Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award, this incisive book examines the code as a response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope. An individual`s safety and sense of worth are determined by the respect he commands in public--a deference frequently based on an implied threat of violence. Unfortunately, even those with higher aspirations can often become entangled in the code`s self-destructive behaviors.