1 option
Race and morality : how good intentions undermine social justice and perpetuate inequality / Melvyn L. Fein.
Van Pelt Library E185.615 .F395 2001
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Fein, Melvyn L.
- Series:
- Clinical sociology
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Race relations.
- United States--Race relations--Moral and ethical aspects.
- United States.
- Social justice--United States.
- Social justice.
- Physical Description:
- xiii, 356 pages ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, [2001]
- Summary:
- This book attempts to explain why it has been so difficult to solve America's racial problems as the country has moved from what the author describes as a closed caste to an open class society. The author contends that Americans fail to perceive how the legacy of slavery interferes with social mobility and highlights the values that middle-class blacks and whites need to uphold, most prominently the emphasis on freedom as opposed to total equality.
- Contents:
- 1. Moral Invisibility 1
- Moral versus Status Invisibility 1
- A White Problem 7
- The Problem Misunderstood 11
- The Long View 18
- 2. Moral Enemies 23
- White Depravity 23
- Black Innocence 31
- The Nature of the Morality Game 37
- Playing the Game 42
- 3. "Died of a Theory" 49
- Taxi Driver 49
- Stereotypes Exposed 53
- Harlem 59
- Whose Ox? 64
- 4. The American Creed 71
- Values Under Assault 71
- Equality for All 77
- Liberty for All 83
- An Overdose of Radical Egalitarianism 89
- 5. The Culture of Slavery: Origins 99
- Morality and Culture 99
- A Conceptual Interlude 105
- Cultural Conservatism in Action 112
- The Origins of Slave Culture 116
- 6. The Culture of Slavery: Outcomes 125
- Transitions 125
- A Painful Story 132
- White Culture 135
- Black Culture 142
- 7. Racial "Empowerment" 165
- The Myth of Empowerment 165
- Tests of Strength 170
- A Floating Ceiling 178
- Situational Immaturity 182
- 8. Change Strategies 193
- Four Approaches to Change 193
- The Moral Model 198
- The Social Engineering Model 205
- The Clinical/Educational Model 215
- The Structural/Cultural Model 220
- 9. Natural Resocialization 225
- Cultural Change 225
- Role Change 228
- Intrapersonal Cultural Change 234
- Interpersonal/Intergenerational Cultural Change 240
- The Role of the Change Agent 243
- 10. The Black Middle Class 249
- Black Enablers 249
- A Middle Class Revolution 254
- The Change Process 259
- Mobility-Friendly Values 265
- 11. The White Middle Class 271
- White Enablers 271
- The Stewardship Role 277
- Change Among Whites 286
- A Shared Humanity 291.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-346) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0306465132
- OCLC:
- 45137591
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.