"must read" book - American Apartheid

[LOIE]

I am half way through reading “American Apatheid,” by Douglas S. Masey and Nancy A. Denton. It is so amazing I could not wait until the end to share this information. It explains for me many of the misconceptions and “single story” ideas people have expressed on this board. The first 5 chapters shared research that documents the ways in which the black ghetto was a creation and was used to hypersegregate black folks in the United States.

Here’s part of Chapter 6, “The Perpetuation of the Underclass”: If the black ghetto was deliberately constructed by whites through a series of private decisions and institutional practices, if racial discrimination persists at remarkably high levels in U.S. housing markets, (I will add here that folks claim that housing laws now make discrimination in housing illegal. The books suggests that while the laws do indeed exist, whites have found many ways around them and still discriminate in the ways in which houses and apartments are marketed, shown and financed.) If intensive residential segregation continues to be imposed on blacks by virtue of their skin color, and if segregation concentrates poverty to build a self-perpetuating spiral of decay into black neighborhoods, then a variety of deleterious consequences automatically follow for individual African Americans. In a segregated world, the deck is stacked against black socioeconomic progress, political empowerment, and full participation in the mainstream of American life.

In considering how individuals fare in the world, social scientists make a fundamental distinction between individual, family and structural characteristics. (This is something I think we often miss in our discussions. We tend to blame individuals). To a great extent, of course, a person’s success depends on individual traits such as motivation, intelligence, and especially education. Other things equal, those who are more highly motivated, smarter and better educated will be rewarded more highly in the labor market and will achieve greater socioeconomic success.

Other things generally are NOT equal, however, because individual traits such as motivation and education are strongly affected by family background. Parents who are themselves educated, motivated and economically successful tend to pass these traits on to their children. Children who enter the middle and upper classes through the accident of birth are more likely than other, equally intelligent children from other classes to acquire schooling, motivation and cultural knowledge required for socioeconomic success in contemporary society. Other aspects of family background, moreover, such as wealth and social connections, open the doors of opportunity irrespective of education or motivation.

Yet even when one adjusts for family background, other things are still NOT EQUAL, because the structural organization of society also plays a profound role in shaping the life chances of individuals. Structural variables are elements of social and economic organization that lie beyond individual control, that are built into the way society is organized. Structural characteristics affect the fate of large numbers of people and families who share common locations in the social order.

Among the most important structural variables are those that are geographically defined. Where one lives- especially, where one grows up – exerts a profound effect on one’s life chances. Because racial segregation confined blacks to a circumscribed and disadvantaged niche in the urban spatial order, if has profound consequences for individual and family well-being. In a market society such as the U.S., opportunities, resources and benefits are NOT DISTRIBUTED EVENLY ACROSS THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.

 

[irosie91]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

 

[Two Thumbs]

grats, you just figured out how the dnc keeps black people down.

 

[LOIE]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

That's pretty funny. Actually, I'm 66. I may have the enthusiasm of someone much younger though. Not new- just things I have suspected or known for years but have never read in such understandable, intellectual language. I love when I read something and can say, "Yep, that's right. I knew that, or "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

Interesting to me is IF everyone already knows these things - how can we continue to blame the victims of American Apartheid for the situation in which they find themselves? And how can we continue to call names and point fingers at anyone other than the creators and perpetrators of this system?

 

[LOIE]

grats, you just figured out how the dnc keeps black people down.

I don't believe that's an accurate statement. The book states that "the black ghetto was constructed by institutionalized discrimination in the real estate and banking industries, supported by widespread acts of private prejudice and discrimination. Rather than combating these forces of segregation, federal policies abetted them." It goes on to show that both political parties are at fault for having no interest in regulating markets or promoting racial equality in housing. Many laws that were passed were later watered down and made basically ineffective. "Although the country had its fair housing law, it was intentionally designed so that it would not and could not work.

"Feelings against fair housing legislation ran particularly high among southern Democrats, and many liberal northern legislators feared the wrath of ethnic, blue-collar constituents who strongly opposed granting blacks equal access to housing. Conservative Republicans, apart from any racist feelings they might have had, objected to governmental interference in housing markets on idealogical grounds."

