Down These Mean Streets

By Piri Thomas

“Down These Mean Streets” is an autobiography written by Piri Thomas, who was born of a Puerto Rican mother and a Puerto Rican father. He grew up in Spanish Harlem in the mid 20^th century. At this point in history racism was still at an extreme high, even in the Northern parts of America. Piri was exposed to this racism throughout his life and for about the first part of his life he didn’t understand why. Piri knew that he was different than a white person because he could look in the mirror and clearly see that. He knew he didn’t look like his mother because she looked like a “paddy.” A paddy was someone who was either was white, or they looked like they could pass a white person. No, instead Piri looked like his father, the dark-skinned Puerto Rican, whose color automatically classified him as a Negro to the world.

For Piri, this is where the struggle began. He couldn’t understand why he was being treated like a Negro when he was Puerto Rican. It didn’t help that his siblings – his brothers in particular – looked like their mother, almost white in every physical aspect. Rather it served as a constant reminder, even within the walls of his own house, of just how different Piri was from others. “You and James are like houses – painted outside and blacker’n a mother on the inside. And I’m close to being like Poppa – trying to be white on both sides.” (Thomas, 145)

But these things didn’t plague his mind so much during his initial stay in Harlem. Their family went through some rough times as Piri was growing up. His brother was supposed to get a simple tonsil removal procedure and ended up passing away. Piri himself was involved in gangs and negative crowds which landed him in the hospital as well. His father moved around from job to job, some more beneficial than others, but those didn’t last for a long time. They would always eventually end up going right back to struggling to make ends meet.

When he was about 16 Piri’s father decides that the family would have more opportunities out in Rhode Island. This is really where the Piri’s inner struggle with the color of his skin compared to what he felt he was on the inside, began. He had been warned by his friends that he wasn’t going to fit into a place where there were more white people than ethnic people. Clearly moving to Rhode Island was out of his hands, so he really had no choice but to roll with the punches and try to make the best out of his situation. When they did get to Rhode Island it appeared as though his friends were wrong. People were polite and he didn’t seem to run into any needless trouble. However, Piri was slowly discovering that things weren’t what they seemed. Sideways glances and not-so-subtle remarks on his person were all contributors to exposing his new home for what it really was.

For example, one time Piri was invited by one of his “paddy” friends to a dance that his school was having in the gym after classes. So Piri goes to the dance and sees a pretty white girl that he thought he would ask to dance with him. He walks over to her and starts the typical introductions and by the end of the conversation he realizes that she is acting rather strangely toward him; as if she is uncomfortable with his presence. No longer feeling the vibe, Piri let’s his friend know that he’s going to leave. His friend asks him to wait for him while he goes to the restroom and he would leave with him. While waiting for his friend, Piri overhears the girl he asked to dance tell her friends how shocked she was that Piri had asked her, “just as if I was a black girl.”

Piri had enough. Leaving his family behind, he moved back to Spanish Harlem. To where he was comfortable and the harsh reality of the effect that his skin color had on every encounter wasn’t so pronounced. From that point on Piri really started to analyze his place in the world. Was he really going to fine with being treated as a Negro even though he was Puerto Rican? Each time he had an encounter that was affected by his race – like rejections from jobs – it made him question himself even more-so than the time before. The anger, resentment, and confusion were building up inside of him and he felt like he was going to explode. He even lashed out at one of his good friends during a game of “Dozens.” This game was basically used to see who could be the most offensive with the least amount of insults. At the end of their game, which was also not really a game, he had decided to go down to Southern U.S.

His friend had told him of the South and how he would know for a fact there whether or not he should be feeling like a Negro. “Let me say it like it is, Piri. It ain’t as bad now as when my daddy was a kid, but it’s bad enough. Though I guess bad is bad, a little or a lot.” (Thomas, 126) So Piri headed down to the South with his friend to find out what his place was. He soon found that wherever he traveled, he was generally received the same from the white people he encountered. Piri spent the better part of the last part of the book finding out who he was in other’s eyes and how that compared to who he knew himself to be.

This book was a fantastic read! I think it is a good representation of the inward struggle that anyone goes through that might feel as though they don’t belong. Looking at society today I can see how important self-esteem, and knowing who you are, is really important. People will always try and ostracize you for being different, whether it’s because of fear or they are simply prejudice. I love when Piri Thomas says, “It wasn’t right to be ashamed of what one was.” And he’s right it isn’t! Regardless, you have to have strength in knowing what you are about even when the world doesn’t.