All it takes is one joint in his pocket, one street confrontation that spirals out of control, the wrong word to the wrong cop, and the whole game collapses. I step on somebody's toes, the first word to come out of their mouth is nigger. Portland is one of the most progressive big cities in America, and one of the whitest. For years, white Portlanders have clung to the comforting thought that this community, if not color-blind, has at least avoided the polarization of Boston or Chicago. But the fact remains that while Brooklyn and his customers inhabit the same metropolis, they live in totally different worlds.
Many different people buy Brooklyn's CDs.
But his most reliable prospects are white suburban teenagers. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't eat. They are the children of the '90s, come of age during the longest economic boom in American history. Flavor's something Daddy's money can't buy. They are hungry for a taste of the ghetto, some way to escape the mind-numbing tedium of the suburbs.