"The fundamental dilemma of white America is that though it truly believes that housing markets should be fair and open, it equally truly does not want to live with black people. Thus the 1968 Fair Housing Act perfectly reflects the unresolved contradiction between white America's principles and its racial preferences; the act allowed the nation to go on record in support of the ideal of open housing, but it made sure that this goal was in no danger of being realized."

 

[Two Thumbs]

grats, you just figured out how the dnc keeps black people down.

I don't believe that's an accurate statement. The book states that "the black ghetto was constructed by institutionalized discrimination in the real estate and banking industries, supported by widespread acts of private prejudice and discrimination. Rather than combating these forces of segregation, federal policies abetted them." It goes on to show that both political parties are at fault for having no interest in regulating markets or promoting racial equality in housing. Many laws that were passed were later watered down and made basically ineffective. "Although the country had its fair housing law, it was intentionally designed so that it would not and could not work.

"Feelings against fair housing legislation ran particularly high among southern Democrats, and many liberal northern legislators feared the wrath of ethnic, blue-collar constituents who strongly opposed granting blacks equal access to housing. Conservative Republicans, apart from any racist feelings they might have had, objected to governmental interference in housing markets on idealogical grounds."

"The fundamental dilemma of white America is that though it truly believes that housing markets should be fair and open, it equally truly does not want to live with black people. Thus the 1968 Fair Housing Act perfectly reflects the unresolved contradiction between white America's principles and its racial preferences; the act allowed the nation to go on record in support of the ideal of open housing, but it made sure that this goal was in no danger of being realized."

the dnc controls education, keeping minorities ignorant
the dnc controls welfare, keeping minorities dependent and breaking families.

the cycle has been going on for decades.

 

[IM2]

I am half way through reading “American Apatheid,” by Douglas S. Masey and Nancy A. Denton. It is so amazing I could not wait until the end to share this information. It explains for me many of the misconceptions and “single story” ideas people have expressed on this board. The first 5 chapters shared research that documents the ways in which the black ghetto was a creation and was used to hypersegregate black folks in the United States.

Here’s part of Chapter 6, “The Perpetuation of the Underclass”: If the black ghetto was deliberately constructed by whites through a series of private decisions and institutional practices, if racial discrimination persists at remarkably high levels in U.S. housing markets, (I will add here that folks claim that housing laws now make discrimination in housing illegal. The books suggests that while the laws do indeed exist, whites have found many ways around them and still discriminate in the ways in which houses and apartments are marketed, shown and financed.) If intensive residential segregation continues to be imposed on blacks by virtue of their skin color, and if segregation concentrates poverty to build a self-perpetuating spiral of decay into black neighborhoods, then a variety of deleterious consequences automatically follow for individual African Americans. In a segregated world, the deck is stacked against black socioeconomic progress, political empowerment, and full participation in the mainstream of American life.

In considering how individuals fare in the world, social scientists make a fundamental distinction between individual, family and structural characteristics. (This is something I think we often miss in our discussions. We tend to blame individuals). To a great extent, of course, a person’s success depends on individual traits such as motivation, intelligence, and especially education. Other things equal, those who are more highly motivated, smarter and better educated will be rewarded more highly in the labor market and will achieve greater socioeconomic success.

Other things generally are NOT equal, however, because individual traits such as motivation and education are strongly affected by family background. Parents who are themselves educated, motivated and economically successful tend to pass these traits on to their children. Children who enter the middle and upper classes through the accident of birth are more likely than other, equally intelligent children from other classes to acquire schooling, motivation and cultural knowledge required for socioeconomic success in contemporary society. Other aspects of family background, moreover, such as wealth and social connections, open the doors of opportunity irrespective of education or motivation.

Yet even when one adjusts for family background, other things are still NOT EQUAL, because the structural organization of society also plays a profound role in shaping the life chances of individuals. Structural variables are elements of social and economic organization that lie beyond individual control, that are built into the way society is organized. Structural characteristics affect the fate of large numbers of people and families who share common locations in the social order.

