Down These Mean Streets By Piri Thomas

6 Pages 1599 Words

“Down these Mean Streets” is a book about a young man (Piri Thomas) who was born in1928 and grew up in an impoverished part of Harlem called Spanish Harlem or the Barrio (as he calls it). It deals with his struggles with his family, friends, drugs, and the law. Throughout the book Piri deals with many racial issues within society and the way society treats him because of his ethnicity.
As a young boy he grew up in a predominantly Spanish area of Harlem. Piri was generally ignorant of racism and never really experienced any kind of ethnic hatred. Then when he was in middle school his family and he moved to a Italian area of Harlem. This is when he first recognized that people did not like him because of his Hispanica background. A group of Italian boys started to harass him as he walked home from school saying racial slurs like “spic” and asking if he had any senoritas for sisters. They asked him where he was born and Piri told them Harlem Hospital. One of the Italian boys said. “I knew he was a nigger all the colored people are born there.” Then Piri explained that all types of people were born there like: colored’s, Puerto Ricans and even Italians like them. The boys got offended and one of them hit him. Some of the older Italian people saw what was going on and broke up the fight. Piri was glad they did but still felt much hatred toward the Italians and said he could have loved them (for breaking up the fight) if he didn’t hate them so much. Later Piri stood up to one of the Italian and challenged him to a one on one fight to see if he had any heart. While They fought Piri heard the home cheers of “Yea, yea, bust that spic wide open.” Piri was winning the fight and the Italian boy got angry and threw gravel in his eyes. All of the rest of the Italian boys disapproved of what their friend had done and said that Piri had heart. Piri went to the Hospital and had his eyes Flushed out. It was not long b...