The Stranger that Drives Me Places

The way we treat the stranger is of crucial importance to the way we live our lives as moral and ethical people part of a world beyond ourselves. Jane Jacobs, in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, discusses the importance of different types of diversity in cities. She takes issue with the way that Moses chose to bulldoze certain neighborhoods, displacing its residents. Jacobs writes, “A group of clergymen in Chicago, appalled at the fruits of planned city rebuilding there, asked, “Could Job have been thinking of Chicago when he wrote: Here are men that alter their neighbor’s landmark . . .shoulder the poor aside, conspire to oppress the friendless. Reap they the field that is none of theirs, strip they the vineyard wrongfully seized from its owner . . .A cry goes up from the city streets, where wounded men lie groaning . . .”” (Jacobs 5).

This passage describes the horrible treatment of the poor, pushing their needs aside for the needs of the wealthy. This brought to mind the discussion of the stranger in the Bible.  Not only is one warned against the oppression of the poor, but also of the way one treats the stranger, someone other than us. The Bible cautions regarding behavior towards the stranger no less than thirty-six times. No other commandment—not even that to love God, keep the Sabbath, refrain from uttering falsehood or theft—are so often referred to and formulated as positive and negative precepts.

To create a successful neighborhood is to treat those different than us properly. One point of contention between Jacobs and Moses is how to treat those who were thought of as ‘unfit’ to live in the city. In a way, Moses saw those that were different as unfit to be a part of the ideal city. Alternatively, Jacobs saw the diversity of the city what makes it a city. In her writing she tries to debunk many of the assumptions that we have about those who are seen as being other and lending to the negatives of the city, rather than giving the city its character.

As I read the way that Jacobs discusses this relationship between the poor and the other and the rich, I could not help but think of the song “The Men That Drive Me Places” by Ben Rector.

In this song, Ben Rector sings about the life of his drivers, Howard and Danny. One driver tells him about his daughter going to college, his dreams, and the things holding him back from fulfilling them. The chorus of the song is the part that causes me to reflect every time I hear it. Rector sings, “Isn’t that just the way it goes, you’re dealt a good hand and you get celebrated…I’m half the man of the men that drive me places.” Rector recognizes the fact that the family and life you are born into gives you a leg up. It is the men that have to work hard to get a fraction of the opportunities of those born into more well-off families that are the ones that should be admired. Whether this was the intention of Rector or not, I found a lot of meaning in the word drive.

While in this song drive is referring to the use of a car, I found a parallel to Jacobs in a different use of the word drive. Jacobs writes, “it is necessary to take issue with a common belief about cities—the belief that uses of low status drive out uses of high status” (Jacobs 97). It is often falsely believed that low status needs drive out high status needs. We assume that those of low status are going to hurt our city, but if one were to just have a conversation with those who drive them around, one would realize that they are just like everyone else, trying to reach their dreams. The difference is in the fact that assumptions are created and perpetuated regarding low income households. It is assumed that those of low income drive out the needs of those of high income. We assume that because someone has a better job it means they work harder than those with a job with lower pay. We assume that the stranger is to be looked down upon. These assumptions create the basis of the way we think we need to shape our cities. Once those who are building the cities are building them based on these false assumptions, our cities will never be able to succeed. Only once we rid of these false notions can we build a city upon the guidelines that Jacobs described and can we create a truly successful city.

Questions to ponder:

1. Regardless of whether or not we believe in the Bible, what does the prominence of the way we must treat the stranger tell us about living life as moral beings?
2. What assumptions do we have about the way the city must operate? Are our assumptions founded on facts or subjective judgements?
3. How can we rid people of false assumptions? Can it even be done?