
Corporate employment has relocated to
America’s suburban communities, over two
thirds of employment growth in Metropolitan
areas has occurred in suburbs, many residents
inner-city ghettos have become physically
isolated from places employment and socially
isolated from informal job networks, essential
for job placement; growing suburban nation of
jobs means labor markets today are mainly
regional, and long commutes and automobiles
are common among blue-collar as well as
white-collar workers. “Those who cannot
afford to own, operate, and ensure private
automobile new between inner-city
neighborhoods and suburban job locations
because a Herculean effort. “

For example research conducted in Chicago
inner-city ghetto areas revealed that only 19%
of residents have access to an automobile
(26) public opinion polls in the United States
routinely reflect the notion that people are
poor and jobless because of their own
shortcomings or inadequacies

Few people would have reflected on how
larger forces in society – segregation,
discrimination, lack of economic
opportunity, then public schools –
adversely affect inner-city poor. Katrina
was clearly natural disaster beyond control
of inner-city poor, Americans were much
more sympathetic. In this Katrina turned
out to be something a bit cruel natural
experiment, wherein better off Americans
could readily see effects of racial isolation
and chronic economic subordination

For example Boston welfare recipients found that
only 14% of entry-level jobs in fast growth areas
of Boston Metropolitan region could be accessed
via public transit in less than an hour. In Atlanta
metropolitan area, fewer than half entry-level
jobs are located within a quarter-mile of the
public transit system. To make matters worse
many inner-city residents lack information about
suburban job opportunities. In segregated innercity ghettos breakdown of informal job
information network magnifies the problems of
job spatial mismatch notion that working people
are located in two different places (10)

Not until the 1960s that the FHA discontinued
mortgage restrictions based on racial
composition of neighborhood. Subsequent
policy decisions were to try blocks in these
increasingly unattractive inner cities.
Beginning in 1950s suburbanization of
middle-class, already underway with
government subsidized loans to veterans, was
aided further by federal transportation and
highway policies, which included building a
freeway networks through hearts of many
cities. Although these policies were seemingly
nonracial, online here between ostensibly
nonracial and explicitly racial is grey.

For example we might ask whether such
freeways would also be constructed
through wealthier white neighborhoods
(29) the freeways had a devastating impact
on neighborhoods of black Americans.
These developments not only spur
relocation from cities to suburbs among
better off residence, the freeways
themselves “creating barriers between
sections of the cities, walling off poor and
minority neighborhoods from central
business districts.”

Government policies like mortgages for
veterans and mortgage interest tax
exemptions for developers enable the quick,
cheap production of massive amounts of
tract housing. Although these policies appear
to be nonracial, they facilitated exodus of
white working and middle-class families
from urban neighborhoods and indirectly
contributed to growth of segregated
neighborhoods with high concentrations of
poverty (30)

Effect of housing market incentives is
mass-produced suburban Levittown
neighborhoods that were first erected in
New York and later in Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, and Puerto Ricans, by Levitt and
Sons. The homes of these neighborhoods
were manufactured on a large scale with
an assembly line model production and
carefully engineered suburban
neighborhoods that included many public
amenities such as shopping centers and
space for public schools.

New York City’s state aid dropped from 52% of
its budget in 1980 to 32% in 1989 – resulting
in a loss of 4 billion. Policy that is nonracial on
the surface – although it coincided with
changes in proportion of white and nonwhite
urban residents – but nonetheless have
indirectly contributed to crystallization of
inner-city ghetto. Declining federal support for
cities since 1981 coincided with increase in
immigration people from poorer countries –
mainly low skilled workers from Mexico;

One study found that more than 70% of black
children were raised in poorest quarter of American
neighborhoods will continue to live in poorest
quarter neighborhood as adults. Also found that
since 1970s majority of black families have resided
in poorest quarter neighborhoods in consecutive
generations, compared to only 7% of white families.
Conclusions are that disadvantage in living in poor
black neighborhoods, like advantages of living in an
affluent, white neighborhoods, are in large measure
inherited (52).


Steady migration of whites to suburbs. With
minorities displacing whites as a growing
share of Central city population, implications
for urban taxbase; In 2000 median annual
household income for Latinos is about
$14,000 less than that of white households.
(36) Financial crisis left cities ill equipped to
handle three devastating health problems:




1) Prevalence of drug trafficking and associated
violent crimes
2) AIDS epidemic and its escalating public health
costs;
3) rise in homeless population not only of
individuals, but of whole families.
4) Declining Real Wages- after adjusting for
inflation current federal minimum wage of
$6.55 is 24% lower than average level of
minimum wage in the 1960s, 23% lower than
the 1970s, 6% lower than 1980s, and only 1%
higher than in 1990s(38).

Research suggests that concentrated poverty
increases likelihood of social isolation (for
mainstream institutions), joblessness, dropping
out of school, lower educational achievement,
involvement in crime, unsuccessful behavioral
development and delinquency among
adolescents, non-marital childbirth, and
unsuccessful family management. In general
research reveals that concentrated poverty
adversely affects one’s chances in life,
beginning in early childhood and adolescence.

From a 1970s through early 1990s, AfricanAmericans were just as likely as workers from other
racial and ethnic groups to have manufacturing
jobs. Since early 1990s, black workers have lost
considerable ground in manufacturing. By 2007,
blacks are about 15% less likely than other workers
to have a job in manufacturing (70). From 1983 to
2007 proportion of all African-American workers
either in unions or represented by union at
employment site dropped considerably, from 31.7
to 15.7%.


