American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass Revised Edition Contributor(s): Massey, Douglas S. (Author), Denton, Nancy A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0674018214 ISBN-13: 9780674018211 Publisher: Harvard University Press OUR PRICE: $34.65 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 1998 Annotation: This powerful and disturbing book links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities. "A major contribution to our study of both racism and poverty".--Washington Post Book World. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
Dewey: 305.8 |
LCCN: 92013889 |
Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.08" W x 9.32" (0.77 lbs) 312 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: This powerful and disturbing book clearly links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities. American Apartheid shows how the black ghetto was created by whites during the first half of the twentieth century in order to isolate growing urban black populations. It goes on to show that, despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, segregation is perpetuated today through an interlocking set of individual actions, institutional practices, and governmental policies. In some urban areas the degree of black segregation is so intense and occurs in so many dimensions simultaneously that it amounts to "hypersegregation." The authors demonstrate that this systematic segregation of African Americans leads inexorably to the creation of underclass communities during periods of economic downturn. Under conditions of extreme segregation, any increase in the overall rate of black poverty yields a marked increase in the geographic concentration of indigence and the deterioration of social and economic conditions in black communities. As ghetto residents adapt to this increasingly harsh environment under a climate of racial isolation, they evolve attitudes, behaviors, and practices that further marginalize their neighborhoods and undermine their chances of success in mainstream American society. This book is a sober challenge to those who argue that race is of declining significance in the United States today. |
Contributor Bio(s): Denton, Nancy A.: - Nancy A. Denton is Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Albany.Massey, Douglas S.: - Douglas S. Massey is Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, with a joint appointment in the Woodrow Wilson School. |