Among the most important structural variables are those that are geographically defined. Where one lives- especially, where one grows up – exerts a profound effect on one’s life chances. Because racial segregation confined blacks to a circumscribed and disadvantaged niche in the urban spatial order, if has profound consequences for individual and family well-being. In a market society such as the U.S., opportunities, resources and benefits are NOT DISTRIBUTED EVENLY ACROSS THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.

Excellent post Delores. Unfortunately these people don't want to read this. They have ready made denials and smart assed comebacks for this because they are a bunch of ignorant white racist idiots who only want to maintain the white status quo.

 

[Two Thumbs]

I am half way through reading “American Apatheid,” by Douglas S. Masey and Nancy A. Denton. It is so amazing I could not wait until the end to share this information. It explains for me many of the misconceptions and “single story” ideas people have expressed on this board. The first 5 chapters shared research that documents the ways in which the black ghetto was a creation and was used to hypersegregate black folks in the United States.

Here’s part of Chapter 6, “The Perpetuation of the Underclass”: If the black ghetto was deliberately constructed by whites through a series of private decisions and institutional practices, if racial discrimination persists at remarkably high levels in U.S. housing markets, (I will add here that folks claim that housing laws now make discrimination in housing illegal. The books suggests that while the laws do indeed exist, whites have found many ways around them and still discriminate in the ways in which houses and apartments are marketed, shown and financed.) If intensive residential segregation continues to be imposed on blacks by virtue of their skin color, and if segregation concentrates poverty to build a self-perpetuating spiral of decay into black neighborhoods, then a variety of deleterious consequences automatically follow for individual African Americans. In a segregated world, the deck is stacked against black socioeconomic progress, political empowerment, and full participation in the mainstream of American life.

In considering how individuals fare in the world, social scientists make a fundamental distinction between individual, family and structural characteristics. (This is something I think we often miss in our discussions. We tend to blame individuals). To a great extent, of course, a person’s success depends on individual traits such as motivation, intelligence, and especially education. Other things equal, those who are more highly motivated, smarter and better educated will be rewarded more highly in the labor market and will achieve greater socioeconomic success.

Other things generally are NOT equal, however, because individual traits such as motivation and education are strongly affected by family background. Parents who are themselves educated, motivated and economically successful tend to pass these traits on to their children. Children who enter the middle and upper classes through the accident of birth are more likely than other, equally intelligent children from other classes to acquire schooling, motivation and cultural knowledge required for socioeconomic success in contemporary society. Other aspects of family background, moreover, such as wealth and social connections, open the doors of opportunity irrespective of education or motivation.

Yet even when one adjusts for family background, other things are still NOT EQUAL, because the structural organization of society also plays a profound role in shaping the life chances of individuals. Structural variables are elements of social and economic organization that lie beyond individual control, that are built into the way society is organized. Structural characteristics affect the fate of large numbers of people and families who share common locations in the social order.

Among the most important structural variables are those that are geographically defined. Where one lives- especially, where one grows up – exerts a profound effect on one’s life chances. Because racial segregation confined blacks to a circumscribed and disadvantaged niche in the urban spatial order, if has profound consequences for individual and family well-being. In a market society such as the U.S., opportunities, resources and benefits are NOT DISTRIBUTED EVENLY ACROSS THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.

Excellent post Delores. Unfortunately these people don't want to read this. They have ready made denials and smart assed comebacks for this because they are a bunch of ignorant white racist idiots who only want to maintain the white status quo.

someone else that grasps the dnc agenda on minorities.

 

[irosie91]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

That's pretty funny. Actually, I'm 66. I may have the enthusiasm of someone much younger though. Not new- just things I have suspected or known for years but have never read in such understandable, intellectual language. I love when I read something and can say, "Yep, that's right. I knew that, or "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

Interesting to me is IF everyone already knows these things - how can we continue to blame the victims of American Apartheid for the situation in which they find themselves? And how can we continue to call names and point fingers at anyone other than the creators and perpetrators of this system?

same answer------you have stumbled onto something that you IMAGINE is new

 

[LOIE]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

That's pretty funny. Actually, I'm 66. I may have the enthusiasm of someone much younger though. Not new- just things I have suspected or known for years but have never read in such understandable, intellectual language. I love when I read something and can say, "Yep, that's right. I knew that, or "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

Interesting to me is IF everyone already knows these things - how can we continue to blame the victims of American Apartheid for the situation in which they find themselves? And how can we continue to call names and point fingers at anyone other than the creators and perpetrators of this system?

same answer------you have stumbled onto something that you IMAGINE is new

Did you actually read my words - not new. How can you possibly know what I imagine? I write what I believe and you are free to agree, disagree, understand, misunderstand. But I try to make my words very clear.

