Professor Elijah Anderson's talk will illuminate the public life of an American city, offering a major reinterpretation of the racial dynamics in America.
He introduces the concept of the “cosmopolitan canopy”—the urban island of civility that exists amidst the ghettos, suburbs, and ethnic enclaves where segregation is the norm. Under the cosmopolitan canopy, diverse peoples come together, and for the most part practice getting along. The concept offers a new understanding of the complexities of present-day race relations and reveals the unique opportunities here for cross-cultural interaction.
After carefully observing the neighborhood streets and public spaces of Center City Philadelphia, Anderson will reveal and illustrates in this lecture how city dwellers often interact across racial, ethnic, and social borders, engaging in a distinctive folk ethnography.
Canopies operating in close proximity create a synergy that becomes a cosmopolitan zone. In the vibrant atmosphere of these public spaces, civility is the order of the day.
However, incidents can arise that threaten and rend the canopy, including scenes of tension emphasizing the borders of race, but also class, sexual preference, and gender. But when this happens—assisted by gloss—the resilience of the canopy most often prevails. In this space all kinds of city dwellers—from gentrifiers to the homeless, cabdrivers to doormen—manage to co-exist in the urban environment, gaining local knowledge as they do, which then helps reinforce and spread tolerance through contact and mutual understanding.
With compelling, meticulous descriptions of public spaces such as 30th Street Station, Reading Terminal Market, and Rittenhouse Square, and quasi-public places like the modern-day workplace, Anderson provides a rich narrative account of how blacks and whites relate and redefine the color line in everyday public life. He reveals how eating, shopping, and people-watching under the canopy can ease racial tensions, but also how the spaces in and between canopies can reinforce boundaries. Weaving colorful observations with keen social insight, Anderson shows how the canopy—and its lessons—contributes to the civility of our increasingly diverse public places.
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