Gang Leader for a Day, written by Indian born Sudhir Venkatesh, is a book that chronicles Sudhir's entry into a gang through a sociology project. After getting his bachelor's degree at UCSD, Sudhir went to the University of Chicago for his masters in sociology. Since he arrived Sudhir was fascinated with the social scene of the city of Chicago. He interviewed an old black man, Charlie, who explained to him how the city operates and the issues between blacks and whites. Charlie said that there are two types of white people, one that will beat you up if you come in their neighborhood, and the other won't invite you in. This is interesting because it seems as though there is no love between the black and white race at all in inner-city Chicago. Charlie has lived in Chicago all his life and even after the Civil Rights Movement he has seen very little change. Why is this so?
After his interview, Charlie tells Sudhir what neighborhoods to stay away from but Sudhir is too intrigued to stay away from these areas. After gathering his interview materials at 11:00 PM, he heads to the south- projects. Predictions?
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThis book seems interesting to read, especially since we live in such close proximity to the city. When does this book take place? It's probably difficult for us to understand what the racial issues between the gangs in the city is like, but the book seems like it will give good a good insight as to why our city is still so racially divided.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteI predict that Sudhir's curiosity will unfortunately lead to the realization of corruption in the south projects of Chicago. It is hard to believe that there is still hatred between races considering where we live, but there is no secret that work still needs to be done concerning racism and violence. I look forward to reading about Sudhir's coming experiences in Chicago. Hopefully he doesn't run into too much troublel.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting and it is extremely hard to believe that such hatred is happening so close to us. When the old man said what the two types of whites were it shocked me because it sounded like they were the same, just one used violence in its methods against blacks. I believe that Sudhir will try and get to close to the real problem and it will end bad for him, obviously not in death but i think he will have to pay some sort of price for his curiosity.
Jess,
ReplyDeleteThis book takes place in the 90s.
Noah,
ReplyDeleteSudhir has researched and interviewed countless people involved with the corruption going on in the projects of the inner city.
Jacob,
ReplyDeleteSudhir has paid a price for his curiosity in many ways, but the benefits of his research outweigh the consequences of his curiousness.