In the readings by Murphy, Lee, and Rios, they discuss and introduce different elements of culture that are prevalent in the \u201ciconic ghetto.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Similarly, in the case of the alleged \u201clitterers\u201d 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 \u201clitterers,\u201d 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\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
-Wilson M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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