to be quite empowering. He shows comparisons of the “underclass” and the “middle-class.” He tries to show the differences in beliefs that these two groups of people have about each other. He makes comments on how the students are bussed around the University of Chicago, because the surrounding area, where most of these men live, and is where the Valois caf is located, is considered to quite dangerous. Here Mitch observes the pride and strong values these men had. He sees that these men are strong men, not physically but morally. They care about each other and have respect for each other, something the people sitting on the bus can’t see from behind the plexi-glass windows.Slims Table, appearingly seems to be a book about a man who recounts various stories about the men he meets while he is on the South Side of Chicago. However, it is a book that encompasses so much more. The book recounts various stories about the men he meets; however, as it progresses the reader can see the book is really about trying to show what these men are all about. In those observations, it can be seen that these men truly debunk the conventional stereotypes associated with the black working class. They are strong-willed and contain aspiring values and morals. As the book begins to conclude itself, the reader finds, the author reflecting back on his whole experience with these men in the Valois Cafeteria. Duneier states that these men that met at “Slims Table” day in and day out, truly impressed him. He states that they truly try and embody the beliefs and ideas created about the black working man, according to Drake and Cayton’s Black Metropolis. These men try and live up to the standards set far back when the black ghetto wasn’t perhaps considered an area of desecration and violence. However, Duneier concludes his book by conceding to the fact that many of those beliefs still do exist in modern day societ...
