HOW RACE AND CULTURE AFFECT BLACK AMERICANS’ LIFE CHANCES: WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON GOT IT RIGHT
Why Do Groups Behave the Way They Do?
I had no doubts that cultural groups are highly creative and that their members act in ways that cannot be fully predicted. The collective behavior of groups is not just due to their circumstances. For example, German cultural achievements in Western classical music and the African-American creation of the blues, jazz, and gospel music are tributes to their creative genius. But I also knew that much cultural behavior can be predicted to a degree if we know the economic and cultural conditions that members of the group have experienced while growing up and at present.
The particular issue that I wanted to get clear about and my own mind concerned reasons for African-American behavior in the inner cities. This was a controversial issue that had become highly politicized. Although it was agreed that the causes of Black inner-city behavior could be identified, there was a heated debate about whether the causes were largely economic or cultural. Those who saw the causes as mainly economic were situated on the political left, whereas those who focused on the cultural dimension were upholding right-wing positions. I had always been more sympathetic to left-wing ideas but I wanted to look at this question with new eyes and an open mind. Since I had little personal experience of the inner-city and had been away from the United States for almost 25 years, I felt that there was a lot I could learn from researchers and theorists about conditions in what was labeled the “black ghetto.”
Black nationalists were celebrating the resilience of black people and their resistance to the dominant culture and way of life. They were unsympathetic to focusing on the social pathologies of the ghettos and explaining them in cultural terms. Although I agreed with them that black people should not give up their culture and adopt the majority culture, I wondered whether the beliefs, worldviews, and values of some African Americans had become dysfunctional as a result of a long history of racial discrimination and racial subordination. In particular, I wanted to examine the black culture of the central cities where jobs were scarce, poverty was deeply rooted, and crime rates were high. The obvious danger of centering my attention on cultural forces was that I would end up blaming the victim thereby taking a step backward in my own development. On the other hand, living abroad taught me that cultural differences are real and culture cannot be ignored when trying to understand people’s behavior.
It was my good fortune that the works of William Julius Wilson were available to help me navigate this racial and political minefield and enable me to figure out where to stand on these issues. Wilson is a sociologist whose work is anchored in quantitative research. But he has had a desire to reach a broader non-academic audience in order to make a practical contribution to reducing racial inequality. In fact, Wilson’s work has had a great impact on policy makers, and Bill Clinton referred to his The Truly Disadvantaged (1987) as the seminal work on the nature of urban poverty. Although Wilson opposed President Clinton’s drastic reduction of welfare eligibility, he praised Clinton for his qualified defense of affirmative action.
Economics and Social Structure Matter
From Wilson’s last book, More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (2009), I learned how economics and social structure influence culture which then to some degree becomes an independent factor that impacts behavior. Through his sociological analysis, he helped me to surmount the sterile opposition between liberals who emphasize structural forces and conservatives who focus on individual and cultural qualities as the cause of racial inequality. Conservatives maintain that African Americans do not do as well as white Americans economically because they do not accept mainstream values of hard work and sobriety and do not have intact nuclear families. In contrast, liberals identify structural forces such as workplace discrimination and residential segregation as the cause of the economic problems of African Americans. Conservatives tend to deny the existence of structural racism, whereas liberals emphasize that it is a key factor in limiting black Americans’ life chances.
Wilson showed me that political and social forces indirectly contribute to racial inequality. These forces include political actions that are not viewed as involving race and impersonal economic trends that reinforce longstanding racial inequality. Both have indirect effects due to the more vulnerable position of some racial groups in the social structure. In the political arena during the 1970s and 1980s, unions became weaker, the minimum wage only slowly increased, and government policy was geared toward fighting inflation rather than keeping up full employment. In addition, the percentage of taxes paid by the wealthy decreased while the tax burden on those with lower incomes increased. These were some of the nonracial political developments that contributed to racial inequality by harming the economic prospects of poor people, among whom African Americans are disproportionately represented.
An example of nonracial economic factors is that due to globalization of the economy, less-educated black youth must compete not only with low-paid workers in their own country for low-skilled jobs but with low-paid workers around the world. The result is less jobs for poor Americans and, due to past discrimination, a disproportionate number of blacks are poor and disadvantaged. Another important factor is that inner-city residents live far away from areas of employment growth. Since employment has been increasing mostly in suburban areas, there is a mismatch between where people live and where the jobs are.
