Code of the Street

Anderson opens the book by telling the story of Germantown Avenue, which he argues can serve as a metaphor for the city of Philadelphia and by extension, other major cities in America. The evident clashes between social classes are exacerbated on Germantown Avenue as it “traverses a varied social terrain” (15). From abandoned factories to nail salons to community gardens, life down Germantown Avenue captures the city’s essence and sheds light on socioeconomic disparities.

After setting the stage through vivid imagery in this introduction, Anderson articulates the impetus for the book by naming what he considers to be the greatest issue for the inner-city Black community: interpersonal violence. While inflicted on micro levels, Anderson explains that these issues have structural, macro causes, borne out of

the circumstances of life among the ghetto poor—the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, limited basic public services (police response in emergencies, building maintenance, trash pickup, lighting, and other services that middle-class neighborhoods take for granted), the stigma of race, the fallout from rampant drug use and drug trafficking, and the resulting