In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

The author’s research in Harlem almost ends when he inadvertently disrespects a drug dealer named Ray. Ray is instrumental in Bourgois’s acceptance into the underground world of drug dealing, so this social faux pas jeopardizes both the author’s access to this world and his safety in it. This mistake, Bourgois admits, is part of “learning street smarts” (19), knowledge which is initially at odds with his academic knowledge. Surrounded by Ray’s friends and hangers-on, Ray is in a rare good mood. He’s told Bourgois about his past as a thief, and has even bought the writer a Heineken, which is a step up from the basic beer everyone else is drinking. Due to this intimacy, and also because there are still some who don’t trust Bourgois who they think is an undercover cop, Bourgois decides to show everyone an article of him having an interview with Phil Donahue about violence in East Harlem. Ray is asked to read the caption, and it isn’t long before Bourgois guesses correctly that Ray can’t read. Embarrassed and angry, Ray storms off.

Primo, another of the main characters, is close friends with Ray. He’s also Ray’s associate. He warns Bourgois that he has dissed Ray. Dissing someone is a huge issue because it chips away at Ray’s street credibility. Primo admits that he himself is afraid of Ray. He then recalls stories of how crazy Ray was as a kid and a teenager, stories which sufficiently scare Bourgois into fearing Ray as well. Bourgois, who is called "Felipe" based on his first name, admits that Ray’s cruelty is actually part of his success as a businessman, as Ray owns crackhouses. Ray’s behavior has the hallmarks of self-destruction, violence, and barbarity, all of which is mixed with an irrationality that makes others always stay on their toes. These traits, which are viewed as negligent and criminal to outsiders, allow Ray to accrue respect on the streets. Primo and Caesar, who are best friends, then tell Bourgois that being nice can get one killed. People take advantage of nice people, which is why acting tough and sometimes being violent are integral to their way of life on the streets. Even though Ray is cruel, Bourgois admits that some of Ray’s older acquaintances actually like him for who he is and not for what he can give them.

Bourgois spends an uncomfortable amount of time in fear of Ray’s vengeance, trying his best to stay out of the drug dealer’s way. Ray tells Primo one day that he had a dream in which Felipe was an FBI agent. People begin to think that Ray means to do Bourgois harm, especially because dreams are symbolic in Puerto Rican culture.

In the next section, “The Barriers of Cultural Capital,” Bourgois is again on speaking terms with Ray. He then highlights the problem of getting too close with the people he’s studying. An example of this is Ray’s expectations of him. Ray wants Bourgois to be his conduit to the legal business world. In fact, he wants the writer to help him launder money. He also wants Bourgois to give him legal advice and help him with all the bureaucratic red tape, something that Bourgois brought upon himself after helping Ray with paperwork for a club he opened. Ray tries to go legit several times, but every time he’s met with adversity and government legalities. He even opens a bar briefly before it is shut down for a fire code violation. Bourgois tries to untangle himself from Ray’s schemes without angering him, a distance that not only keeps Bourgois on the right side of the law but is integral to being objective in his research.

Bourgois then spends a few sections fleshing out race, gender, and street relations in East Harlem. He mentions how he used to get stopped by cops because of his white skin. They assumed he was a white kid trying to get high in a bad neighborhood. Other cops, however, give him a hard time. They think that his normal way of speaking is an attempt at making fun of them. Bourgois has to clip his sentences and speak differently to not come off as academic, which will anger these cops. He is sometimes interrogated, which actually helps to give him street cred. Although Bourgois doesn’t have to worry about a lot of violence—being white, people think he is an "undercover narcotics agent" (30) and are afraid to attack him—he admits that his friends and acquaintances in El Barrio are no strangers to violence. Bourgois introduces Michael Taussig’s term “culture of terror” (34) to explain the fear of assault in El Barrio. Even the elderly are victims of robbery and assault, despite most know each other on a first name basis. This type of terror in Spanish Harlem (East Harlem; El Barrio) forces the majority who aren’t violent to remain quiet, fearful, and scornful. One of Bourgois’s greatest challenges is to remain calm and unaffected so that he can exist on the streets with his “subjects” without fear. Police raids are another and more prevalent fear, especially as a majority of violence can be found in the prison system. A conversation about being raped in jail causes Bourgois to return home and get his I.D. in case he’s stopped.

In “Accessing the Game Room Crack House,” Bourgois talks about finally being admitted into Ray’s establishment and describes the workings of the crackhouse. Bourgois would hang out with Primo and another worker, Benzie, and tape their conversations. They offered him crack once and, to his surprise, were elated when he refused. They think of him as a representation of what they can become, someone from the drug-free world that they aspire to reach. In time, Bourgois is allowed to visit "the Game Room," Ray’s crackhouse. He converses with whomever is working and becomes a celebrity to those buying and selling. As a white academic, people are intimidated by him. This helps curb violence in the Game Room. People also want to be in Bourgois’s presence, which brings customers.

Although Bourgois has been admitted into the Game Room and street culture, he still has to also deal with various impressions about him. During a conversation with Benzie and Primo, he learns how Primo still thinks he’s an undercover officer. Primo says he doesn’t mind if Bourgois arrests him because he enjoys talking with Bourgois. To this end, Primo begins showing signs of internalized racism against his fellow Puerto Ricans. Because he converses with Bourgois, he thinks he’s better than others, an attitude that Bourgois tries to help curb. Primo also mentions how Benzie thought Bourgois was "bisexual" and a "pervert" (44). He assumed these things because of how he spoke and carried himself, and because a white man in the streets was probably up to no good. Bourgois is at first shocked to be thought of as bisexual and a pervert and makes a note that racism and sexism are indeed parts of street cred that he has to navigate.

The last section of Chapter 1 deals with the relationship between African Americans and Puerto Ricans. Bourgois points out the irony in the animosity between blacks and Puerto Ricans. By American standards, Ray and half of his associates would be labeled black due to their skin, yet there is an undeniable hatred between the two groups. Caesar is blatantly violent and racist toward blacks, using stereotypical tropes like their "smell" (45) and look to bolster his hatred: "You know why I hate black people? Because they're black; they stink; they smell like shit" (45). Caesar also admits that he hates Puerto Ricans who have afros, and he hates whites too, but not "Felipe." He goes on to say that he will kill everyone: blacks, Puerto Ricans, and whites alike. He also says that one of the main reasons he hates blacks is because a black person killed his sister in a stabbing. Oddly enough, Caesar concedes that he wanted to be black when he was younger. Bourgois even notes that he’s still immersed in black culture, which is predominately what street culture is.

Although most in Ray’s group grow to trust Bourgois, those on the periphery, like blacks and younger Puerto Ricans, continue to be antagonistic to him. These are also the groups who deal the most with prejudice and racism from whites, so Bourgois is effectively a stand-in for all that they hate. Bourgois states that he has always wanted to give something back to the community that has taken him in. His goal has always been to write a book. He was at first afraid that his acquaintances would take offense to being written about, but almost halfway through his writing, they all begin to take interest in his work, even egging him on to finish. When Bourgois gets tendinitis and can’t write, Primo and others are disappointed, highlighting a “psychotherapeutic dimension" (47) to their relationship.