Our Schools Suck: Students Talk Back to a Segregated Nation on the Failures of Urban Education

3. “They Ain’t Hiring Kids from My Neighborhood”: Young Men of Color Negotiating Poor Public Schools and Poor Work Options in New York City

113 3 “They Ain’t Hiring Kids from My Neighborhood” Young Men of Color Negotiating Poor Public Schools and Poor Work Options in New York City Noel S. Anderson One afternoon as I sit on a crowded subway car en route to the campus of Eastern University, my fieldwork site,1 the chatter of passengers is suddenly drowned by the amplified voices of two men. “Ladies and gentlemen , we are here to entertain you. If you enjoy our performance, we ask that you give what you can. It would be greatly appreciated.” Two African American men, appearing to be no older than seventeen, stand in the middle of the train making this plea. One wears a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes and sports an oversized white T-shirt. The other wears a sweatshirt and holds a portable radio. They are dressed in popular teenage clothing but are obviously working the trains for cash. With the flip of a switch, rap music blares from the radio, and the young men begin to dance, stunning the audience with awe-inspiring acrobatics . Many passengers who had nervously diverted their eyes to their newspapers, visibly afraid or cautious for their own safety when these young men entered the train with raised voices, are now grinning with relief and staring in wonderment as these young men somersault in the middle of a congested subway car, locking arms and feet, twirling their way down the aisle. As the young men perform, some spectators reach into their pockets, pulling out coins and dollar bills and smiling as they drop loose change into a hat. —Fieldnote 114 Negotiating Schools and Work Options In New York City, subway performers are a common sight, an everpresent feature of the cultural and commercial cityscape. These performers amuse strap-hangers and entertain camera-wielding tourists with song and dance, helping to both reinforce and sell an “authentic” New York City experience. In addition to getting the gratuitous applause from spectators , these performers make some money, collecting the spare change from people’s pockets. However, while the street performance enhances an arts-rich image of the city, it also conceals realities of urban life. It casts a shadow on a world in which many people live, where street performance is one of a few viable (legal) ways for young people of color to make ends meet in an increasingly economically polarized and class-stratified city. When walking the streets of New York, I am often struck by the numbers of young men of color asking for money, particularly during school hours, whether by street performing, peddling stolen or expired candy, or outright panhandling. Given the inadequate, hypersegregated conditions of public schools and the limited (part-time and full-time) work options that young men of color have in many communities throughout New York City, these young men’s performance on the subway exemplifies both the boundless creative energy and determination of urban youth and a harsh reminder of the quality of life for many Black and Latino young men. Behind the performance, is this surge in various forms of peddling and panhandling by young men of color an indication of a larger decline in real opportunities? Is it growing increasingly difficult for poor and workingclass young men to achieve lives that they have reason to value? As these young men collect their hat full of bills and coins at the end of their performance, I wonder about their lives. Where do they live? Are they in school? In addition to performing, what are their other passions? Do they plan to attend or even want to go to college? I think about their lives and the lives of the young men I am going to interview at the College Access Initiative (CAI), a college preparation program on the campus at Eastern University. The young men attending CAI are generally viewed by the wider society as the “exceptions” because they are focused on college, navigating schools and tough communities to achieve an ambitious, admired goal. Yet are their lives that different from those of the young men performing on the train or the young men I often see peddling candy on these same subway cars? They all have passions and goals yet are surely equally vulnerable to the same conditions and treatment young men of color often face in urban communities. As one young man passes me, Negotiating Schools and Work...