In other words, I’d submit that Street Knowledge is exactly what the commenter is talking—primal law. The “culture” masks what is, essentially, an animal dynamic. There’s a reason that they call it “Jungle Law.” It’s funny because, as a kid, I was a terrible student of Street Knowledge. But you get disrespected enough times, and suddenly it’s a part of you, you’re indoctrinated. Or, more aptly put, you’re not indoctrinated—you’re revealed. Or maybe more aptly, you revert. You are not so much acculturated, as you are forced to go native, to obey basic primal impulses—and then a culture arise around that.
— Defining “Street” - Ta-Nehisi Coates
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