Code of the Street

Anderson opens the book by telling the story of Germantown Avenue, which he argues can serve as a metaphor for the city of Philadelphia and by extension, other major cities in America. The evident clashes between social classes are exacerbated on Germantown Avenue as it “traverses a varied social terrain” (15). From abandoned factories to nail salons to community gardens, life down Germantown Avenue captures the city’s essence and sheds light on socioeconomic disparities.

After setting the stage through vivid imagery in this introduction, Anderson articulates the impetus for the book by naming what he considers to be the greatest issue for the inner-city Black community: interpersonal violence. While inflicted on micro levels, Anderson explains that these issues have structural, macro causes, borne out of

the circumstances of life among the ghetto poor—the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, limited basic public services (police response in emergencies, building maintenance, trash pickup, lighting, and other services that middle-class neighborhoods take for granted), the stigma of race, the fallout from rampant drug use and drug trafficking, and the resulting alienation and absence of hope for the future (32).

These material conditions lead to the creation of the code of the street, which relies on values and ideologies that are distinct from mainstream society.

As Anderson positions Germantown Avenue as a symbolic microcosm of America’s urban contexts, he dissects the nuances of city life in America, particularly in terms of the social and racial dynamics that shed light on systemic disparities. By starting the book with his observations of Germantown Avenue, he creates a visual framework for his argument and sets the stage for the rest of the book. Thematically, he emphasizes the idea that poverty produces an often inescapable hopelessness, which leads to the despair and alienation that produces the street code to which all inner-city residents are in some way connected, regardless of their individual aspirations.