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URPL-GP 2620 – Race, Ethnicity & Class in American Cities
ROBERT F. WAGNER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE
Spring 2016
Angela Glover Blackwell
Course Meetings: From 9 am-1:00 pm on January 29, February 19, February 26, March 11, March 25,
and April 8
Location: WAVE 433
Faculty Contact Information:
Email: agb7@nyu.edu
Office Hours: From 1:30-3:00 pm on January 29, February 19, February 26, March 11, and March 25
Office Hours Location: Puck 3045 (Adjunct Office)
Course Description:
As America bolts toward becoming a majority people of color nation, dozens of cities are already there.
This urban transformation is occurring against the backdrop of rising inequality and persistent racial
inequity. The resulting friction sometimes overshadows, and in the long run threatens to undermine, the
incredible opportunities afforded by the resurgence of cities. To maintain their competitive advantage,
cities will have to address the following tough questions.
 Who benefits from the investments?
 Who gets to live in dense neighborhoods rich in culture and opportunity?
 How do we open up opportunity to everyone?
To answer these questions, we need fresh thinking about job creation, education, housing, economic
development and everything that makes cities tick. At the same time, we need to lift up groundbreaking
local efforts that are beginning to fuse the achievement of racial equity and the creation of 21st century
cities. This course examines how cities can meet these challenges through policy interventions.
Central Questions:
1. How do shifting race, ethnic, and age demographics impact cities?
2. What challenges are associated with these changes? Do they differ from city to city?
3. Can effectively addressing the issues of those being left behind benefit the entire metropolitan
area?
4. How can various sectors (public, private, labor, philanthropy) work together to shape
communities of opportunity across the nation?
Grading Policy:
Wagner's grading scale is as follows: A/4.0, A-/3.7, B+/3.3, B/3.0, B-/2.7, C+/2.3, C/2.0, C-/1.7, and F/0.
For more information, please visit https://wagner.nyu.edu/adjunct/files/gradingGuidelines.pdf
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Participation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Attendance, Punctuality and Class Participation: 20%
Metropolitan Profile: 30%
Policy Brief Outline: 5%
Policy Brief: 30%
Op-Ed: 15%
Attendance Policy:
Since this class is compressed, the quality of your class experience (and your grade) depends on you
attending all six sessions. If you are unable to attend, please email me before the class with an
explanation.
Late Assignment Policy:
Extensions will be granted only in case of emergency. Late submissions without extensions will be
penalized ½ letter grade per day (B+ to B, e.g.).
Academic Honesty:
This course follows NYU’s policy on plagiarism and cheating. All exams and assignments must be the sole
work of the individual student. Violations of these standards will automatically result in all participating
students failing the course and being remanded to the discipline committee for further action.
For more information, please review the Wagner School Academic Code at
https://wagner.nyu.edu/students/policies/academic-code#sec-B1.
Background Texts:
Required:
Hartman, Chester, ed. 2014. America's Growing Inequality: The Impact of Poverty and Race. Lanham,
MD: Lexington Books.
Jacobs, Jane. 1992. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Choose two additional texts:
Blackwell, Angela Glover, Stewart Kwoh and Manuel Pastor. 2010. Uncommon Common Ground: Race
and America's Future. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Ltd.
Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton. 1993. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the
Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lipsitz, George. 2011. How Racism Takes Place. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Benner, Chris and Manuel Pastor. 2012. Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America's Metropolitan
Regions (Regions and Cities) (1st Edition). New York, NY: Routledge.
Other Suggested Reading:
Dreier, Peter, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom. 2013. Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twentyfirst Century (2nd Revised Edition). University Press of Kansas.
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Course Outline by Session:
Readings should be completed BEFORE the class for which they are listed.
Class 1 - January 29
PART 1: THINKING ABOUT RACE, ETHNICITY AND CITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Readings:
Hartman, Chester, ed. 2014. America's Growing Inequality: The Impact of Poverty and Race. Lanham,
MD: Lexington Books. Pgs. 25-31; 186-190.
