In an effort to further understand the complex relationship between street culture and ethnicity in East Harlem, Bourgois moves his family into El Barrio, a neighborhood in East Harlem known for its dangerous climate and violent drug rings. Because Bourgois is a white man, he has to work extra hard to gain enough respect of the members of his community in order to even speak with them in a semi-candid manner. In fact respect is the primary currency in this culture, determined by an extensive code of unspoken rules of conduct which these men grow up learning in order to survive. Without the years of experience in this kind of relationship, Bourgois struggles. He insults a major player, Ray, in front of some locals, further prohibiting Bourgois' entry into the community. Additionally, everyone suspects that because of his skin color, Bourgois is an undercover cop.
Despite these disadvantages, Bourgois does learn to speak the proverbial language of East Harlem. By humbly stating his intention to study ethnicity and racism in the community over and over he manages to persuade some folks to trust him. Among these are Ray, Caesar, Primo, and Candy, each of whom reveal their experience of racism, drug use, and violence. Bourgois comes to understand how white middle-class culture has created a stigma which separates ethnic minorities from open participation in society. As a result, they often turn to illegal ventures, being competent and clever enough to survive on this end of the spectrum. Bourgois watches some of his new friends make various forays into legal income, but each time they end in disappointment, usually as the result of racially-motivated antagonism.
Bourgois walks away from his time in El Barrio with a much more clear understanding of the community's needs, desires, and challenges. To Bourgois, the problems of this neighborhood and communities like it are more directly tied to racism and class warfare than to drugs. The drugs are incidental and much less destructive than the lack of equality of opportunity for these people. By the end of the book, Bourgois has drawn his experience all the way upward to relate the people he studied with the poor across the world. The institutions of government and society at large are designed to suppress the poor and the minorities. El Barrio is a prime example of the kind of oppression found in impoverished communities across the globe. Thus the specific individuals caught within this sub-culture are not to blame so much as the legal system which has so handicapped their opportunities.
