In Search Of
By: Jaskaran, Zakaria and Sach
Selling Crack in El
Barrio
Chapter 5
School Days: Learning to be a
Better Criminal
1st Theme: Individuals Groups and Society –
Relationship Between Equality and Domination
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Mother – Child
– Because of the need for English literacy in the school system, children’s
monolingual mothers, like Primo’s, changed from “the authority figure in
their lives – into an intimidated object of ridicule” (175) by the teacher.
– In an attempt to keep their children under control mothers increased
their beatings, anger and distrust.
• Teacher – Pupil
– Teachers Hierarchize their students depending on their class, culture,
ascent, clothing, eye contact, body language, play styles and attention
spans.
– As the students got older they became the dominant group in the
relationship, beating them up frequently.
- For example, Caesar hit his teacher with a chair, breaking his arm.
• Student – Student
– The disabled, gay and lesbian people were discriminated
against and beat up by the older students.
- For example, Lucas, the boy with cerebral pulsy, is beat up
because “they didn’t like them” (188).
- Puerto Rican’s and the other races were also in extremely
violent relationships.
• Women – Men
– When boys are young, their mothers and grandmothers are
authority figures. Yet when the boys get older, they dominate
the girls, especially in the case of gang rape. Therefore, the
respect for females from males decreases as the boys age.
2nd Theme: Moral/Belief Systems and Practices – Relationship
Between Physical Environment and Behaviour
• Because of the racial “war” that existed during Primo and Caesar’s
childhood, they would “cut school to go downtown and rob”(174)
– When they were young they didn’t steal for drugs, they stole
because their parents were unable to provide for them.
• Primo and Caesar both stole and did drugs. This has to do with moral
beliefs
• They also thought that it was right because it became an everyday
practice to them. It was accepted by the culture.
• Primo’s future career in the underground economy was also established –
or learnt at school”(191-2)
Kindergarten Delinquencies:
Confronting Cultural Capital
• Primo and Caesar’s first school memories are very negative.
• “I hated school. I never did homework in my life. I used to fuck up all
the time in school,” Primo said (175)
• Primo’s monolingual Spanish immigrant mother experienced a culture
shock when she moved to New York City with her toddlers. Her inability
to communicate in English condemned Primo to appear slow-witted and
uncooperative at school with his teachers.
• Primo`s behaviour and demeanor in the classroom also gave reason for his
peers and teachers to judge him.
• “When the teacher used to dish me for talking a lot, or not paying
attention, I’d probably curse the shit out of her,” Primo said (177)
• Teachers hierarchize their students depending on their class, culture,
ascent, clothing, eye contact, body language, play styles and attention
spans.
When Primo achieved minimal literacy and a an understanding of grade school conventions,
he was able to manipulate the system against his mother and betray her trust.
• Primo’s elementary school resistance escalated into truancy, petty crime, and substance
abuse as he reached pubescence.
• Parents who felt they could not anything to help their kids find a place within society would
send them back to their home country. This is shown when Primo’s mother sent him to
Puerto Rico. However, this was even more ostracizing because they would be equally
shunned from that society, thereby creating a sense of not belonging anywhere.
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Frequent moves from the residence of one family member to another would further
augment the alienation of the child because of the constant changing of schools and creating
a sense of not belonging to a group. This could result in the child having a violent persona
like Primo.
School taught them how to escape education and pursue other futures like drug dealing, and
theft in the case of Primo and also teen pregnancy in the case of Jaycee in order to avoid
school
Primo was ashamed of his ethnicity and up bringing in New York
Being Puerto Rican erected many barriers in New York. It deterred many employers to hire
him, his teachers to believe that he is lazy and has a low level of intelligence . Also, his up
bringing in New York prevented him from fitting into his own country`s community when
he visited (they claimed that people from New York were snotty)
These factors contributed to his joining of the underground economy – a place where he has
more respect from his peers.
Violence: Family and Institutional
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Caesar’s school experiences were more profoundly violent and negative than
Primo’s.
Caesar's mother was from an urban shanty town. She was also more literate and
acculturated than Primo’s mother.
This translated into even more violent disruptions in her life: teenage pregnancies,
heroin addiction, petty crime, and eventually murder and incarceration. This
effected Caesar greatly.
“I wasn’t that dumb in school. I was violent. The only reason I came out wild
was because…I didn’t have any guidance.”Caesar said (179)
Caesar claims that he dropped out of school at a young age because he developed
a violent persona after having to move from school to school as a youth.
“You see, I remember whenever I came to a new school, the first days, all the
older niggas would wanta like initiate you,” Caesar said (181). This meant
that he had to fight for his survival.
This violence was focused on sexual conquest as a central parameter for
schoolyard respect
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Even though he was accustomed to street
culture violence he wasn’t with institutional
violence when he was sent to reform school.
He was a dominated victim in that time of
his life and Bourgeois could see his
vulnerability.
At first Caesar denied any vulnerability , but
terrors and anxieties of his youth emerged
between the lines of his reconstructed
memories.