Pulido, Laura and Manuel Pastor. 2013. “Where in the World Is Juan—and What Color Is He?: The
Geography of Latina/o Racial Identity in Southern California” from American Quarterly. [added to NYU
Classes]
powell, john. 2012. Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an
Inclusive Society. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Chapter 4.
Masuoka, Natalie. 2011. “The “Multiracial” Option: Social Group Identity and Changing Patterns of Racial
Categorization” from American Politics Research. [added to NYU Classes]
Gopnik, Adam. Oct 5, 2015. “Naked Cities: The death and life of urban America” in The New Yorker.
2015. “All-In Cities: Building an Equitable Economy from the Ground Up” by PolicyLink.
2013. “The Business Case for Racial Equity” by Ani Turner/Altarum Institute and W.K. Kellogg
Foundation.
Griffin, Tony L., Ariella Cohen, and David Maddox, eds. 2015. The Just City Essays: 26 Visions for Urban
Equity, Inclusivity and Opportunity. Published by the J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City at
The City College of New York, Next City and The Nature of Cities. Pgs. 57-58; 62-63.
PART 2: USING DATA TO SHAPE NARRATIVE
Guest Speaker (via Skype): Sarah Treuhaft, Director of Equitable Growth Initiatives, PolicyLink
Readings:
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & the Urban Institute, eds. 2014. What Counts: Harnessing Data
for America’s Communities. Pgs. 260-270; 296-317.
Treuhaft, Sarah. 2015. “Merging Data and Story to Win More Equitable Policies.” Blog post on NTEN.org.
Suggested Readings:
Florida, Richard. Jan 27, 2015. “The Striking Decline in African-American Household Mobility” in Citylab.
Teaford, Jon. 2000. “Urban Renewal and Its Aftermath” from Housing Policy Debate, Volume 11, Issue 2.
Please take a few minutes to explore:
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2)
3)
4)
The National Equity Atlas: http://nationalequityatlas.org/
PolicyLink Equity Tools: http://www.policylink.org/equity-tools
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership: http://neighborhoodindicators.org/
Community Indicators Consortium: http://communityindicators.net/
February 12
**PART 1 OF METROPOLITAN PROFILE DUE**
Class 2 - February 19
PART 1: HOUSING POLICY
Guest Speaker: Erika Poethig, Institute Fellow and Director of Urban Policy Initiatives, Urban Institute
Readings:
How did we get here? A legacy of housing discrimination and its consequences:
Ta-Nehisi Coates. 2014. “A Case for Reparations,” in The Atlantic.
Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton. 1993. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the
Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapter 2.
Sharkey, Patrick. 2013. Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress toward Racial
Equality. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Chapters 2 and 4.
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing:
Read up on the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule in the federal register.
Blackwell, Angela Glover. 2015. “ How Obama’s New Housing Rules Help Fight Modern-Day
Segregation.” Op-Ed in The Nation.
Poethig, Erika, and Solomon Greene. 2015. “Creating places of opportunity: HUD’s new data- and
community-driven approach.” Urban Institute.
HUD, federal housing programs, and future of housing:
HUD at 50: Creating Pathways to Opportunity:
Chapter 2: Race, Poverty, and Federal Rental Housing Policy
Chapter 5: Poverty and Vulnerable Populations
Chapter 6: Housing Policy and Demographic Change
Margery, Turner and Tomas Kinglsey. 2008. “Federal Programs for Addressing Low-Income Housing
Needs.” Urban Institute.
Suggested Readings:
Semuels, Alana. Feb 3, 2015. “Is Ending Segregation the Key to Ending Poverty?” in The Atlantic.
Mapping America’s Rental Crisis. Urban Institute, 2015.
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Jordan, Reed, and Erika Poethig. 2015. “How to Keep Affordable Housing in High-Opportunity
Neighborhoods.” Urban Institute.
