On The Sidewalk Duneier Analysis

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Duneier Duneier wanted to see how sidewalk life can work where there are no salient inequalities in race and class, where the public characters on the sidewalk are seen as decent and as posing no threat to passersby. The family he’s observing is the Romps family. The Romps were there to sell Christmas trees to New Yorkers. The family is coming to the block for over ten years. There is a high degree of familiarity between the Romps and the people in the neighborhood. He keeps the trees out of the way of pedestrians. The goods do not block the sidewalk. Because Billy knows the area, he gives directions all the time. If people see him in the neighborhood they assume that he must know his way around. Billy asks if he could move the tree for a better look. Children do often want a big tree so he’s suggesting that the kid wants a bigger tree when he looks at her face. She obviously thinks he’s too small. He says: ‘look at all the room for presents under there, will ya?’. He’s doing what the woman says when she asks if he could do a fresh cut in. He also will bag it up for her. ‘These local people seem to feel comfortable with the tree sellers. Billy does his part to make them feel that way. The whole family is helping…show more content…
People feel an immediate bond with the Romps because they, too, are white, whereas they are unlikely to feel such a rapport with blacks, even if those persons were similar to them in class and behavior. The different reaction to the two groups is based mainly on class. Billy Romp has almost scholarly conception of the significance of speech and silence in making local residents feel comfortable. If you feel comfortable with people, it creates trust. Obtaining trust would involve achieving a high level of decency in people’s
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