The Flip Side of the Underclass: Unexpected Images of Social Capital in Majority-African American Neighborhoods

by Wright, David J.

• ISBN13: 9780914341987
• ISBN10: 0914341987
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-01
• Publisher: STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK PRESS

Summary

Many movies, television shows, and news programs show African American neighborhoods as places of distress, deviance, and danger, as if the stereotypical "urban ghetto" is all there is to show for black residential life. But, as The Flip Side of the Underclass shows, there is far more to the picture than that. The book provides a rare, fact-based account of a crucial story in which communities do better when their residents are connected to one another and have the organizational capacity to translate their sentiments into effective action. Drawing on a groundbreaking study of more than 800 neighborhoods in 15 cities across the country, the authors reveal a vitally important fact: most inner-city black communities are working-class, middle-income, or better.

Exploring the largely unreported variation in socioeconomic status among majority-African American neighborhoods, the authors provide valuable insights about the look and feel of a wide range of neighborhoods -- the housing stock, property uses, public services, retail trade, and recreational services tha