In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio

Motherhood is both a prevalent motif and symbol throughout Bourgois’s narrative. Bourgois explains in later chapters that, despite the violence that women and children are subjected to, motherhood is one of the few avenues for women in the underground economy. In fact, motherhood is encouraged and prized in Puerto Rican culture. Women who’ve been abused by boyfriends, fathers, and husbands look forward to becoming pregnant because it carries a romanticism that allows them to escape the everyday dreariness of their lives. Bourgois shows examples from the life of Maria, an expectant teen mother who began writing poetry to her significant other because she was so happy during her pregnancy. Even though Primo wants Maria to have an abortion, Maria feels that her pregnancy is symbolic of her devotion to Primo.

Expectant mothers also receive housing before others, which makes pregnancy an ideal motive for women who want some sense of autonomy. In this sense, motherhood is symbolic of agency in a culture where women have little agency or say in how their lives play out. Motherhood also strengthens the bonds of social kinship because women move from one man to the next and have children with these men, thus strengthening family and friendship ties in the community by connecting everyone.

A jíbaro is a romanticized caricature of an independent Puerto Rican farmer. They’re depicted as farmers with straw hats who have a connection to the land and who are quiet and hardworking. Jíbaros have a fierce sense of independence and self-respect, with many moving away from factory-crowded environments to subsist on their own. In Bourgois’s narrative, the jíbaro spirit is evidenced in the second generations of Puerto Ricans who now live in East Harlem, even though some dismiss the idea as embarrassing or outdated. Bourgois notes how individuals like Primo and Caesar demand respect, even from bosses in the legal economy. When their pride and manhood are slighted by people who want them to break with tradition, or to show what they consider weakness or vulnerability, they act out in self-destructive ways. Above all, respect and independence as symbolized by the jíbaro play a large part in the decisions of those Bourgois befriends. 

At many times in American history, East Harlem is symbolic of a den of iniquity. From the Mafia to present-day Puerto Ricans (when the author conducted his research), the larger and legal culture of New York and North America has conflated East Harlem with drugs and violence. This stigma has caused the residents to receive less help and aid than other neighborhoods and continues to reinforce the violence that already darkens its streets. Kids in East Harlem don’t get a fair chance at growing up without the allure of street culture and the underground economy. For many, the cards are already stacked against them, which is why turning to a life of crime is so appealing. They don’t identify with the middle-class culture and teachings found in schools, where they are subjected to internalized alienation. The streets allow them to form a new culture and feel a sense of self-respect. Violence from fathers and abandonment from both fathers and mothers also play a role, making East Harlem a neighborhood of statistics. For Bourgois, East Harlem is symbolic of all inner-city communities where poverty and racism keep people locked in a cycle of oppression.