Essay the accademic interpretation of American street code

The academic interpretation of the African-American street code in TV series, movies, and video games

Abstract

The spread of Black American gangs in the 20^th century is a social phenomenon which has been the object of discussions as an academic subject. However, this event has also been interpreted from different social perspectives in TV series, movies, and video games in order to allow a less intellectual public to easily understand it.

This thesis explores how real life influences the way through which people perceive the development of a street code in Black American gangs. First of all, this thesis will compare how the ongoing formation of Black gangs in American cities has been treated by academics. Then it will be analyzed in detail Elijah Anderson’s essay "Code of the Street" and other dissertations about the same topic, focusing specifically on the economic, social, and moral implications which lead black gangsters to build a street code.

Secondly, by examining online articles, interviews, and reviews, this thesis will focus on how the academic analysis about Black American street code has been deciphered in the virtual world by comparing the hierarchical order, the language, and the moral behavior of the characters in the first and third seasons of the TV series The Wire, the crime drama American Gangster, and the crime video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The proposed statements will show how the virtual world may help a non-academic public to conceive the phenomenon of Black American gangs and their street code.

Note: During my research, I found the aspect of the language in the street code and argument so vast and complex that I decided ultimately not to touch it.

The street code

"The Street is cold Dog. Like it is said in the Book, we are blessed and cursed." - Big Smoke to Carl Johnson, GTA San Andreas.

Los Santos, San Andreas, 1992.

The police arrested a young black man outside the national airport. His name was Carl Johnson, also known as CJ. He was a member of a street gang called "The Grove Street Family" and five years before he had escaped from his hometown in order to free himself from the pressure of a life in Los Santos streets, where the community was lacerated by turf wars, drug dealing, and cop corruption. After knowing that his mother had been killed during a fight among street gangs, CJ came back to take part in the urban struggle among rival gangs to protect the rest of his family.

The purpose of this synopsis of the video game GTA San Andreas is to introduce a very important social phenomenon that Elijah Anderson has called "Code of the Streets". According to The Oxford dictionary, a code is "a set of moral principles or rules of behavior that are generally accepted by a social group." Aforementioned Anderson highlights how the cultural background is an essential factor that leads African-Americans who live in decaying inner cities to organize themselves in a sort of "closed community" which reflects mainstream values of people who must be able to handle themselves in a street-oriented environment.

Other academics have also focused on the historical and economic implications which lead African-Americans to set up a street code. However, few of them have taken into consideration how television interprets the values of black communities. Furthermore, not even movies and games about the topic have been considered reliable sources that draw a flawless picture of the code of the streets.

This essay seeks to remedy these problems by analyzing how the anthropological aspect of African-American gangsters' hidden rules have been interpreted in TV series and movies not only to allow intellectual people to catch glimpses of the street code but also to help average people recognize its importance. Moreover, it will be shown how a video game is a very useful tool to let young people be aware of the ethnic stereotype of the criminal black man.

Overview of African-American street gangs

This paper first gives a brief overview of the history of African-American street gangs, touching the racial and economic issues that black immigrants suffered in the 19^th and 20^th century. It will then go on to take The Wire as an example to show how urban decay may influence the establishment of a social code. Chapter 2 begins to focus on the anthropological aspects of the streets code, comparing the main character of the movie American Gangster, Frank Lucas, and the members of the Barksdale organization, Avon and Stringer Bell, in the first and third seasons of The Wire. We will notice how the value of hierarchy and the longing for profit may influence their behavior as gangsters.

In the last chapter, we will see how a video game like GTA San Andreas is a very useful tool to let young people develop their personal point of view about the world of gangs and street culture as they put themselves in an African-American gangster’s shoes. We will underline the relationship between the street codes and protection of territory, taking the rival gangs’ wars in GTA San Andreas and in the third season of The Wire as examples and then we will draw our conclusions about the entire work.

The street code as a symbol of urban identity and its fictional perception in mass media

"This is what’s wrong with America. You can’t find your way. It has gotten so big." - Bumpy Johnson, American Gangster.

James C. Howell and John P. Moore treat the historical formation of street gangs in the United States, and in a section, they focused on African-American history: The first African-American street gangs were set up in the 19^th century, when immigrants from the deep south of the country reached cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to seek their fortune.