Abstract
As the author of this book notes in the preface, the subject of social class “may be more salient than ever” indeed. But it always has been an important topic in sociology and related fields. When it comes to gangs, it has traditionally been linked to race. Almost 90 years ago, Frederick Thrasher published what has become a classic in the study of gangs. In his book, simply called The Gang, he made both class and race front and center in his analysis. Thrasher’s view of gang causation was consistent with the social disorganization perspective. He noted that gangs develop within the most impoverished areas of a city. More specifically, Thrasher noted that gangs tend to flourish in areas he called interstitial. These areas lie within the “poverty belt” within a city, “a region characterized by the deteriorating neighborhoods, shifting populations, and the mobility and disorganization of the slum.… Gangland represents a geographically and socially interstitial area in the city.” Such an area has been called many names, such as the zone in transition, the slum, the ghetto, and the barrio. He was referring to the city of Chicago.
Fast-forward to the present and you have an unusual study by Geoff Harkness who gives us the connection between “gangsta rap” and race, class and Chicago street gangs. Harkness, an assistant professor of Sociology at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, grew up in a relatively poor part of Kansas City with his mother. At an early age, he became fascinated with music and when his mother got a job with a concert promotion company, he was able to get front row seats at many concerts, including Van Halen and Duran Duran. His first job was at a record store stocking shelves. He eventually learned to play and guitar and soon joined a punk band. Eventually, he ended up in Los Angeles where he continued to get involved in the music business and became fascinated with gangsta rap (he attended many rap concerts). Upon enrolling in a sociology class at a community college, he was assigned to read articles related to rap music and the connection to the rioting following the Rodney King episode. In his words, “I’d found my calling.” He pursued his graduate studies in sociology at Northwestern University in Chicago where he spent many years hanging out with various rap groups as he conducted fieldwork for his dissertation, which evolved into this book. The methodology he used for this study reminds me of some of the classic ethnographies such as “Street Corner Society” but with a modern twist, using various social networks like MySpace and Facebook. He interviewed a total of 135 participants, mostly rappers but a few producers. A total of 23 were active gang members, although most once belonged to gangs but eventually evolved into making rap music. His fieldwork lasted for 6 years.
For me this book took me to a part of the social scene I knew nothing about, but I found myself captivated by the subject. It was quite a learning experience for me. His unique contribution comes from, among other things, the distinction between “backpack” and “gangsta” styles of rap. These two ideal types reflect different class and to some extent racial backgrounds. Backpackers are more likely to be of mixed racial backgrounds (35% White, 26% Black, and 28% Latino) and of a slightly higher social class. Their rap styles and lyrics emphasize “social responsibility, racial unity and gender equality.”
In contrast, gangstas are mostly Blacks and Latinos (40% each) and come from a lower class background. Gangstas “are nihilists whose lyrics are brimming with violent and misogynistic themes.”
Harkness also notes that each of these types display different styles of dress that reflect the different class backgrounds. While gangstas display flashy styles (e.g., baggy pants, ostentatious jewelry, etc.), backpackers wear blue jeans, T-shirts, and polo shirts.
Harkness notes that such class-based racial differences have been noted by Chris Rock and Elijah Anderson. In one of Rock’s famous routines in the mid-1990s, he distinguished between “Black people” and “niggas,” with the former representing the “upstanding black middle class (backpackers)” and the “criminal-minded Black lower class” (gangstas). Similarly, Anderson (“Streetwise”) distinguished “decent” and “street” Black families.
The Illinois prison system figured prominently in the lives of some of the men Harkness interviewed. One rapper he interviewed, known as “Bleek,” started a rap group called “Xcons.” Harkness notes that between 1980 and 2001, the Illinois prison population increased by 266% and the state built 20 new prisons. This increased stemmed largely from the war on drugs and the vast majority of those sent to prison were Blacks, mostly from Chicago. Not surprisingly they brought their rap music with them and their gang affiliation as well. The seven members of the “Xcons” were with seven different gangs, most well known in the streets of Chicago, namely, Gangster Disciples, Spanish Cobras, Black Stones, and so on. For these rappers gang life shaped many of their songs.
Speaking of prisons, one rapper, called “Habit,” was arrested for possession of marijuana and faced a possible 6 years in prison. Harkness wrote a letter to the judge and his sentence was cut in half. What this meant was that with credit for time served and “good time” credit, he would be out in 6 weeks. Habit and his family and friends were elated that he would be out so soon. As Harkness notes, this “illustrates the different worlds inhabited by the backpackers and gangsta rappers …” Backpackers would be “horrified” to spend even 1 min in jail. This also illustrates the fact that for those who live within the lower classes of society—especially minorities—jail and prison are almost expected facts of life, especially since the drug war started. For the rest of us—including academics who teach criminology classes—it is a life we have little understanding of.
This is one reason why this book is so important. It is not just about rappers and gangs. It is about a bigger picture, one that is a reflection of a class and racially divided society as illustrated by the recent killings of Blacks by the police.