"Streetwise"

The end of this month will mark the fourth month that I have lived "on the Hill" here in Harrisburg. Oddly enough, though, this last week or so has been one of the most challenging for me, bringing up many questions for me to wrestle with about how I interact with this neighborhood and its people.

Principle among these questions has been an issue of respect - why can't I walk down the street and be acknowledged as a human being instead of treated like an object by so many of the men here? From the beginning I knew that I would have to deal with rude comments from men, and resolved to brush them off. My first rule of interaction, though, was that I wouldn't ignore the people or look past them as I had been accustomed to before - at the very least I would make eye contact, recognizing them as human beings.

However, when so many of my attempts to acknowledge men as I pass them have been met with derisive comments, I begin to rethink my strategy. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I have felt systematically disrespected here despite my best efforts, and this week something in me snapped. For the first time I was really angry at my neighborhood and the segment of people who have repeatedly violated me. This no longer seemed like a diverse and welcoming place, but a hostile environment that I must navigate at my peril.

Unfortunately, my first reaction was to break my own rule and completely ignore every man I encountered on the street. I tried that for a day, and although I succeeded in avoiding unwelcome comments, it only fueled the anger and resentment that I was feeling.

Fortunately, my second reaction was to explore why. I know that I am living in a culture that is vastly different from my own, and I recognized that rather than resist that culture with all my might, it would be more productive and ultimately helpful to seek to understand it instead.

So yesterday I biked to Midtown Scholar's new bookstore, and lost myself in their Sociology section for hours. And I found exactly the kind of book that I needed right now - "Streetwise" by Elijah Anderson. He's an African-American sociologist who has done a lot of work in Philly, and gave very practical insights into how "the streets" operate and what signals and body language are used to navigate them effectively. I was hooked, and finished the entire book yesterday!

It was not only extremely insightful, but very convicting for me. He makes the distinction between "street etiquette", which applies rules of interaction broadly based on stereotypes, and "street wisdom", which recognizes people as individuals and tailors interactions accordingly. I realized that I was guilty of using "street etiquette" - I had created rules for how to interact with different types of people, and so when I encountered people on the street I did not see them, but rather I saw their race, their gender, their age and fit them into one of the categories I had created in my head to program a response. Granted, these programmed responses were based on my past experiences, but they were prejudiced nonetheless and wrong.

I want to become "streetwise" as the author calls it - not sticking to rigid rules based on crudely constructed stereotypes, but encountering people as individuals, treating them as people, and allowing for the possibility of a genuine interaction. After all, if I cannot see them as a human being not defined by their race, gender, and age, how can I expect them to do the same for me?

In reading my Bible this morning, I was also convicted that I have not really been loving people here like I should - like Jesus would. I've been loving my neighbors who are easy to love, but writing off those who are too difficult. I pray now that God will forgive me for this, and give me the "Agape" love that he has for the people of Allison Hill - so that I may truly love those who I encounter here.