Massey, Douglas S., and Nancy A. Denton. [1993] 2005. "American Apartheid". Pp. 366-372 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Taking an objective approach, Massey and Denton identify what they deem the most important factor in understanding race relations and the persistence of racial inequality: residential segregation. Once the most commonly cited explanation by sociologists, the separation of black and white neighborhoods was the basis for numerous studies and the eventual Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, and its resultant school desegregation programs. Following this decision and the passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), and the Fair Housing Act (1968), many politicians declared the problem was solved, civil rights leaders stopped pressing for reforms, and the term "segregation" fell into disuse.
Showing posts with label progress myth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label progress myth. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Excerpt: Caring for Our Young: Child Care in Europe and the United States
Clawson, Dan, and Naomi Gerstel. [2002] 2005. "Caring for Our Young: Child Care in Europe and the United States". Pp. 263-270 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Clawson and Gerstel contrast public child-care in the United States with that of France and Denmark to demonstrate the lack of quality in American social programs.
Restructuring of welfare, employment, and family patterns has led to more American parents seeking child care because they need or want it. Preschool is now a cultural norm, experts "increasingly emphasize the potential benefits of child care", and Congress encourages child care to help kids through school later on (thus keeping them out of jail) and keep mothers working and families together.
Clawson and Gerstel contrast public child-care in the United States with that of France and Denmark to demonstrate the lack of quality in American social programs.
Restructuring of welfare, employment, and family patterns has led to more American parents seeking child care because they need or want it. Preschool is now a cultural norm, experts "increasingly emphasize the potential benefits of child care", and Congress encourages child care to help kids through school later on (thus keeping them out of jail) and keep mothers working and families together.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Excerpt: Race in American Public Schools: Rapidly Resegregating School Districts
Frankenberg, Erica., and Chungmei Lee. [2002] 2005. "Race in American Public Schools: Rapidly Resegregating School Districts". Pp. 292-296 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Almost fifty years after the "landmark" Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, Frankenberg and Lee examine how desegregated American public schools really are. What they find is startlingly retrogressive: that public schools are becoming increasingly diversified but also increasingly segregated.
Almost fifty years after the "landmark" Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, Frankenberg and Lee examine how desegregated American public schools really are. What they find is startlingly retrogressive: that public schools are becoming increasingly diversified but also increasingly segregated.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Excerpt: Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post Race America
Gallagher, Charles A. [2003] 2005. "Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in Post Race America". Pp. 189-195 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Countless advertisements, television shows, movies, and other images of race relations in the media seem to suggest that racism is done and over, or that "America is on the verge, or has already become, a truly color-blind nation". Gallagher cites surveys and statistical data, as well as images in popular culture, that suggest most whites consider the playing field level and racism a thing of the past while most blacks see it as quite uneven.
Countless advertisements, television shows, movies, and other images of race relations in the media seem to suggest that racism is done and over, or that "America is on the verge, or has already become, a truly color-blind nation". Gallagher cites surveys and statistical data, as well as images in popular culture, that suggest most whites consider the playing field level and racism a thing of the past while most blacks see it as quite uneven.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Excerpt: Diversity in the Power Elite
Zweigenhaft, Richard, and William Domhoff. [1998] 2005. "Diversity in the Power Elite". Pp. 337-342 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
Since the massive influence of Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches stories in the 1870s, American culture has featured prominently the myth that anyone who wants something and works hard enough to get it will be successful.
Post-World War II, United States culture had entered a period that C. Wright Mills calls "the Great American Celebration", in which the ever-growing mass media celebrated the rise of the country out of the Great Depression, the social progress of FDR's New Deal, and the recent dedication to and victory in the Second World War. Claims of a classless society abounded, and especially with the GI Bill allowing millions of Americans to go to attend college and millions more to buy a house, claims of Horatio Alger-esque individuals rising up the social ladder became the norm. Mills challenged this cultural myth, pointing out that almost all the members of the power elite were white, Christian, wealthy, and male, and a majority came from "an even narrower stratum, the 11 percent of U.S. families headed by businesspeople or highly educated professionals like physicians and lawyers."
Since the massive influence of Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches stories in the 1870s, American culture has featured prominently the myth that anyone who wants something and works hard enough to get it will be successful.
Post-World War II, United States culture had entered a period that C. Wright Mills calls "the Great American Celebration", in which the ever-growing mass media celebrated the rise of the country out of the Great Depression, the social progress of FDR's New Deal, and the recent dedication to and victory in the Second World War. Claims of a classless society abounded, and especially with the GI Bill allowing millions of Americans to go to attend college and millions more to buy a house, claims of Horatio Alger-esque individuals rising up the social ladder became the norm. Mills challenged this cultural myth, pointing out that almost all the members of the power elite were white, Christian, wealthy, and male, and a majority came from "an even narrower stratum, the 11 percent of U.S. families headed by businesspeople or highly educated professionals like physicians and lawyers."
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