 

[LOIE]

I am half way through reading “American Apatheid,” by Douglas S. Masey and Nancy A. Denton. It is so amazing I could not wait until the end to share this information. It explains for me many of the misconceptions and “single story” ideas people have expressed on this board. The first 5 chapters shared research that documents the ways in which the black ghetto was a creation and was used to hypersegregate black folks in the United States.

Here’s part of Chapter 6, “The Perpetuation of the Underclass”: If the black ghetto was deliberately constructed by whites through a series of private decisions and institutional practices, if racial discrimination persists at remarkably high levels in U.S. housing markets, (I will add here that folks claim that housing laws now make discrimination in housing illegal. The books suggests that while the laws do indeed exist, whites have found many ways around them and still discriminate in the ways in which houses and apartments are marketed, shown and financed.) If intensive residential segregation continues to be imposed on blacks by virtue of their skin color, and if segregation concentrates poverty to build a self-perpetuating spiral of decay into black neighborhoods, then a variety of deleterious consequences automatically follow for individual African Americans. In a segregated world, the deck is stacked against black socioeconomic progress, political empowerment, and full participation in the mainstream of American life.

In considering how individuals fare in the world, social scientists make a fundamental distinction between individual, family and structural characteristics. (This is something I think we often miss in our discussions. We tend to blame individuals). To a great extent, of course, a person’s success depends on individual traits such as motivation, intelligence, and especially education. Other things equal, those who are more highly motivated, smarter and better educated will be rewarded more highly in the labor market and will achieve greater socioeconomic success.

Other things generally are NOT equal, however, because individual traits such as motivation and education are strongly affected by family background. Parents who are themselves educated, motivated and economically successful tend to pass these traits on to their children. Children who enter the middle and upper classes through the accident of birth are more likely than other, equally intelligent children from other classes to acquire schooling, motivation and cultural knowledge required for socioeconomic success in contemporary society. Other aspects of family background, moreover, such as wealth and social connections, open the doors of opportunity irrespective of education or motivation.

Yet even when one adjusts for family background, other things are still NOT EQUAL, because the structural organization of society also plays a profound role in shaping the life chances of individuals. Structural variables are elements of social and economic organization that lie beyond individual control, that are built into the way society is organized. Structural characteristics affect the fate of large numbers of people and families who share common locations in the social order.

Among the most important structural variables are those that are geographically defined. Where one lives- especially, where one grows up – exerts a profound effect on one’s life chances. Because racial segregation confined blacks to a circumscribed and disadvantaged niche in the urban spatial order, if has profound consequences for individual and family well-being. In a market society such as the U.S., opportunities, resources and benefits are NOT DISTRIBUTED EVENLY ACROSS THE URBAN LANDSCAPE.

Excellent post Delores. Unfortunately these people don't want to read this. They have ready made denials and smart assed comebacks for this because they are a bunch of ignorant white racist idiots who only want to maintain the white status quo.

It's an excellent book. Just finished it last night. I find it very sad that so many things in this country could be so much better if things had been handled differently, and if the welfare of ALL Americans had always been the most important issue.

 

[LOIE]

grats, you just figured out how the dnc keeps black people down.

I don't believe that's an accurate statement. The book states that "the black ghetto was constructed by institutionalized discrimination in the real estate and banking industries, supported by widespread acts of private prejudice and discrimination. Rather than combating these forces of segregation, federal policies abetted them." It goes on to show that both political parties are at fault for having no interest in regulating markets or promoting racial equality in housing. Many laws that were passed were later watered down and made basically ineffective. "Although the country had its fair housing law, it was intentionally designed so that it would not and could not work.

