More Than Just Race Being Black In The Inner City Chapter 1 Summary
More Than Just Race: Being Black In The Inner City
William Julius Wilson
Chapter One Synopsis
In this Chapter, the author introduces his backstory and the way people react around him despite the fact that he is a Harvard professor. Many of the residents in his building get nervous because he is black when he rides the elevator with them. However, despite the fact that he is discriminated against when he is out of his suits, he states that he cannot blame them for being nervous around him. Due to the criminal and violent history that African Americans have today, as well as the media portrayal of African Americans, many people get a pre conceived racist notion of how all black males are. Wilson thoroughly explains that because of the changing society, racial inequality has continued. “In the last several decades, almost all of the improvements in …show more content…
productivity have been associated with technology and human capital” (Wilson 182). Although the changes in the work force have been helpful to higher skilled workers, they have made finding jobs for lower skilled workers almost impossible. Because of the segregation in housing, schools are also segregated and African Americans do not receive the same education that whites do. The fact that African Americans are restricted to communities that have higher unemployment rates, and lower education opportunities, blacks suffer at a disproportionate rate. The future of low income families also lies on the government, however because of the culture already instilled into inner cities, racism continues to prevail. “Culture is closely intertwined with social relations in the sense of providing tools and creating constraints in patterns of social interaction”. (Wilson 319).
Chapter Two Synopsis
In this Chapter the author describes “structural forces” that have made an impact on the black community. He discussed forces that were influenced by race and those that still had an impact on the black community nonetheless. In the late 1990’s there was very little discussion about the challenges inner city blacks faced. The lack of public awareness of the challenges inner city blacks face has contributed dramatically to the declining neighborhoods and the huge gap between race and income between inner city ghettos and urban areas. The Second Migration from the South to the North in 1970 was put to an end because of the decline in employment in the inner city. Because of this migration, areas that were once greatly populated by migrants were left almost completely abandoned by the employed middle class. Cultural forces as well as Structural forces play important roles in understanding the effects of living in poor segregated areas. Although culture is a major part of the outcomes inner city blacks face, they are nothing near the impact political forces in combination with economic forces produce in the inner city areas. Structural forces on poverty stricken areas have a much greater significance than cultural forces.
Chapter Three Synopsis
In this Chapter, the author explained that even though both structural and cultural explanations restrict African American male progress, structural explanations of the economic downfalls of low skilled African Americans play a much larger role than cultural explanations. The computer revelation in today’s job market has decreased the demand for low skilled employees and has restricted African Americans males from finding employment in jobs that in the past would offer them positions. The growth of service industries has also put a holt in the availability of employment to black males because of the demand for workers with education and at least a small amount of skill. Service industries only offer jobs that require workers to serve and relate to customers. Black males have a difficult time getting into this type of industry because often times, employers believe that women and “recent immigrants of both genders are better suited than black males”. The employers beliefs that women are better suited than back males comes from the high violence rates in the inner city ghettos. Because of these violence rates, employers view blacks negatively. This violence also played a major role in the legal system and resulted in the higher incarceration rates of black males. Because of these forces, both cultural and structural, the demand for employment of low skilled black males has become increasingly lower, especially for the ones who have prison records.
Chapter 4 Synopsis
In this Chapter, Wilson discussed the downfalls of poor black families.
In a study collected about poor families, it was found that in the U.S. poor families tended to be ran by black woman and 31% of all poor households were ran by young black women. Wilson found this fact to be astonishing because of the fact that African Americans account for only 12% of the United States population. Wilson’s study of family life in Chicago revealed that marriage has declined at a much faster rate among young, unemployed black fathers than it has for young employed black fathers. However, findings from research did not find a string correlation between employment and rates of marriage. In the case of marriages among black cultural influences trump structural ones. Studies also revealed that responses between employment and marriage among poor women, despite race remain similar. Just like in all previous chapters, the segregation of inner city blacks, as well as the issues of joblessness and lack of opportunity, continue to play a great role in all aspects of African Americans
lives.
Chapter 5 Synopsis
In this Chapter, Wilson sums up all his findings to create a conclusion on how to unite both structure and culture in order to create a more equal society. Cultural patterns in the inner city ghetto relate to informal rules that shape how people act with one another and make decisions. The decisions made in the inner city ghettos often correlates with the way inner city residents view the way the world works. Residents of the ghettos find ways to adjust and respond to such negative racial economic segregation. These ways develop into the regular behavior that many urban residents view as repulsive, influencing their racism even further. Structural patterns play a greater role in the suppression of African Americans as well as other people of color. Political powers also play a role in the segregation of minorities, and even though there are some policy makers who are dedicated to ending the problems of race and poverty, they still face many challenges. It has become extremely important to discuss how the issues of race and poverty are viewed in public policy discussions because these reveal so much about our commitment, as a society to change.
