suburbs was most apparent in visualizing how the middle class teenagers interacted with drugs. It is important to note that throughout the article, the true focus as to why drugs became a central part of these kids lifestyle is because it was a way to be social with friends and increase their status. There certainly was a large emphasis on consuming drugs and the spotlight that came along with it, but the true reason is that suburban life did not offer enough in terms of entertainment and stimulation for these individuals. In concept, the other large incentive to selling drugs is the economic incentive although many of the dealers expressed that was not as much of a factor in their decision to get involved with selling. What this shows is that these individuals were finding a way to cope with an underwhelming lifestyle rather than trying to make an economic gain or simply enjoying the effects. They experienced disdain with their situation and had to find something to fill the void. In this case, they turned to getting involved with drugs because it met all the criteria they needed for developing socially. They were looking for ways to spend time with their friends, acquire social capital, and become someone who was seen as “cool” by any means necessary. These teenagers latched onto selling and consuming drugs because they could not find anything in their suburban environment that produced all these needs.

With the neighborhoods that Lacy introduced, suburbia had the wrong kind of culture for some families and fell short in providing adequate stimuli for the development of their black identity. The mothers and fathers of Sherwood Park were extremely concerned with the lack of black culture exposure and wanted their kids to not spend as much time with white families and residents because of the hyper-exposure of white culture they received in suburban spaces. In certain instances, some families felt as though navigating the suburbs was harder than navigating less than privileged neighborhoods because they felt more comfortable with an environment that had a black identity. Living in a more middle class region, the shortcomings in terms of culture are exposed in neighborhoods like Sherwood Park and the necessity to alter their community becomes primary concern. It is true that, statistically, there is far less diversity in suburbia than in other regions however, these conflicts of culture stem from the struggle groups face in the lack of adequate culture by the suburbs.

Suburban life is supremely popular among families because it offers, in most cases, a safe and quaint neighborhood in which to raise a family. While there are distinct advantages to the more serene vibe suburbia life brings on, there is also the issue of a lack of stimuli and entertainment. The pieces by Jacques & Wright and Lacy, illuminate the struggles of living in suburbia and that its shortcomings require other elements to fill the needs of its residents.

-Wilson M.

In the readings by Murphy, Lee, and Rios, they discuss and introduce different elements of culture that are prevalent in the “iconic ghetto.” In all three pieces, they display different yet important aspects of this culture by providing evidence through findings from first-hand, ethnographic study. While all three pieces illustrate portions of culture in these ghettos, there is also a strong undertone of racial tension and the troublesome relationship between racial groups in these areas. In addition to this tension, these readings also outline the quality of life for members of ghettos and the difficulties that arise as a result.

A central theme that presents itself throughout the readings is the concept of agency. Who has the privilege of agency in certain situations and who does not. The ways in which people try to obtain agency and what agency means to a Black or Latino teenager in these communities. In the reading by Rios, he shows how much agency means to these teenagers and the drastic measures they take in an effort to obtain it. He illuminates the idea that these young men feel as though they are operating in a system that is already stacked against them and, in order to gain some respect in their life, they need to show they are worthy of some aspect of power. The interesting catch of this idea, however, is how they choose to obtain it. For example, one may think that being respectful and exhibiting positive character would be the way to accumulate agency in a community yet, these teenagers often decide to put up a tough front and attempt to gain agency and respect through defiance. When they gave someone like a storeowner trouble for accusing them of stealing, they were confrontational and fled rather than explaining themselves because they believed that their explicit antagonism would cause the storeowner to not give them grief in their next encounter.

Similarly, in the case of the alleged “litterers” that Murphy highlighted, members of certain geographic affiliations are labeled as disreputable and indifferent towards the welfare and cleanliness of their community. This represents another instance where the agency does not lie with the individuals who are being accused of the downfall in their community. With the “litterers,” it can also be difficult to decipher whether the accusations are coming from a genuine place of concern for the welfare and hygiene of their space, or if the migration of an impoverished group has made longtime residents upset about the demographic moving into their neighborhood. The origin of this unrest will allude to residents acting on true feelings of discontent with community standards, or acting on racial stereotypes. To play devil’s advocate, it may be easy to think of the agency that lower class individuals have to clean up their space and resist the temptation to throw their waste on the ground however, would these actions lead to a change of heart by longtime residents? My contention would be that while there is clear and physical evidence to show the amount of littering and trash filling spaces where impoverished and lower class individuals live, there is also something to be said of the discourse surrounding these peoples and the impact that discourse plays. If someone moves into these neighborhoods and hears that longtime residents are ridiculing them for being main contributors to the low quality of the town and the accumulation of garbage before they establish themselves, what would prompt them to think they have power or agency over changing their situation?

Agency is certainly not the only prominent theme in these articles, but it is crucial to understand the presence of the notion, or at least the possibility of agency, and the role that it plays with people. In the case of the Latino teenagers from Oakland, they not only believed that they did not hold any agency, but, in fact, they knew that they didn’t and that the system was stacked against them. As a result, they did not try to improve their situation because they thought it would be useless to fight a system that is designed to work against them. Agency is a tool that can lead to upward mobility, which is something many of these lower class citizens would choose if they had the power.

-Wilson M.