response on Sante
March 27, 2018, by Laura
In Sante’s ‘Rubberneckers,” the author teaches us of the old-fashioned view of New York city, which sheds light on just how drastic of a change the culture within, and the view of, New York has made. The Bowery used to be thought of as “appalling mix of races and the lack of fastidiousness in dress to be found there.” Today, the Bowery is a place of livelihood and excitement, and is crawling with young people who, apparently, represent the modern style of the entire city. Moreover, unlike today, when people travel from each corner of the earth, with excitement, to walk the streets of New York, foreigners felt a “ resentment in which New York was held by people from other parts of the country.” Today, people seem to be fascinated by the arrogance, speed, and culture of the city; however, before our time, people were disgusted by the squalor and drunkenness of the city. It is extremely fascinating to learn of how one extreme belief completely transformed to the opposite all within the same city. The “Harlem Slumming Tours of the 1920s” somehow make me feel as if New Yorkers were taking part in a Black Mirror episode, where an issue, such as racism, is taken to such an absurd extreme. It is bewildering to think that “white suburbanites went out and actually lived their fantasies, complete with actual sex, drugs and crime.” Later on, in “Orphans,” Sante sheds light of the issue of child neglect in old New York. Again, it is fascinating to learn of the drastic transition New York has made in its treatment of children. Although certainly not all children are properly cared for, it is apparent that further laws and regulations have been set into motion to protect children. On the contrary, up until fairly recently, children were treated as “miniature adults,” and their size and mobility gave them the “status of rats.” As Sante describes the “youthful underworld,” the farm leagues of the Five Points House of Industry strangely make me think of prison culture, where the newcomers work for the prisoners who have been there for longer. In Five Points House of Industry, “considering that the adult gang members were often in their early teens themselves, we may speculate on just how young these trainees might be. Their major value to the gangs was their size.” It seems as though these young kids were willing to do the tedious, riskier tasks- similar to how new inmates would do just about anything to get on the good side of their social superiors.