53 pages • 1 hour read
Gang Leader For a Day
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Themes
Race
From the beginning of his time in Chicago, Venkatesh is interested in learning more about black people’s urban living experiences. His initial discussions with Charlie and Old-Time in Washington Park point to the fact that a form of segregation continues to exist in the city. Venkatesh admits that these conversations are his first real exposure to black American culture and his desire to learn more eventually leads him to the projects. J.T.’s decision to return to the projects and join the Black Kings is based on his frustration with the opportunities available to him as a black man. He can make more money and earn more respect as a gangster than he can in the world of “legitimate” business. Throughout the book, the word “nigger” is used constantly by the tenants to refer to themselves and others. However, when he is gang leader for a day, Venkatesh uses the term and T-Bone warns him not to call him that again or he’ll beat him. Coming from anyone but a black person, “nigger” is a derogatory term. Ms. Bailey also raises the issue of race: when Venkatesh first tells her about his research, she asks him if he’s going to be studying white people. While he is confused at first, he soon realizes that she is referring to the way that structural racism has contributed to the circumstances at Robert Taylor.
Space
Gang Leader for a Day points to the fact that race doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Racial identities intersect with people’s class and gender identities, and this can determine which spaces they have access to. From Charlie and Old-Time, Venkatesh learns that a kind of unofficial segregation exists in Chicago: there are white areas and there are black areas. Gang boundaries are another important way that space is controlled. When Venkatesh first meets Autry Harrison, Ms. Bailey walks him to the Girls and Boys Club because they will have to cross into another gang’s territory. This desire on the gangs’ part to claim a space that is theirs and theirs alone, suggests that these young men feel disenfranchised and that “normal” society has no place for them. Venkatesh’s habit of stopping at Jimmy’s bar—a point halfway between the projects and his home—also suggests the way that space can influence identity. At Jimmy’s, he stops being the person he is in front of J.T. and becomes himself again. Similarly, the demolition of Robert Taylor is a traumatic for many of the tenants, whose sense of identity is tied to the place they live and the community they are part of. As well as losing a place to live, they are losing neighbours and friends and will have to learn to feel at home among strangers.
Class
There are several references to social class throughout the book, but perhaps the most striking example, and one that ties class identity to race and space, is J.T.’s rejection of the terms “black and “African American”. J.T. does not think of himself as black or African American, he calls himself a “nigger.” For him, African Americans are people who live in the suburbs and have office jobs. They don’t live in the projects. They are not poor. Venkatesh’s class identity is also the subject of some comment. He is upfront about his middle-class background and how it affects his reaction to events in the projects. For example, when Taneesha is beaten up by Bee-Bee, he is furious that no one called the police or an ambulance. This is something that a number of people—especially Ms. Bailey—challenge him on, claiming that because he hasn’t lived in the projects he can’t understand why they didn’t call the police. Growing up in a middle-class neighbourhood, the police were a force for good, a kind of protection. Things are very different in Robert Taylor Homes, something he only gradually comes to terms with.
Gender
While gender is not addressed explicitly in the book, it is a minor theme. The Black Kings are a macho organization: this is made clear when J.T. is trying to recruit gang members in a new area and one man asks him if his aunt can join too. J.T.’s response is emphatic: “Ain’t no women allowed in this thing” (153). The Black Kings—and gangs more generally—are for men only. The broader significance of this is suggested by Cordella Levy, who tells Venkatesh that before the gangs took over in the 1980s, women had a lot more authority, and with more women in power, there were more people in a position to help others in their community. Venkatesh also mentions that working men are largely absent from, or stay out of sight, in Robert Taylor Homes in case they jeopardize their family’s lease. This means that while the gang, and therefore men, dominate public life in Robert Taylor, it is a particular kind of masculinity—one that encourages or at least accepts, violence, including sexual violence against women. Despite J.T.’s emphasis on the Black Kings’ role in the community, it is really from women like Ms. Mae and Ms. Bailey that Venkatesh learns about how people in the projects live and help each other. It is from women that he learns about the particular challenges they face in terms of sexual and domestic violence and the difficulty of raising children in the projects.
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