"Feelings against fair housing legislation ran particularly high among southern Democrats, and many liberal northern legislators feared the wrath of ethnic, blue-collar constituents who strongly opposed granting blacks equal access to housing. Conservative Republicans, apart from any racist feelings they might have had, objected to governmental interference in housing markets on idealogical grounds."

"The fundamental dilemma of white America is that though it truly believes that housing markets should be fair and open, it equally truly does not want to live with black people. Thus the 1968 Fair Housing Act perfectly reflects the unresolved contradiction between white America's principles and its racial preferences; the act allowed the nation to go on record in support of the ideal of open housing, but it made sure that this goal was in no danger of being realized."

the dnc controls education, keeping minorities ignorant
the dnc controls welfare, keeping minorities dependent and breaking families.

the cycle has been going on for decades.

So the RNC has no role in any of this?

 

[irosie91]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

That's pretty funny. Actually, I'm 66. I may have the enthusiasm of someone much younger though. Not new- just things I have suspected or known for years but have never read in such understandable, intellectual language. I love when I read something and can say, "Yep, that's right. I knew that, or "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

Interesting to me is IF everyone already knows these things - how can we continue to blame the victims of American Apartheid for the situation in which they find themselves? And how can we continue to call names and point fingers at anyone other than the creators and perpetrators of this system?

oh----ok ----you missed the major works on the issue that were read by people like me way back in the
1960s It's old stuff-------why are you and yours still "pointing fingers"? You missed that stuff?

 

[LOIE]

ok-------you are somewhere between age 19 and 20 and imagine you have STUMBLED on something
NEW

That's pretty funny. Actually, I'm 66. I may have the enthusiasm of someone much younger though. Not new- just things I have suspected or known for years but have never read in such understandable, intellectual language. I love when I read something and can say, "Yep, that's right. I knew that, or "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

Interesting to me is IF everyone already knows these things - how can we continue to blame the victims of American Apartheid for the situation in which they find themselves? And how can we continue to call names and point fingers at anyone other than the creators and perpetrators of this system?

oh----ok ----you missed the major works on the issue that were read by people like me way back in the
1960s It's old stuff-------why are you and yours still "pointing fingers"? You missed that stuff?

Maybe because the problems still exist.

 

[Two Thumbs]

grats, you just figured out how the dnc keeps black people down.

I don't believe that's an accurate statement. The book states that "the black ghetto was constructed by institutionalized discrimination in the real estate and banking industries, supported by widespread acts of private prejudice and discrimination. Rather than combating these forces of segregation, federal policies abetted them." It goes on to show that both political parties are at fault for having no interest in regulating markets or promoting racial equality in housing. Many laws that were passed were later watered down and made basically ineffective. "Although the country had its fair housing law, it was intentionally designed so that it would not and could not work.

"Feelings against fair housing legislation ran particularly high among southern Democrats, and many liberal northern legislators feared the wrath of ethnic, blue-collar constituents who strongly opposed granting blacks equal access to housing. Conservative Republicans, apart from any racist feelings they might have had, objected to governmental interference in housing markets on idealogical grounds."

"The fundamental dilemma of white America is that though it truly believes that housing markets should be fair and open, it equally truly does not want to live with black people. Thus the 1968 Fair Housing Act perfectly reflects the unresolved contradiction between white America's principles and its racial preferences; the act allowed the nation to go on record in support of the ideal of open housing, but it made sure that this goal was in no danger of being realized."

the dnc controls education, keeping minorities ignorant
the dnc controls welfare, keeping minorities dependent and breaking families.

the cycle has been going on for decades.

So the RNC has no role in any of this?

blacks and most other minorities live in cities, the dnc dominates most, if not nearly all cities.

in small towns, people live where they can afford.

so no, the rnc input is incidental and not part of a generations old plan that has seen great success for them.

blacks vote for the same party that destroyed their schools and keep them destroyed, they vote for the people that gave them welfare and become violent at the idea that someone might take it from them.

seriously, it's as clear as day.