20 Most Important Points
1. The portrayal of black men in the media as well as their rates of incarceration is problematic when employers evaluate the credibility of black males form employment.
2. As long as the high rates of incarceration and violence persist, people of all races will react to black males in public and private places negatively.
3. Structural forces contribute directly to racial group outcomes such as employment rate and differences in poverty.
4. The growth of new technologies in the workplace has changed the demand for different types of workers.
5. The development in use of technology in the work place is especially problematic for African Americans because they have a higher average of low skilled workers.
6. Even before the restructuring of the economy, low skilled African Americans were the last to be hired and the first to be let go.
7. The future of families, especially poor working families, depends on how the government decides to react to changes in the economy.
8. Employers in the service industry feel that consumers perceived inner city black males to be dangerous or threatening.
9. In the past, black males only had to demonstrate strong muscles because of the jobs they were performing (assembly lines, construction, etc). However, today they have to compete in jobs where employers are less likely to hire them because they are seen as unable to keep up a conversation or positive contact with customers.
10. Employers often refuse to hire black males because of their history of incarceration. However, being without a job encourages illegal moneymaking crimes in order to make end meet and therefore increases the risk of incarceration.
11. Employers often feel that black males are unreliable because of their prolonged spells of unemployment.
12. Unemployed African Americans also compete with higher skilled workers, who themselves end up applying for lesser positions when they have a difficult time finding a job.
13. Structural factors play a role in the distributing of jobs and the benefits the jobs offer.
14. Black men and women in the inner city are less likely than Mexican immigrants to report that they received help from a friend or relative to obtain their current job.
15. The structural explanations of concentrated poverty in the inner city have a greater significance than cultural explanations.
16. In the eyes of man Americans, black males symbolize violence and the demand for law and order results in a harsher criminal justice system for black males.
17. The commitment to traditional husband and wife families as well as the humiliation of “out of wedlock” births has decreased significantly in the United States.
18. A way to frame policy issues today would be to emphasize personal responsibility with government support.
19. Federal transportation and highway policy shifted jobs from the inner cities to the suburbs.
20. The changes in the criminal justice system led to the mass imprisonment of African American males in recent decades and were by-products of the cultural reframing of crime punishment.
William Julius Wilson
Chapter One Synopsis
In this Chapter, the author introduces his backstory and the way people react around him despite the fact that he is a Harvard professor. Many of the residents in his building get nervous because he is black when he rides the elevator with them. However, despite the fact that he is discriminated against when he is out of his suits, he states that he cannot blame them for being nervous around him. Due to the criminal and violent history that African Americans have today, as well as the media portrayal of African Americans, many people get a pre conceived racist notion of how all black males are. Wilson thoroughly explains that because of the changing society, racial inequality has continued. “In the last several decades, almost all of the improvements in …show more content…
productivity have been associated with technology and human capital” (Wilson 182). Although the changes in the work force have been helpful to higher skilled workers, they have made finding jobs for lower skilled workers almost impossible. Because of the segregation in housing, schools are also segregated and African Americans do not receive the same education that whites do. The fact that African Americans are restricted to communities that have higher unemployment rates, and lower education opportunities, blacks suffer at a disproportionate rate. The future of low income families also lies on the government, however because of the culture already instilled into inner cities, racism continues to prevail. “Culture is closely intertwined with social relations in the sense of providing tools and creating constraints in patterns of social interaction”. (Wilson 319).
Chapter Two Synopsis
In this Chapter the author describes “structural forces” that have made an impact on the black community. He discussed forces that were influenced by race and those that still had an impact on the black community nonetheless. In the late 1990’s there was very little discussion about the challenges inner city blacks faced. The lack of public awareness of the challenges inner city blacks face has contributed dramatically to the declining neighborhoods and the huge gap between race and income between inner city ghettos and urban areas. The Second Migration from the South to the North in 1970 was put to an end because of the decline in employment in the inner city. Because of this migration, areas that were once greatly populated by migrants were left almost completely abandoned by the employed middle class. Cultural forces as well as Structural forces play important roles in understanding the effects of living in poor segregated areas. Although culture is a major part of the outcomes inner city blacks face, they are nothing near the impact political forces in combination with economic forces produce in the inner city areas. Structural forces on poverty stricken areas have a much greater significance than cultural forces.
