“Putting the Blessings on him”: Vouching and Basketball Status Work

Abstract

While being a basketball player is an important identity for kids, it is also an abiding interest for some black men in Philadelphia. Identity is a collective action, created through group interaction and made public through interaction in which friends “vouch” for each other. The criteria for social position and having high social status do not always transfer across social spaces; rather, the space and those who interact in it negotiate and determine which social traits are salient and of high status. This article examines two different types of basketball identity or status—direct and borrowed identity—and explores the way in which those identities are created and used in negotiating group membership and social interaction.