A Bit Bookish

Philippe's total immersion in the street life of El Barrio is shocking not because of what he witnesses but because he witnesses them here in America, in what's probably the richest and most "American" of cities, New York. His experiences boggle the mind- his stories read like some kind of dystopian future where cops harass you for being too intelligent, too skinny, or having the wrong color skin and people are forced to accept a way of life that revolves around them being outcasts while the rich, just a few blocks away, wear $500 shoes and pay for a meal at a restaurant with funds that could last these people a whole month. Except this isn't a dystopian future- it's the everyday lives of the very poor in the 1990's. His experiences being harassed and judged reflect what the people he's interacting with feel any time they leave the familiar streets of their own sad neighborhood. Through anthropological studies like his, we are able to see other cultures similar to El Barrio not as a dot on a map or a stereotype on TV but as a group of people profoundly effected by their collective past, their marginalization by mainstream society, and by the (understandably) hopeless attitudes of the people around them. 

[That was a bit from my discussion post for Cultural Anthropology. Honestly this should be required reading for every human being. It's difficult for us to look outside our cultural norms to understand life "in the ghetto" but I think it's massively important if we're ever going to see any real change.]