PART 2: TRANSPORTATION POLICY
Guest Speaker: Anita Hairston, Associate Director, PolicyLink
Readings:
“How We Move” (Pgs. 10-41) from Beyond Traffic 2045: Trends and Choices, US Department of
Transportation.
Foxx, Anthony. Sep/Oct 2015. “Reconnecting America in the 21st Century” in the Aspen Journal of Ideas.
Review the 2014 report and case studies by Living Cities: Can Shared Mobility Help Low-Income People
Access Opportunity?
Marcantonio, Richard A. and Alex Karner. Jan/Feb 2014. “Disadvantaged Communities Teach Regional
Planners a Lesson in Equitable and Sustainable Development” in Poverty & Race.
Hairston, Anita. Nov/Dec 2014. “Transportation as a Bridge to Opportunity for All” in the Aspen Journal
of Ideas.
Blackwell, Angela Glover. 2014. “Public Transit: The Road to Opportunity” Blog post on The Huffington
Post.
Perspectives on Advancing Economic and Social Equity in Federal Transportation Policy: Briefing papers
for the 10/25/12 Forum of the Equity Caucus at Transportation for America.
Class 3 - February 26
**PART 2 OF METROPOLITAN PROFILE DUE**
EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT
Guest Speaker: Fred Blackwell, CEO, The San Francisco Foundation
Readings:
Lipsitz, George. 2011. How Racism Takes Place. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Chapter 3
(Space, Sports, and Spectatorship in St. Louis).
Gross, Julian, Greg LeRoy and Madeline Janis-Aparicio. 2005. “Community Benefits Agreements: Making
Development Projects Accountable” by Good Jobs First and the California Partnership for Working
Families.
Gross, Julian. “Community Benefits Agreements.” Building Healthy Communities: A Guide to Community
Economic Development for Advocates, Lawyers, and Policymakers. Clay Jr., Roger and Susan R. Jones,
eds. American Bar Association Publishing. 2010. Chapter 13. Added to Folders on NYU Classes.
Excerpt from an in-depth grad student research report on the Hunters Point Shipyard Project in San
Francisco. Chapter 4 (pgs. 40-52). Excerpt Added to Folders on NYU Classes—please read pgs. 40-52.
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Class 4 - March 11
PART 1: EDUCATION AND IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR BOYS AND MEN OF COLOR
Readings:
2009. “Whatever It Takes: A White Paper on the Harlem Children’s Zone” by Harlem Children’s Zone.
Blackwell, Angela Glover and Manuel Pastor. “Let’s Hear It for the Boys: Building a Stronger America by
Investing in Young Men and Boys of Color.” Changing Places. Edley Jr., Christopher and Jorge Ruiz de
Velasco, eds. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 2010. Pgs. 3-35.
Wolfers, Justin, David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy. Apr 20, 2015. “1.5 Million Missing Black Men” in The
New York Times.
Suggested Readings:
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. 2015. Between the World and Me. New York, NY: Spiegel & Grau.
Canada, Geoffrey. 2010. Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Tough, Paul. 2008. Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. New
York, NY: Houghton Miffling Harcourt
PART 2: CRIMINAL JUSTICE: RACE, INCARCERATION AND POLICE REFORM
Guest Speaker: James Bell, Founder, Executive Director & Board President, W. Haywood Burns Institute
for Youth Justice Fairness & Equity
Readings:
Alexander, Michelle. 2010. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New
York, NY: The New Press. Chapters 3 and 5.
Goffman, Alice. 2014. On The Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. Chicago, IL: The University of
Chicago Press. Chapters 1 and 7.
“Repairing the Breach: A Brief History of Youth of Color in the Justice System” by James Bell (W.
Haywood Burns Institute for Youth Justice Fairness & Equity)
Review the four briefs on Community-Centered Policing by PolicyLink and Advancement Project.
Suggested Readings:
Nov 13, 2015. “California's Prison Experiment” Op-Ed in The New York Times.
Schiraldi, Vincent. Nov 10, 2015. “What Mass Incarceration Looks Like for Juveniles” Op-Ed in The New
York Times.
