American apartheid: segregation and the making of the underclass

Douglas S Massey

Harvard University Press, 1993 - Social Science - 292 pages

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.

What people are saying

Review: American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass

User Review  - Eddy Allen - Goodreads

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 ...

Review: American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass

User Review  - Lucas - Goodreads

It's getting old, but this book is still depressingly accurate. Also, man, Chicago doesn't come out looking good. That hurt in some deeply personal, but probably healthy way and will likely continue to do so for a while. Great book.

Contents

• The Construction of the Ghetto: 17
• The Persistence of the Ghetto: 60
• The Continuing Causes of Segregation: 83
• The Creation of Underclass Communities: 115
• The Perpetuation of the Underclass: 148
• The Failure of Public Policy: 186
• The Future of the Ghetto 277: 217
• Notes: 239

About the author

Douglas S. Massey is Professor of Sociology and Director of Douglas S. Massey is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Population Research Center at the University of Chicago.the Population Research Center at the University of Chicago. Rafael Alarc n and Humberto Gonz lez are research investiga Rafael Alarc n and Humberto Gonz lez are research investigators in social anthropology at Mexican graduate institution tors in social anthropology at Mexican graduate institution of the Colegio de Jalisco, as is Jorge Durand at the Universof the Colegio de Jalisco, as is Jorge Durand at the Universidad de Guadelajara. idad de Guadelajara.

Bibliographic information

• Title: American apartheid: segregation and the making of the underclass
• Author: Douglas S Massey
• Contributor: Nancy A. Denton
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1993
• ISBN: 0674018214, 9780674018211
• Length: 292 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies