Page 122 - Purchasing Power Black Kids and American Consumer Culture

Hemmed In and Shut Out . 107

the chaotic, violent city beyond. The maintenance of this image spurs, in
part, the attempts to limit or prevent young people's presence there, since
they are perceived by some to threaten the pacific atmosphere. Such con-
sumer community building, the proffering of togetherness through shop-
ping, is most evident in the yearly Christmas spree of conviviality and
community events, from the perennially popular picture on Santa's knee
to caroling and dance performances. Halloween has also emerged as a
time when the mall is supported as a healthy alternative to the New
Haven street and all its dangers. This perception of the mall as an alter-
native to the city itself as a site of communal activity is supported with al-
most equal enthusiasm by its own publicity efforts and such institutions
as the public schools. For several years running, mall shopkeepers have
distributed candy and Halloween balloons to hordes of costumed kids
who trick-or-treat their way around the two-story concourse on a week-
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end near October 31. Significantly, this event is designed to appeal to
young children and their families (segments of the population that mall
management finds amenable), not problematic older children and teens.
During my fieldwork, the principal of the school where I conducted re-
search sent a note to each child's family that encouraged caretakers not
to allow their children to trick-or-treat door to door. Instead, the memo
advised, caretakers should either take children only to family members'
homes or go trick-or-treating at the mall.

Exploring the Mall
From the time they are very small, Newhallville children accompany
their families—parents, older siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grand-
parents—on downtown shopping excursions. As mentioned before,
when Newhallville children are about ten years old they are allowed a
new kind of adventure: going downtown unaccompanied by older rela-
tives or friends. Among the children I knew, girls go downtown alone
more often than do boys, who at this age still prefer to spend much of
their unsupervised time riding bikes in and around the neighborhood.
For these girls, going to the mall alone is a thrilling experience that al-
lows them to be playful in ways that are impossible at home and in the
neighborhood. Despite widespread feelings in New Haven that the mall
is not a particularly safe or comfortable space to be, the statements and
behavior of Newhallville children indicate that for them the mall offers
freedoms unavailable elsewhere, while also imposing particular forms of
restraint. I was struck by the changes in the girls' demeanor when we went
to the mall. The mall space itself seemed to be the sort of safe, protective