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Class 5 - March 25
**POLICY BRIEF OUTLINE DUE**
PART 1: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Panel of Guest Speakers:
1) Brad Lander, Council Member, City of New York (Brooklyn’s 39th District)
2) Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
3) Dawn Phillips, Co-Director of Programs, Causa Justa :: Just Cause
Readings:
Causa Justa :: Just Cause's Organizing Model Document. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Causa Justa :: Just Cause's "The 3 C's". Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Causa Justa :: Just Cause's "Community Stabilization Graphic". Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Mann, Eric. 2010. The 7 Components of Transformative Organizing Theory. Los Angeles, CA: Frontlines
Press. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Morello-Frosch, Rachel, Manuel Pastor, James Sadd and Seth B. Shonkoff. 2009. “The Climate Gap:
Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap.”
Bullard, Robert and Glenn Johnson. Dec 1999. “Environmental Justice: Grassroots Activism and Its
Impact on Public Policy Decision Making” in the Journal of Social Issues. Added to Resources on NYU
Classes.
Suggested Readings:
“From the Base: Revolutionary Left Community Organizing in the U.S.” by Josh Warren-White. Added to
Resources on NYU Classes.
“Development without Displacement: Resisting Gentrification in the Bay Area” by Causa Justa :: Just
Cause. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Bullard, Robert. 2007. Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and
Regional Equity. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Pastor, Manuel, Jennifer Ito and Rhonda Ortiz. 2010. “Connecting at the Crossroads: Alliance Building
and Social Change in Tough Times.”
PART 2: INFLUENCING POLICY THROUGH THE MEDIA
Guest Speaker: Milly Hawk Daniel, Vice President for Communications, PolicyLink
Readings:
Haney-Lopez, Ian and Heather McGee. Jan 28, 2016. “How Populists Like Bernie Sanders Should Talk
About Racism” in The Nation.
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Blackwell, Angela Glover and Andrew Friedman. 2015. “Calling all mayors: This is what police reform
should look like.” Op-Ed in The Hill.
Blackwell, Angela Glover and Wade Henderson. 2015. “How better transportation can fight income
inequality.” Op-Ed in The Hill.
Pastor, Manuel. 2014. “Are Latinos Really Turning White?” Op-Ed in The Huffington Post.
Blackwell, Angela Glover and Mary Kay Henry. 2013. “Don’t Pull Up the Ladder.” Op-Ed in The Huffington
Post.
Class 6 - April 8
PART 1: COLLECTIVE IMPACT AND THE PROMISE NEIGHBORHOODS MOVEMENT
Guest Speaker: Michael McAfee, Vice President for Programs, PolicyLink
Readings:
2015. “Equity: The Soul of Collective Impact” by Michael McAfee, Angela Glover Blackwell, and Judith
Bell (PolicyLink)
Kania, John and Mark Kramer. 2011. “Collective Impact” from Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter
2011). Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
2010. “The Results-Based Accountability Guide” by the Results Leadership Group. Added to Resources
on NYU Classes.
PNI Mission and Vision. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Federal Promise Neighborhoods Results and Indicators. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Fact Sheet: Promise Neighborhoods: A Comprehensive Approach to Expanding Opportunity for All
Children. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Infographic: COLLECTIVE IMPACT IN ACTION: Improving Results for Children from Cradle to Career: How
the Promise Neighborhoods Movement Achieves Collective Impact. Added to Resources on NYU Classes.
Suggested Readings:
2014. “Collective Impact for Policymakers: Working Together for Children and Youth” by the Forum for
Youth Investment.
Review materials in ‘Promise Neighborhoods Institute – Supplementary Readings’ folder. Added to
Resources on NYU Classes.
Heifetz, Ronald and Marty Linsky. 2002. Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of
Leading. Harvard Business School Press.
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PART 2: OPEN DISCUSSION WITH PROF. BLACKWELL
No Readings
April 29
**POLICY BRIEF DUE**
**OP-ED DUE*
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