Chapter Three Synopsis
In this Chapter, the author explained that even though both structural and cultural explanations restrict African American male progress, structural explanations of the economic downfalls of low skilled African Americans play a much larger role than cultural explanations. The computer revelation in today’s job market has decreased the demand for low skilled employees and has restricted African Americans males from finding employment in jobs that in the past would offer them positions. The growth of service industries has also put a holt in the availability of employment to black males because of the demand for workers with education and at least a small amount of skill. Service industries only offer jobs that require workers to serve and relate to customers. Black males have a difficult time getting into this type of industry because often times, employers believe that women and “recent immigrants of both genders are better suited than black males”. The employers beliefs that women are better suited than back males comes from the high violence rates in the inner city ghettos. Because of these violence rates, employers view blacks negatively. This violence also played a major role in the legal system and resulted in the higher incarceration rates of black males. Because of these forces, both cultural and structural, the demand for employment of low skilled black males has become increasingly lower, especially for the ones who have prison records.
Chapter 4 Synopsis
In this Chapter, Wilson discussed the downfalls of poor black families.
In a study collected about poor families, it was found that in the U.S. poor families tended to be ran by black woman and 31% of all poor households were ran by young black women. Wilson found this fact to be astonishing because of the fact that African Americans account for only 12% of the United States population. Wilson’s study of family life in Chicago revealed that marriage has declined at a much faster rate among young, unemployed black fathers than it has for young employed black fathers. However, findings from research did not find a string correlation between employment and rates of marriage. In the case of marriages among black cultural influences trump structural ones. Studies also revealed that responses between employment and marriage among poor women, despite race remain similar. Just like in all previous chapters, the segregation of inner city blacks, as well as the issues of joblessness and lack of opportunity, continue to play a great role in all aspects of African Americans
lives.
Chapter 5 Synopsis
In this Chapter, Wilson sums up all his findings to create a conclusion on how to unite both structure and culture in order to create a more equal society. Cultural patterns in the inner city ghetto relate to informal rules that shape how people act with one another and make decisions. The decisions made in the inner city ghettos often correlates with the way inner city residents view the way the world works. Residents of the ghettos find ways to adjust and respond to such negative racial economic segregation. These ways develop into the regular behavior that many urban residents view as repulsive, influencing their racism even further. Structural patterns play a greater role in the suppression of African Americans as well as other people of color. Political powers also play a role in the segregation of minorities, and even though there are some policy makers who are dedicated to ending the problems of race and poverty, they still face many challenges. It has become extremely important to discuss how the issues of race and poverty are viewed in public policy discussions because these reveal so much about our commitment, as a society to change.
20 Most Important Points
1. The portrayal of black men in the media as well as their rates of incarceration is problematic when employers evaluate the credibility of black males form employment.
2. As long as the high rates of incarceration and violence persist, people of all races will react to black males in public and private places negatively.
3. Structural forces contribute directly to racial group outcomes such as employment rate and differences in poverty.
4. The growth of new technologies in the workplace has changed the demand for different types of workers.
5. The development in use of technology in the work place is especially problematic for African Americans because they have a higher average of low skilled workers.
6. Even before the restructuring of the economy, low skilled African Americans were the last to be hired and the first to be let go.
7. The future of families, especially poor working families, depends on how the government decides to react to changes in the economy.
8. Employers in the service industry feel that consumers perceived inner city black males to be dangerous or threatening.
9. In the past, black males only had to demonstrate strong muscles because of the jobs they were performing (assembly lines, construction, etc). However, today they have to compete in jobs where employers are less likely to hire them because they are seen as unable to keep up a conversation or positive contact with customers.
10. Employers often refuse to hire black males because of their history of incarceration. However, being without a job encourages illegal moneymaking crimes in order to make end meet and therefore increases the risk of incarceration.
11. Employers often feel that black males are unreliable because of their prolonged spells of unemployment.
12. Unemployed African Americans also compete with higher skilled workers, who themselves end up applying for lesser positions when they have a difficult time finding a job.
13. Structural factors play a role in the distributing of jobs and the benefits the jobs offer.
14. Black men and women in the inner city are less likely than Mexican immigrants to report that they received help from a friend or relative to obtain their current job.
15. The structural explanations of concentrated poverty in the inner city have a greater significance than cultural explanations.
16. In the eyes of man Americans, black males symbolize violence and the demand for law and order results in a harsher criminal justice system for black males.
17. The commitment to traditional husband and wife families as well as the humiliation of “out of wedlock” births has decreased significantly in the United States.
18. A way to frame policy issues today would be to emphasize personal responsibility with government support.
19. Federal transportation and highway policy shifted jobs from the inner cities to the suburbs.
20. The changes in the criminal justice system led to the mass imprisonment of African American males in recent decades and were by-products of the cultural reframing of crime punishment.