Wilson also traces the effect of past racial discrimination on the economic prospects of African Americans today. He mentions the huge cumulative effect of racialized structural factors on black inner-city neighborhoods such as slavery, legalized discrimination, residential and school segregation, government redlining and construction of housing projects in the inner city, and employer discrimination. Neighborhood effects research shows that concentrated poverty increases the likelihood of social isolation from mainstream institutions, joblessness, the school dropout rate, educational achievement, involvement in crime, adolescent delinquency, nonmarital childbirth, and family management abilities. Such concentrated poverty has a negative effect on life chances beginning in early childhood and adolescence. There is also the vast wealth gap between white and black Americans that greatly affects the economic prospects of African Americans and is clearly the outcome of generations of racial discrimination on the part of institutions, governments, and individuals.
In addition, Wilson maintains that the problems of low-skilled African Americans in the labor market are not just due to economic trends; they are made worse by racial discrimination and segregation. He states in The Bridge Over the Racial Divide (1999) that racial bias continues to influence the high rate of black unemployment. He goes on to say that although the belief in black biological inferiority has clearly declined over the years, such attitudes are still reflected in the functioning of key institutions. In the school system, tracking, which groups students into classes based on judgments of ability, often results in segregating black students in the lower-ability classes, even when this is not merited by their actual ability. So we should be clear that although Wilson is well known for his claim that race has had a declining significance as an explanation of the economic situation of African-Americans, he does not by any means downplay the importance of past and present structural factors of a racial nature.
The Impact of Culture
What about the impact of culture? Two aspects of culture are important here: the American mainstream culture of individualism that affects the interpretation of the causes of African-American poverty and the African-American culture of the inner-city neighborhoods. On the question of racial inequality, the widespread American view is that problems of inner-city blacks have nothing to do with discrimination or the effects of living in segregated poverty. They believe that low social and economic achievement is mainly caused by the individual and the family; they attribute it to cultural traits, the types of behavior and outlooks shared by many inner-city residents. Cultural explanations are overwhelmingly favored by Americans to explain poverty because a focus on people’s own shortcomings fits in with individualism. In a 2007 survey, two-thirds of Americans believed that personal factors rather than racial discrimination explain why African Americans have difficulty getting ahead and only 19% blamed discrimination. In contrast, surveys of European countries show that they focus more on structural forces rather than individual behavior to explain causes of poverty and joblessness.
Neighborhood effects are not only structural but also cultural. The result of living in poor segregated neighborhoods over long periods of time is repeated exposure to cultural traits that come from racial exclusion such as poor verbal skills that diminish life chances. In this environment, ideas like working hard and making sacrifices in the present to bring about a better future do not mean much when there are no jobs which pay a living wage. As a result, it is tempting to go into crime. Men who can’t support their families leave them behind, and women think that single motherhood is their fate in life. So children go through the experience of broken homes and they don’t see many examples of more constructive behavior. When black people follow these patterns, it feeds racial stereotypes, which makes it more difficult for poor black people to find decent jobs. Furthermore, repeated experiences of discrimination and disrespect over time may lead parents to transmit to their children norms of resignation, a belief that other members of society disrespect them because they are black.
Wilson’s analysis of inner-city behavior is quite illuminating. Why do some young black males show little interest in poorly paid work, have violent tendencies, and are often unwilling to take responsibility for children they father? He views this behavior as neither the direct result of racial discrimination nor as the failure to adopt mainstream values. Instead, he explains actions that seem to be the outcome of individual will or active choice as really ways of adapting to racial exclusion.
He gives the example of the drug dealer who has limited chances to work in a racially segregated neighborhood. The drug dealer has few social connections to employers, most good jobs are far away, and many friends and neighbors are connected to the drug trade. As a result, survival and peer pressure influence his choice of drug dealing even if he would rather have a mainstream job. His illegal actions are a reasonable response to lack of opportunity; the poor act rationally and thoughtfully as they exercise their power to act under circumstances of huge economic hardship. In his analysis of drug dealing, Wilson neither defends nor blames the victim.
One of Wilson’s most attractive qualities is that he is strongly committed to reducing racial inequality and has tirelessly worked to come up with policy recommendations that are capable of gaining political support. He claims that economic shifts and past and present racial discrimination have greater impact than ghetto culture on racial inequality, so he rejects the idea that the black poor have caused their own problems. Therefore, he recommends a government response in order to overcome generations of poverty. Wilson’s stance is that the urban poor need more investment on the part of government and private organizations to create decent jobs, train them to learn new skills and figure out the job market, and help them to leave blighted neighborhoods for areas where different races and classes of people live, job opportunities are more abundant, and cultural patterns are more healthy.
