Racial and Class Boundaries.

~r l '~he ' Village-No~hton," a community area of . I t Eastern City is important as an ethnographic research site because it is a prototype of the urban problem area. Northton is predominantly black, economically depressed, and spotted with urban blight. The Village, on the other hand, is at present racially "integrated," while becoming increasingly white and middle-income; dwelling units are being refurbished at a quickening pace. The Village has a deserved reputation as one of the most culturally and racially mixed--and socially toleran t -a reas of the city. Yet, skin color is a highly important symbol in public areas, used for gaining clues to the next person's social class and personal proclivities. Encounters between strangers on the street are often significantly influenced not only by a person's skin color, but also by gender, age, dress, and comportment--especially as these work to define particular public situations. Private gatherings range from homogeneous to highly mixed, expressive of a certain social tolerance within the area. In striking contrast to the generally recognized concept of the "zone in transition" as an area of increasing blight, poverty, and "social disorganization," the present community area in transition is characterized by the promise of social stability, individual refurbishment of dwelling units, and rising property values. If in earlier days well-to-do white urbanites fled neighborhoods when blacks and other minorities moved in, the situation in the present community seems somewhat reversed. The well-to-do (usually but not always whites) are moving in, and the poorer people (often blacks) are moving out or are being displaced outright. Northton is often referred to, particularly by those who identify with The Village, as "the ghetto." And it appears that Northton is being slowly absorbed or modified through accretion by those moving in and identifying with The Village. The Village-Northton area comprises mainly Victorian-style houses with large porches, surrounded by nicely planted yards and old-fashioned wrought-iron fences. During the day and after the evening rush hour, the streets are generally quiet and downtown Eastern City seems far away. Throughout the area, youthful black-male street groups are predominant, some lounging on street comers, others casually moving about. Their members are generally perceived, though not always correctly, to be unemployed or involved in the "underground economy," inclined to engage in criminal or uncivil acts. Residents, blacks as well as whites, very often presume these males to be "up to no good" until they demonstrate otherwise; the area's street crime is readily attributed to them. Black males tend not to be trusted on the streets. Such working conceptions of street life serve as a source of often subtle but enduring racial and class divisions, if not alienation and hostility, in a supposedly tolerant community area. The effects of such conceptions become even more complicated by increasing changes in the racial and class composition of the area. The transition of the area is a source of community concern; at times, it results in tension on the streets, if not increased street crime. Often, law-abiding black males find themselves disavowing criminality. This is indicated in the following statement by a young black male: