Abandoned in the Heartland

by Hamer, Jennifer F.

• ISBN13: 9780520269323
• ISBN10: 0520269322
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780520950177
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr
• More Book Details
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Summary

Urban poverty, along with all of its poignant manifestations, is moving from city centers to working-class and industrial suburbs in contemporary America. Nowhere is this more evident than in East St. Louis, Illinois. Once a thriving manufacturing and transportation center, East St. Louis is now known for its unemployment, crime, and collapsing infrastructure. Abandoned in the Heartlandtakes us into the lives of East St. Louis' predominantly African American residents to find out what has happened since industry abandoned the city, and jobs, quality schools, and city services disappeared, leaving people isolated and imperiled. Jennifer Hamer introduces men who search for meaning and opportunity in dead-end jobs, women who often take on caretaking responsibilities until well into old age, and parents who have the impossible task of protecting their children in this dangerous, and literally toxic, environment. Illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs showing how the city has changed over time, this book, full of stories of courage and fortitude, offers a powerful vision of the transformed circumstances of life in one American suburb.

Author Biography

Jennifer F. Hamer is Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of What It Means to Be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from their Children.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Prologue	p. 1
In America's Heartland	p. 30
East St. Louisans and Their Cars	p. 58
Work and Meaning in a Jobless Suburb	p. 76
Hustling, Clean and Dirty	p. 98
"Around here, women never get done workin'"	p. 125
"Gotta protect my own"	p. 154
The Cost of Abandonment	p. 180
Epilogue: Obama and East St. Louis	p. 185
Notes	p. 193
Selected Bibliography	p. 215
Index	p. 231
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