Against the wall : poor, young, Black, and male / edited by Elijah Anderson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Anderson, Elijah.

University of Pennsylvania. Press.

Series:

City in the twenty-first century book series

The city in the 21st century

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American men--Psychology.

African American men.

African American men--Social conditions.

Inner cities--United States.

Inner cities.

United States.

Urban poor--United States.

Urban poor.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 296 pages :) : illustrations.

Other Title:

Penn Press e-books.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2008]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

Too many young black men are trapped in a horrific cycle that includes active discrimination, unemployment, violence, crime, prison, and early death. This toxic mixture has given rise to wider stereotypes that limit the social capital of all young black males. Edited and with an introductory chapter by sociologist Elijah Anderson, the essays in Against the Wall describe how the young black man has come to be identified publicly with crime and violence. In reaction to his sense of rejection, he may place an exaggerated emphasis on the integrity of his self-expression in clothing and demeanor by adopting the fashions of the "street." To those deeply invested in and associated with the dominant culture, his attitude is perceived as profoundly oppositional. His presence in public gathering places becomes disturbing to others, and the stereotype of the dangerous young black male is perpetuated and strengthened. To understand the origin of the problem and the prospects of the black inner-city male, it is essential to distinguish his experience from that of his pre-Civil Rights Movement forebears. In the 1950s, as militant black people increasingly emerged to challenge the system, the figure of the black male became more ambiguous and fearsome. And while this activism did have the positive effect of creating opportunities for the black middle class who fled from the ghettos, those who remained faced an increasingly desperate climate. Featuring a foreword by Cornel West and sixteen original essays by contributors including William Julius Wilson, Gerald D. Jaynes, Douglas S. Massey, and Peter Edelman, Against the Wall illustrates how social distance increases as alienation and marginalization within the black male underclass persist, thereby deepening the country's racial divide.

Contents:

Strong men keep a-comin on / Cornel West

pt. I. Facing the situation of young black men in inner cities : Against the wall: poor, young, black, and male / Elijah Anderson ; David's story: from promise to despair / Raymond Gunn ; Young, black, and male: the life history of an American drug dealer facing death row / Waverly Duck

pt. II. Structural analyses of joblessness among black youth : The economic plight of inner-city black males / William Julius Wilson ; Blacklisted: hiring discrimination in an era of mass incarceration / Devah Pager ; The effects of immigration on the economic position of young black males / Gerald D Jaynes ; Immigration and equal opportunity / Douglas S Massey

pt. III. Engaging urban youth in social institutions : Youth entrepreneurship training in the inner city: overcoming disadvantage, engaging youth in school / Luke Anderson ; Black male students and reflections on learning and teaching / L Janelle Dance ; Fighting like a ballplayer: basketball as a strategy against social disorganization / Scott N. Brooks ; "Tell us how it feels to be a problem": hip hop longings and poor young black men / Imani Perry

pt. IV. Social policy matters : Social issues lurking in the over-representation of young African American men in the expanding DNA databases / Troy Duster ; "You can take me outta the 'hood, but you can't take the 'hood outta me": youth incarceration and reentry / Jamie J. Fader ; Suicide patterns among black males / Sean Joe ; Why are handguns so accessible on urban streets? / David Kairys ; What do we do now? Toward a brighter future for young African American men / Peter Edelman.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-278) and index.

Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010.

Other Format:

Print version: Against the wall.

ISBN:

9780812206951

0812206959

OCLC:

802049519

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.