Wilson also references concrete solutions such as the Harlem Children’s Zone that deal with structures and culture together in a holistic approach. The Harlem Children’s Zone addresses inner-city structural problems by improving the schools children attend. In the Promise Academy charter schools, there is 60% more class time with coordinated after-school tutoring and extra classes on Saturday for students that need remedial work in English language arts and math.
At the same time, the Harlem Children’s Zone confronts the cultural problems associated with continuing economic and racial subordination. Mothers are educated about the importance of reading to their children and of having conversations with them. There is also the baby college, a nine-week workshop for parents expecting children and parents with children up to three which deals with subjects like handling parental stress, discipline, and parent-child bonding as well as encouraging parents to read to their children.
Influencing Public Policy
In line with his combined idealistic and practical orientation, Wilson maintains that there are two important criteria for deciding how to present public policies dealing with race and poverty. First, the presentation must encourage open and honest discussion of the matters at hand, and second, it must be stated in a way that enables it to gather sufficient public support. He no longer believes that race-neutral policies are the best approach, despite widespread white opposition to race-based affirmative action. It is the way policies are framed which makes all the difference in terms of the white majority’s willingness to accept affirmative action for minorities.
Opinion polls have shown that a strong majority of whites agree that more money should be spent on education and black neighborhoods . They also support college scholarships for black children with high scholastic achievement. Although whites are opposed to job preferences for blacks, a clear majority are in favor of special job-training and education for blacks. Wilson believes that such poll data indicate the importance of political framing. If affirmative action appears in harmony with the values of individualism and the work ethic, then white Americans favor it. But if it appears to promise equality of results rather than equality of opportunity, then they are opposed.
Wilson also emphasizes the importance of talking about not only questions of fairness and justice but also the ways in which the proposed policies will lead to better outcomes for all Americans. In this regard, he praises Barack Obama’s speech on race for its sensitivity to the need for such framing. Obama was highly aware that both structural and cultural factors plus their interaction must be discussed when outlining policies on race and poverty. He powerfully evoked the structural forces that have kept black people down: past discrimination that created disparities which continue to exist today and the current lack of funding for black schools and the black community, unfairness in the criminal justice system, and insufficient provision of economic opportunities.
But Obama did not neglect the cultural dimension which whites resonate with as he called for personal responsibility from black fathers for their children’s upkeep and from black parents for their children’s educational preparation and morale. In addition, he made the connection between past discrimination and the violent behavior and defeatist attitudes sometimes found among poor members of the black community. Instead of looking at culture and personal responsibility in isolation, he traced the shortcomings of some black behavioral responses to their origins in structural conditions.
What Wilson has reminded me is that I need to face the hard and cold realities of racial politics and policies. That means getting crystal clear about the role of racial and nonracial factors in the creation and maintenance of racial inequality. It also means understanding the ways in which structural and cultural factors keep many black Americans poor. Another salutary reminder is that it is necessary to frame policies so that they resonate with citizens.
My approach to African-American culture has also benefited from my reading of Wilson. As much as I might wish to view black culture as a more lively and stimulating alternative to bland white culture, I am chastened by Wilson’s warning not to overlook the cultural pathologies arising from generations of concentrated poverty in ghetto areas. Changing the structural conditions in order to promote a healthier culture does not imply that African Americans should assimilate to European American culture. The implication of Wilson’s position is that there are universal human needs for food, clothing, shelter, and work that must first be met. Then it is possible to develop a culture that promotes education, community, self-esteem, and personal growth. Wilson’s detailed analysis of inner city conditions has also reinforced and strengthened my belief that people are influenced by the circumstances around them. Therefore, people’s life chances depend on such circumstances, and it is everyone’s human right to be born and raised under positive conditions that facilitate their ability to realize their human potential.
In terms of present-day politics, Wilson takes a social democratic position. And like him, I believe that it is the role of government to equalize life chances through the creation of more favorable conditions that encourage human flourishing. Wilson’s careful analysis of the causes of concentrated poverty among African Americans strengthens my desire to avoid negatively stereotyping poor black people. And, following Wilson’s lead, I can see even more clearly that tracing black poverty to social structures that minimize opportunity does not contradict the need to counteract unethical behavior. Nor does it mean that poor blacks have no agency or ability to make choices. Wilson is only saying that under present conditions, it may appear rational to poor blacks to engage in illegal activities due to the absence of legal avenues that would ensure economic survival.
