It is important to note that since W.E.B. DuBois’s publications, the living and housing conditions for African Americans did not improve significantly. One can even argue that despite a gradual recognition of the problem, these factors became worse than before. It is stated that throughout the twentieth century, ghettos inhabited primarily by African Americans became substantially more disorganized, deprived, as well as dangerous due to forces that promoted social isolation (Lin and Mele, 2013). One should be aware that after an increase in recognition of issues in African American living and housing conditions, the targeted focus was put on the group itself. It is stated that “descriptions and explanations of the current predicament of inner-city blacks put the emphasis on individual attributes and the alleged grip of the so-called culture of poverty” (Lin and Mele, 2013, p. 184). In other words, the narrative, especially among conservatives, shifted towards blaming African Americans themselves instead of focusing on social exclusion policies and systematic barriers.
The ghettos remain the same in the sense that the underlying causes are still being unaddressed. Poor African Americans are “becoming increasingly concentrated in dilapidated territorial enclaves that epitomize acute social and economic marginalization” (Lin and Mele, 2013, p. 184). Thus, it is evident that no changes are made in regard to approaches used to tackle the living and housing conditions, which are becoming increasingly worse. According to Wacquant’s and Wilson’s statements that “this growing social and spatial concentration of poverty creates a formidable and unprecedented set of obstacles for ghetto blacks” (Lin and Mele, 2013, p. 184). In other words, these factors are resulting in hyperghettoization and deindustrialization, with a massive loss in quality of life among African Americans. Such a trend is substantiated by the fact that social conditions are reaching new heights in regard to hardship, oppression, and deprivation (Lin and Mele, 2013). Therefore, the political economy and changes in industrial presence undermined and marginalized the already deprived neighborhoods of the black communities.
The main reason why the public, society, and individuals need to be concerned and care about class and racial exclusion is that there is a danger of further division and marginalization among the vulnerable groups. It is stated that “social analysts must pay more attention to the extreme levels of economic deprivation and social marginalization … before they further entertain and spread so-called theories about the potency of a ghetto culture of poverty” (Lin and Mele, 2013, p. 191). In other words, the relocation of blame and causes should not be put on African American communities but rather on systemic policies and institutions, which perpetually isolate the black communities.
Thus, without addressing the fundamental reason for the problem, no effective and plausible solutions can be designed. In addition, it is in the best interest of the American public to solve the problem of worsening living and housing conditions among African Americans since social exclusion can affect other groups as well with growing wealth inequality and the disappearance of the middle class in the United States. It is stated that “the cumulative structural entrapment and forcible socioeconomic marginalization resulting from the historically evolving interplay of class, racial, and gender domination” are the main explanations for the plight among such communities (Lin and Mele, 2013, p. 191). Therefore, racial and class exclusion is a failure of integration of proper structural changes rather than the culture of poverty among African Americans.
Reference
Lin, J., & Mele, C. (2013). The urban sociology reader (2nd ed.). Routledge.