Sidewalk
by Mitchell Duneier, Hakim Hasan, Ovie Carter
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hakim Hasan, Mitchell Duneier, Ovie CarterEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-12-20
ISBN: 0374527253
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of Sidewalk
Book Review: "Thank Goodness for the Sidewalk"
Summary: 5 Stars
When Mitch Duneier fondly states in Sidewalk, "I am thinking of the sidewalk. Thank goodness for the sidewalk," (80) he is expressing not only fond memories, but also something more. To Duneier, the sidewalk represents a valuable learning experience and an appreciation for something that he originally had ill-guided, preconceived notions about. Through the course of his time on the sidewalk he learned a valuable lesson about his informants, as well as himself. Likewise, the men he studied saw him with suspicious eyes and misunderstanding, but many of them eventually opened up and gave him the opportunity for friendship and observation.
A prime example of this overcoming of prejudices can be seen in Duneier's relationship with Hakim, an African American book vender working on the sidewalk. Early on, before actually meeting Hakim, Duneier had determined that the tables of the sidewalk venders were "not an appropriate place" for him to "hang out" until by chance he one day saw his own book for sale at Hakim's table (21). Within moments Duneier had thought this man to be "unhoused" and was "wondering if it [his book] had been stolen" (21). Duneier was soon to find that Hakim was, in fact, housed, college educated, well-read, and had worked in a corporate environment for many years. As he began to meet many other venders and stay at Hakim's table he described himself as being "uneasy," that "as a white male" he "had no place at his table" (20).
Duneier was not alone in the racial prejudice that he unwittingly held, for the men he would come to study, too, held preconceived notions. Throughout his research, because of his race, religion, and occupation, some of the men saw him as "a naïve white man who could himself be exploited for... dollar bills" and "a Jew who was going to make a lot of money off the stories of people working the streets" (12). Despite this, some still would see Duneier as something he probably saw himself as: "a white writer who was trying to state the truth about what was going on" (12), for he himself states that he is "committed to the idea that the voices of the people on Sixth Avenue need to be heard" (13).
As Duneier continued his observations and stepped into the lives of many of these men, he began to see that a structure existed out of the seeming chaos. He also began to realize the many merits of the sidewalk life for many of the homeless, impoverished African American men that worked on Sixth Avenue. Men who were drug addicted and misguided slowly began to lift themselves from the holes they had been stuck in through peer support and legal vending. He began to see these men as "innovators - earning a living, striving for self-respect, establishing good relations with fellow citizens" and "providing support for each other" (79). Moreover, he saw the sidewalk as a habitat where "complementary sustaining elements were brought together in a working system" (154).
Duneier's excellent book, which is peppered with photographs by Ovie Carter and includes an Afterward by Hakim Hasan (mentioned above), is to an extent a conversation with Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and more so it is a departure from that landmark work. Duneier clearly states, "Sidewalk life today is different from how it was when Jacobs was writing" (192). Jacobs believed that, aside from police, the eyes of conventional (middle-class white, mainly) strangers on the street made one feel safe and confident, that if they were to be assaulted, many would be available and willing to help. This would be her idea of informal social control. Jacobs was writing her book in the 1960s, however, "in the early 1980s, residents... came to see their sidewalk life as a kind of struggle" (157). By the 1990s the population landscape of Greenwich Village had changed greatly, specifically the rise of the poor black men and street vendors, many of whom were victims of the first generation of crack users. This addition into the daily routine of city life meant "for many street dwellers, informal social control was no longer enough, because the eyes upon the street were no longer conventional" (157). People's feelings of security had been greatly changed, for "in Jacobs's time, sidewalk life brought people into limited contact with other strangers substantially like themselves" and "because the strangers appear so different now, so do the problems" (192).
Another factor that she felt contributed to order in the city streets is what she has coined the "public character." This would be people, including shopkeepers, who would keep an eye out for danger in the neighborhood. People would be in contact with these individuals on a regular basis, creating a sense of comfort and even camaraderie, perhaps. However, Duneier has found that even self-proclaimed "public characters" like Hakim, although fitting with Jacobs's description, are still treated differently from other white, middle-class public characters. Duneier believes that this difference is due to class distinction. Because Hakim is perceived to be a poor black man, and "there is good sociological evidence that on the street whites are... afraid of blacks" (304), due mainly to the stigmatization of blacks over the past, it is difficult for the black, lower-class vendors to gain a good rapport with their fellow citizens. Therefore, "her account of sidewalk life is different not simply because the sidewalk was different but because the lens for viewing the sidewalk was different" (192). It is Duneier's claim that a revision of Jacobs's framework, still held as an authority in urban studies, is necessary. It no longer accurately reflects street life, nor does it offer appropriate explanations for its occurrences. A far more contemporary framework is therefore crucial for providing guidance for understanding today's diverse and drastically changed cities.
Duneier created close relations with some of the men in Sidewalk. He found that such an environment as Sixth Avenue creates hope, not chaos, and can be a positive force for men not quite ready to enter the formal economy that have lifted themselves up, with the support of others like them, from despair. His eyes were opened to a world that existed literally right outside his doorstep and yet had been blind to him for so long. Not only is the sidewalk a positive force for the men who work there, but also for him, a white, middle-class, Jewish professor, who now feels the better for having known the men he studied. That is why Duneier states at a pivotal moment in his book, "I am thinking of the sidewalk. Thank goodness for the sidewalk" (80).
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