Sudhir Venkatesh, Columbia sociologist and author of “Gang Leader for a Day,” is back once again for a seventh report after watching “The Wire” with a group of gangland acquaintances. His past reports can be found here.
The Thugs were bored. Episode 7 failed to move them.
“Too slow,” griped Shine.
“They’re making us wait,” said Orlando. “See, that’s when this stuff gets unreal. When they start making you feel like you could actually get somewhere in the ghetto.”
“What do you mean, ‘get somewhere?’” I asked.
“In the ‘hood, everything changes. Nothing happens the right way,” he replied.
“Give me an example,” I said.
“Well, like what’s happening with Marlo and Omar,” he replied right away. “In the ghetto, you never have this kind of thing last so long. People kill each other right away, or not at all.”
“Ever heard the term, ’3-day work week?’” Tony-T interrupted. I shook my head. “Well, it means that, in the hood, nothing lasts. I mean nothing! People are so poor that they can’t even afford a 7-day work week.”
“So, one of the two — Omar or Orlando — would have killed the other?” I asked.
“Yup,” said Shine. “And my bet is that Omar is getting a little stupid. Looks like he’s hurting. But my bet is that both will be done with by the time this is over.”
Then he asked if we could go over some of the comments that Freakonomics readers had made a few weeks ago, after episode 4, when the Thugs asked readers to assess what would happen between Omar and Marlo. I printed out the 100+ responses, and here’s a quick-and-dirty evaluation by the Thugs:
1. No Future
“These people are crazy!” Orlando began, referring to the commenters. “Bloggers, they think they can predict what’s happening in the ghetto. Rule number 1: there is no future.” When I asked Orlando what he meant, he said that most of the responses thought too far in advance. “The one thing I don’t like about this show is you never make plans when you’re hustling. Not for more than a few days, anyway.”
2. Insurance for Whom?
The Thugs liked the comment from “d” about insurance. Apparently, what separates the Greeks (and everyone else outside the ghetto) from people on the streets is that the former can obtain insurance policies.
“Marlo tried to get his own supply line, you know, just in case. But that kind of thing never happens if you’re on the streets,” Shine said. “Of course, you always want a second option. You always want another source for product, somebody else who can get you a gun, but you can’t get so easily.”
“That’s right,” said Kool J. “For those Greeks, they can move around because they’re not from anywhere. But around here, everyone is spoken for by somebody. If people see that you’re trying to get security by lining up with more than one group at a time, they see you as vulnerable.”
“Why vulnerable?” I asked.
“You always align yourself with somebody, rise and fall with them. If people see you trying to making friends all over, then they think you have something to hide. That’s when they come in and take over.”
“See, that’s what makes the game the game,” Shine jumped in. “You live and die with those around you. You just have to be real careful when you’re juggling a lot of balls at once. People want to know where you stand. They could get nervous if they see you trying to get that kind of insurance policy.”
3. “The Look”
“I think Wiregirl is wrong about ‘the Look,’” Kool J blurted. “That only works when you [are] talking about killers. Where I hang out, everyone knows that there are only a few people who really can kill somebody. The rest of these fools don’t even put bullets in their guns. But any fool can stand on the corner and make a sale. That don’t take no brains. Just a little desperation.”
4. Will the Real Black Man Stand Up?
“Yo, Blue Moe!” Tony-T shouted, referring to comment 84. “Yeah, we believe you when you say you’re a Negro. Because no self-respecting black man would feel good about reading the New York Times. I got something for you: its called the Amsterdam News. Take a look at it, my brother. Its for the real Negroes.”
5. Need a Job, Alex?
“My brother, I like the way you think,” cried Orlando, referring to comment 96. “We’re rooting for Michael, too. And, by the way, do you need a job? If so, call me!”
6. Watching with the Police
“We asked Sudhir to watch it with the police, too, but he’s too scared,” said Shine, referring to comment 109. “We also told him to get a real job, but he wouldn’t do that, either.”
I didn’t disagree.
Overall, the Thugs were impressed. They had one question for the readers:
If the gangs were white, what would be different about the show?
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I thought Season 2 touched on the “white” side of organized street crime in the City. Certainly, they portrayed the Sobotka saga as being more selfless than the Barksdale story. Frank was only smuggling in order to get the cash neccessary to keep the union afloat.
Mostly, I just think the lingo would be different if they had a white Barksdale or a white Marlo. It might not be that much different in the case of a white Stringer Bell though.
If the gangs were white, what would be different about the show?
It would be called “The Sopranos” and be about ten times better.
“So, one of the two – Omar or Orlando – would have killed the other?” I asked.
You mean Omar or Marlo.
And Sean, if the gangs were white it would be called The Sopranos and would be total garbage.
The Sopranos is to the Wire, what the typewriter is to the supercomputer.
Well, assuming the wire is realistic, and I think its clear that most of the time it is, then I’d look at the differences between white gangs and black gangs in real cities.
I live in Boston and theres been a very real transition over the past 15 years between a city where the drug trade was run exclusively by whites to one which is now run almost exclusively by blacks.
The biggest difference is that 20 years ago Shooter Fleming, Whitey Bulger, and the rest of the Winter Hill Gang had basically consolidated power in Boston. They were able to do that because they literally killed everybody. They even tried to kill a reporter for the Boston Herald because he was talking about their organization. They, along with Whitey’s brother, who was a Mass legislature, basically had an iron grip on Irish South Boston for a few decades.
The biggest difference between them, and the black gangs today is probably the media attention and the amount of killing. Black gangs get a lot of attention for drive-bys and stabbings etc. but all told (as has been pointed out on this blog) the crime rate since the Irish gangs were washed out is way down. You just hear about it more. The Winter Hill gang killed far, far, far, more people but I think they were generally smarter about how they did it. They consolidated power, united under a single leader, kept drugs off the literal street while ramming it into every Irish project house they could find. They killed everyone else and swept it under the rug.
And in the end, as Mr. Venkatesh’s research showed, gangbangers have a 25% death rate. Whitey Bulger is still on the run, and his brother is getting a fat pension from the state of Massachusetts.
If the gangs were white more white people would care about the show and about what it means for our kids. It would be considered less fiction and more social commentary. No one would bother to ask non-white thugs what they thought about the show. The show could explore white boys trying to become men and they explore their own identity in a quest to put down the front and be real.
If the gangs were white, the viewership would be much more white.
What would happen if the gangs were white? Why don’t we look at the example of the thousands of people who produce and distribute meth in this country? This is no hypothetical question that requires stretching our imagination.
Meth has been made and moved in the US for more than a decade (at least), and it has been the almost exclusive purview of rural white “networks” in the Midwest and South.
I’m certain there are differences in the way these groups operate, but I’d be willing to bet there are many more similarities.
The theme song would have a banjo, flute, or maybe both