In Search of Respect
- Bourgeois argues that structural oppression is the root cause of Primo and Caesar becoming drug dealers
Structural oppression can be associated to the mode in which culture, history, public policies, personal behavior, ideology, institutional practices, and the beliefs come together to maintain a particular hierarchy which is based on the gender, class, race, sexuality or other identities. This perspective gives the involved community the advantages and disadvantages which are associated with the involved oppressed, marginalized or targeted individuals to adapt and thrive from time to time. The rate of dealing drugs across the black community has gradually increased with the change in times (Bourgois, pg82). In New York City, most of the black people deal drugs than the whites making it very clear that this is a city of drugs and the dealers are black. From the time in history, the black community has been marginalized when it comes to offering social services such as infrastructure, educational facilities, and other social amenities. Most of the people born in this neighborhood grow up believing that there is no life beyond the city they are born in especially the blacks. Blacks have been labeled as people who only deal drugs and nothing good can come from them.
Structural oppressions are the root cause of Primo and Caesar doing drugs. It is not a wonder that today if a white man sees a black man who is doing well in his life; he definitely concludes that he is a drug dealer. This is the notion that people have believed and it is affecting the lives of the young people doing drugs when they grow up (Bourgois, pg50). Some blacks would want to pursue other careers such as being in the white collar jobs but the level which they are about to fight against makes them be discouraged even before they start. The black community faces a lot of challenges growing up, from having the education to their homes. Education for the blacks is not a necessity but a kind of luxury which many would prefer to skip and look for something better to do. The blacks do not do drugs because they wish but because the challenges of getting a good job are minimal and what they are fighting for is survival. Many would prefer to get a good job but it is all about surviving and the only option is to do drugs (Bourgois, pg150). For example, racism is the act of the day where blacks are oppressed through work and being subjected to hard positions with little pay. The black community has some going through schools, get a good job but they finally move back to the suburbs which are not something many people would want to pass through.
There are cultural factors which practically forced Primo and Caesar to deal drugs. Such cultures can be rooted from the early years in history when African Americans were subjected to various levels of oppression such as being slaves and lack the freedom to express their concerns. The society is engulfed with some inner cultures which are very complex and which have shaped the people thriving in this city. The beliefs, customs, values, ideologies, and symbols including the way they interact have influenced a new culture that causes a change in the mode of survival for the members. Certain languages such as the use of terms like hip and other words influence the type of future a person will live in many cases. Agency is the capability of a person to be free and independent in making their own choices mostly about their lives which is what partly made Primo and Caesar deal drugs. Caesar and Primo are both individuals who have the desire to make something out of their lives and lead a happy life (Bourgois, pg76). The cultural norms such as being a black person in the city where everything is about either being rich or being a survivor makes them chose a path that is very illegal. Being a survivor is all about doing what you can to make the ends meet and this is the culture that forces many into drug dealing business. It is a business that is booming but also a wrong career that is illegal in most cities.
In the late 70s in the city of New York, there were very many industries that the black community and other ethnic communities used to go and seek employment. These industries acted as a source of livelihood for many but they were soon replaced by the service industries which required skills and education for people to be employed. The service industries brought in new challenges that the communities were forced to consider other options. Such options for Primo and Caesar included being drug dealers and operating a large network. Going underground and deciding to do what can make the community to survive and also fulfill personal choices, Caesar and Primo managed drug dealership which connected too many areas and in most cases forced them to become who they could never be in life (Bourgois, pg108). Drug dealing is a dangerous and illegal not forgetting a deteriorating path to life but the black communities have been left without a choice since surviving in the united states as an ethnic community requires strategies and the possibility of choosing survival over what is right.
Caesar and Primo prefer taking on the drug dealing business than being in a legal job. According to the author, Primo and Caesar spend most of their lives in the streets doing what they do best through manning the drug business and this is much better than the legal job setting. With time the drug business takes a good turn and they are now forced to become experts in doing the management but the fact that they have never been to any class setting makes them unfit for the positions. For example, Primo tries and finds a legal job only to be headed by a female and this makes it very hard for him since he cannot take orders from a female (Bourgois, pg120). This makes him to ultimately leave and go back to his lifestyle of drug dealing. The perception of a man not being ruled by a woman is one of the issues that make Primo not to join the legal business which will bring down his reputation and that of his manhood. Many people have the same ideology that they would rather quit than take any orders from a female boss. In another case, primo lands a good job but rejects it saying he cannot be measuring men as his work.
- In Search of Respect Bourgois discusses the politics of representation.
Bourgois in the section where he discusses what he terms as the politics of representation in some ways he does represent Caesar and Primo stereotypically in what he discusses. Caesar and Primo were both fighting for survival in a land where being black is like a curse. Through the struggles and subjections to poverty and lack of unreachable goals through education, they both find it comfortable to do drugs and make their lives better. Bourgois makes these actions seem like both Caesar and Primo were doing something that they wished for while the case is that they both were looking for a way out of their situation (Bourgois, pg13). Not many times that a black person will feel comfortable doing what they do although many have adapted but it is a case of do or die. Working in the underground economy is not for everyone and how one cop with the situation is the chances for them to survive. On the other hand, Bourgois does not misrepresent the two people since they had to look for alternatives in their display for survival. Through violence, gang rapes and other horrific actions which is considered part of being a gang member is just what Caesar and Primo had to go through to become fully gang members.
The choices and decisions that Caesar and Primo made are factual representations of what the black community specifically passes through in making the ends meet. Doing the right thing in the neighboring sources of employment subjects the ethnic community to racial discriminations and other challenges that make it even harder for the community to thrive. Rather than experience that which is a hard step in life, the streets offer a better option though not the right thing but they will survive out of being in the streets (Bourgois, pg15). Many would consider what Primo and Caesar did as the worst and label them as being selfish and disgrace to the world but the fact is that in such a situation all what kept them both alive were the chances of survival and if it means being drug dealers, then they had to become drug dealers. Comparing the legal or illegal field of income, drug dealing is recognized as a field that outdoes any other field. The analysis is very prone to lots of critics such as the idea of having recognized drug dealing as an acceptable source of living. Considering such activities such as how Primo left the education sector to deal drugs is overused making it seems like a legal option to education. Also, through the way Primo leaves the legal employment positions just to be an independent person makes the reader think that being a man and ruled by a woman makes you weak. Looking at the options of leaving the drug dealing business, there are numerous concerns on why this option is not a welcoming idea to Primo. These are some critics in the work of Bourgois in analyzing the case of Caesar and Primo. Bourgois work is convincing since it portrays the real challenges of a black child in the United States (Bourgois, pg17). Today, such cases of being discriminated at the workplace or even in schools are very evident. It is upon this work by Bourgois that many get to understand the real world of a black child living in United States whether with education or without education.
Reference
Philippe Bourgois. 2003. In Search of Respect, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press