Among black male high school dropouts risk of
imprisonment has increased to 60%, establishing
incarceration as a normal stopping point on route to
midlife. Research shows that as many as 30% of all
civilian young adult black males ages 16 to 34 are exoffenders;
Joblessness can encourage illegal moneymaking
activities in order to make ends meet, increases risks
of incarceration. Upon release from incarceration, a
prison record carries a stigma and eyes of employers
and decreases probability that ex- offender will be
hired, resulting in a greater likelihood of even more
intractable joblessness (72).


Instead of looking at attitudes, norms, values,
habits, and worldviews, all indications of cultural
orientations, we focus on joblessness, low
socioeconomic status, and underperforming
public schools – in short, structural factors
Orland Patterson’s students visited the former
high school to discover why “all black girls
graduated college where is nearly all black boys
either failed to graduate did not go on to
college.” The distressing findings that all black
boys were fully aware of consequences of failing
to graduate from high school and college.
(They’d indignantly exclaimed, “were not stupid!”


Hanging out on street after school, sexual
conquests, party drugs, hip-hop music and
culture.” Promote models of behavior in lower
class neighborhoods, featuring gangster rap,
predatory sexuality, and irresponsible
fathering.
Attitudes and behaviors valorizing kind of
“footloose fatherhood” passed down to
younger generations.

Lawrence Mead asserts that difficulties lacks
experience in labor markets are due in large
measure of cultures of defeatism and resistance
whenever blacks confront difficulties in finding
jobs – for example, obtaining reliable
transportation to and from work. He contends
that blacks give up in face of such difficulties and
tend to place blame on the unique circumstances
or actions of others in larger society for their
employment woes, including discrimination by
employers, wait for others to initiate action that
would improve their situation.

He contends is his failure to assume
personal responsibility stems from deeply
internalized feelings of helplessness rooted
in slavery, as a result of a “paradoxical
reliance on oppressor to undo oppression,”
and passed on from generation to
generation


Katherine Newman reveals that young, low-wage
workers in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood not
only adhere to mainstream values regarding work, and
also tend to have low skilled, low-wage, dead-end jobs.
Wilson’s research revealed many young black males that
are his repeated failures in a job search, had given up
hope, and therefore no longer bother to look for work.
This discouragement has some parallels with Mead, but
research pointed to negative employer attitudes and
actions toward low skilled black males. Repeated failure
results in resignation and development of cultural
attitudes that discourage pursuit of steady employment
in formal labor market.

Wilson’s large random survey black residents in
inner-city revealed that despite overwhelming
joblessness and poverty around them, black
residents spoke in support of basic American
values concerning individual initiative. Nearly all
black people questioned felt plain hard work is
either very important or somewhat important for
getting ahead. A substantial majority agree that
America is a land of opportunity where anybody
can get ahead, and individuals pretty much get
what they deserve (84)


Mismatch theory – increasing distance between
jobs located on Metropolitan periphery and
minorities located at economically decaying center
produce structural unemployment and higher
levels of poverty; Galster (1997) decline in high
wage low skilled manufacturing jobs and a growth
in both low – and highway service sector jobs.
Stoll and Raphael( 2000) job searches anchored by
residential location; whites lived in closer proximity
to growing suburbs that were generating job rich
environment

Spatial search barriers important source of
observed racial differences in employment
outcomes; minorities disadvantaged by
mismatch of residential concentration and job
location; poverty level 10% associated with
departure of retailers and service trades,
furniture, realtors, medical offices(299)

White women headed a larger absolute
number of single families, Black and Latina
women proportionally were more likely to
head single-parent families, which are also
more likely to be in poverty; women are
burdened by cultural and legal conventions
forcing them to ashim him him himsume
primary responsibility for raising children.
Only 5% of never married mothers receive any
form of financial support from fathers of their
children;

In 2007 40% of all births were to unmarried
women and teens. 28% of white births were to
unmarried mothers, as were 51% of Hispanic
and 72% of black births; Edin and Kefala
(2005) studies Philadelphia/New Jersey area –
children of unmarried mothers do more
poorly in school and out lowers high school
completion rates, are more likely to become
teenage parents, and have lower earnings as
adults, but the poor still valued institution of
marriage;

To most middle-class observers… A poor
woman with child but no husband, diploma,
or job is victim of her own
circumstances/undeniable proof that
American society is coming apart at the
seams (307). Wilhelm (1986) summed up
thinking about race: racial factors no longer
matters since its specific quality-of-life
among blacks, family disintegration, that they
themselves bring about that explains
economic deterioration;

Powerlessness. – as minorities gain control
local government, areas governed no longer
constrained resources that allow them to be
maintained and operated units. Cities of
high-profile minority representation and
minority mayors, have a harder time to
delivering do to it is been called “hollow
prize” problem- minority mayors assume
power in cities emptied of affluent
populations, businesses, and tax bases
provide means for paying for services


As city size increases, crime increases. Urban
crime concentrated in small number of areas
within city, characterized by high levels of
poverty, unemployment, substandard
housing, teenage pregnancy, drug use (316).
“Broken windows” theory – toleration of minor
offenses such as loitering, graffiti, or other
destructive acts invites more serious breaches
of norms of public order.

Broken windows that go unprepared send message
to would-be perpetrators of more serious deviants
the local area is tolerant of misbehavior.
Philosophy fostered policy of “zero tolerance,”
employed in New York City under Mayor Rudy
Giuliani; precincts have made a higher number of
misdemeanor arrests experienced greatest
reduction in rates of violent crime. Aggressive
misdemeanor arrests followed by decrease in rate
of more serious crimes of motor vehicle theft and
robbery