He was scared of his mother because he
saw his mother get into fights when he
was younger. His grandmother basically
brought him up but beat him
sometimes. She once through a knife at
him but that was because he “was being
real bad,”(185)
Given his family background, its not
surprising that Caesar might have
attempted to solve his school problems
violently in his earliest youth.
Learning Street Skills in Middle School
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Primo’s resistance to school tracked him into the “low-IQ” undesirable classes;
Caesar’s rage, on the other hand, interned him in an experimental Special Ed
facility at a hospital for the criminally insane.
• “they called me “’emotionally disturbed’” because my violence was a little
wild,” Caesar states (190). He also pretended to hear voices, which lead
teachers to send him to SE.
They had him on Wards Island for Special Education. “This is where they kept all
the lunatics,”(190).
They often experimented with drugs on the patients like Thorazine.
Caesar’s future career as a mentally and emotionally disabled SSI recipient was
forged and legitimized in his earliest school years. He felt that he wasn’t socially
isolated by his disability but it gave him honorary middle-class status.
Primo’s future career in the underground economy was also established or
learned at school. He spent most of his time in the hallways and trying his best to
avoid classrooms because that was where the teachers had control over him.
Primo learned the necessary skills for drug dealing when he stole the keys that
controlled the school’s electrical system and set up shop throwing joints.
His most important lesson involved around selling and using drugs.
– “We had fun in the hallways. One day, we was smoking pot.”(192)
The Peer Group
• School is obviously a powerful socializing force, but its by no means the
only institution pushing marginal children into the untaxed economy.
• When asked how they ended up on the streets, most dealers blamed the
peer group.
• Many children including Primo and Caesar spent their time cultivating
street identities both inside and outside the classroom, rather than
improving their academics.
• “We used to cut school and go downtown to rob. Everyone was wild
… I wanted to be like the crowd,” Caesar said(194).
• When they were young they didn’t steal for drugs, they stole because their
parents were unable to provide for them.
• As they got older they stole because of the joy and excitement it brought
them. It was a part of the culture.
• For example, car thieving was a rite of passage into teenage hood for an
enterprising youngster.
Adolescent Mischief and Inner-City
Rage
• To Primo the line between playing and
stealing is blurry
• It was the same for Primos mother during her
adolescence in Puerto Rico. Who often stole
from nearby farms in small groups.
• Childhood mischief was different in a
subsistence oriented society like in Puerto Rico
compared to Inner city industrial society.
Adolescent Mischief and Inner-City
Rage – Cont.
• Primo soon graduated from petty crimes to
burglaries.
• After injuring his tendons during a burglary
he vows to stop robbing
• Primo and Cesar have greatly conflicting
opinions on crime
• Caesar is far more violent and harbours racist
sentiments.
Adolescent Gang Rape
• After bourgeois second year he learned of the
gang rapes Ray used to organize
• Primo never had intercourse with the girls, in
stark contrast Ceasar had no qualms over the
matter.
• Due to his young age Primo wasn’t
particularly interested in the rapes. He later
grew to enjoy the voyeuristic aspect of the
rapes.
Adolescent Gang Rape Cont.
• During the conversations it was evident
Ceasar experienced no remorse. Whilst
together, the two tried to convince Philippe
the girls were willing partaking.
• However during one on one interviews Primo
voiced his remorse and explained how he
used to act as the rape victims “psychiatrist”
Socialization, Enculturation and
Education
• Parents who felt they could not do anything to help their kids
find a place within society would send them back to their
home country. However, this was even more ostracizing
because they would be equally shunned from that society,
thereby creating a sense of not belonging anywhere.
• Frequent moves from the residence of one family member to
another would further augment the alienation of the child
because of the constant changing of schools and creating a
sense of not belonging to a group. Could result in the child
having a violent persona.
• School taught them how to escape education and pursue
other futures like drug dealing in the case of Primo and also
teen pregnancy in the case of Jaycee in order to avoid school.
Honor and Shame
• Primo was ashamed of his ethnicity and up bringing in New
York. These factors contributed to his joining of the
underground economy – a place where he has more respect
from his peers.
•
Being Puerto Rican erected many barriers in New York. It
deterred many employers to hire him, his teachers to believe
that he is lazy and has a low level of intelligence . Also, his up
bringing in New York prevented him from fitting into his
own country`s community when he visited (they claimed that
people from New York were snotty)
Rites of Passage
• Older students from a school would “initiate”
younger ones by picking on them.
• There is a “normalcy of rape in street culture and
adolescent socialization”(207), it is a rite of passage
into becoming a man
• “Car thieving was a memorable rite of passage into
teenage hood for an enterprising youngster”(195)
– Also a way of getting revenge against rich white
folk at the southern border on East Street.
Tiempo para un concurso!
(Quiz Time! )
Who organized the gang Rapes?
A) Buela
B) Primo
C) Ray
D) Phillipe
Answer: C)
Which Drug was used on the kids on
Wards Island ?
A) Advil
B) Sosa
C) Thorazine
D) Zylotol
Answer: C)
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Primos Mother was/had
A) Monolingual
B) Monolarengousis
C) An immagrant
D) All of the above
E) A and C
Answer: E)