communities

It’s always interesting when talking about communities, and neighborhoods in urban areas. These are the areas that usually has a high volume of police presence because of the crime rates. It’s very obvious when in these neighborhoods to tell the difference in not only appearance but the presence of neighbors in the community. In these low income areas resources are limited, crime is high and murder is something that is common. I think of particular areas in Chicago and how they look, and the struggle people in these communities go through on a daily basis. Just like in There are no Children here; we talked about the female headed household that’s Wilson talks about. Many sociologist were interested in researching if community ties influence the behavior of people in these neighborhoods. They also were interested in looking at the discrimination that may take place against blacks when they do try to get out of these improvised neighborhoods. W.E.B DuBois found that blacks were among one of the most discriminated races when it came to renting and buying houses. Once I was watching this really good serious called Shameless it takes place on Chicago’s Southside, and it’s about this white family living in Chicago in an impoverished neighborhood. They are extremely poor and the things they go through gives an example of some things that families in Chicago go through. The dad is a drunk and the oldest sister ids basically the provider for the family; the kids constantly find their self in trouble with the law. On this particular episode; there was a lesbian couple that moved into the neighborhood and was trying to buy land, and even buy the house from the people that were living in these homes; because their neighborhood was listed as one of the top 10 most up and coming neighborhoods for property value. The dad who is a drunk started talking about this idea that we talked about in class ‘gentrification” he said they were trying to move the poor people out and move in a Starbucks for the rich uppity white people. At that time I had no idea what gentrification was, but it was interesting his view on what the government was trying to do. The family did everything they could to stop other people from moving in and to stop the building of new buildings. They even went too far as to shoot up the new store that just had been built. It’s interesting to think about the way the government does this. After hearing the dad talk about gentrification it gave me a new outlook on certain things, and had me questioning if this is to help the neighborhood or to move the lower class out. It’s also interesting because they are a white family the breaks they are given even being of lower class.

 This show definitely speaks on a lot of issues that are relevant in Chicago. It’s raunchy but when I saw this I immediately thought of this class because it helped me to see and understand gentrification through the eyes of people that may have experienced it. This also brings into perspective how location affects racial segregation and the relationship in the community. As we know income also has something to do with these issues as well. As always I go back to how certain groups have historically been discriminated against. It’s hard to look at how income and class without acknowledging the past. I think Rachelle and Donald Warren did a great job talking about the 5 types of neighborhoods or communities that exist. The first one identified by them was The Parochial; in this neighborhood there is a strong sense of community and cultural orientation. Then, there is The Integral; this neighborhood has a strong sense of involvement and mostly everyone in the community is involved. Next, The Diffuse; this community has little to no neighboring interactions but their status is so great the networking of the residents is a big influence. Then, The anomic; this area doesn’t have much of a voting turnout, not much neighboring involvement, but rather extremely high crime levels. Lastly, is the The stepping Stone; which kind of describes its self. Neighbors don’t really interact they use that neighborhood as a stepping stone to eventually move on to better things. Then George Simmel went on to study what he calls the Defended Neighborhood; they are on defense from a force threat outside of the neighborhood, and are less likely to accept diversity in their neighborhood. In the clip I showed it seems as if they have a part of each of these even if it’s in a negative way.

New teachers are the only way to improve bad neighborhoods

In There Are No Children Here the author tells a narrative of two young boys growing up in the Horner Projects of Chicago. The neighborhood they are born into has a huge impact on the way they live their lives and neighborhoods like the one described in this story are found all over America and are causing great deals of harm to individual's lives. In chapter 8 of The New Urban Sociology the authors describe neighborhood formation process and the type of neighborhoods that are formed within urban communities. The Anomic neighborhood most closely resembles the Horner area described in the book. This neighborhood type is characterized by high levels of crime and low turnover rates. Basically individuals that live in this type of neighborhood have very low expectations to amount to anything. This is what causes the most harm to young individuals lives. If they are raised to believe that they have no hope of escaping their current life situations how should they strive for something greater. This hopelessness can cause a downward spiral into deviance because it is an easy means to achieve the desired end. Just like Lafayette in the narrative turns to more violent acts the more hopeless he feels. The other main character, Pharaoh, has teachers and parents take an interest in him at an early age and because of that he strives to achieve on an academic level. These differences in role models vesting interest in the boys help illustrate the problems with a hopeless society. The one boy who has adults encourage him ends up valuing academic success and working hard to possible achieve class mobility, while the other turns to crime because he sees that as a viable outlet.

            It seems very strange that since the “separate but equal” standard was ended years ago minority individuals still have far worse conditions that their white counterparts. An article by Wade Henderson describes the differences in academic achievement levels of minority members. According to Henderson’s data black students are suspended much more frequently than white students even as early as preschool. Even though enrolment rates in primary schools are similar for whites and minorities out of primary school whites are much more likely to obtain a secondary education degree than members of a minority. This again shows the major problem of counting members out because of their ethnic orientation. If teachers are putting more stock in white individuals because they are more likely to further their education the culture of hopelessness is furthered. Teachers need to begin to put more effort into students who come from neighborhoods like the Horner area maybe they will begin to achieve class mobility and may eventually return to their neighborhood to help others who have been born into the same situations. Finding teachers who are able to invest interest in young individuals regardless of their economic background is the only way to fix these segregation problems. Next we need to staff teachers who will instill a sense of community pride in these young children so they may one day return to their neighborhood and reinvest their resources in it. Teachers can be the most beneficial or detrimental forces in young students lives and it would seem that too often they do not take that responsibility very seriously. Especially when dealing with students who come from high risk neighborhoods teachers may be the only positive role model these children have. Placing emphasis on individual improvement over the course of a academic year is one possible solution for boosting the self esteem of young children and encourage them to stay the course of academic achievement. But good teachers may not be enough to correct the problem, I feel the most effective teachers for these positions would be those who have come from similar backgrounds and escaped the neighborhood in search for a better life. They have an obligation to help other students that are born into bad situations escape just like they did. Showing that there is a path that leads out of the life of poverty they have become so used to may help inspire a drive that would otherwise be nonexistent. If individuals do not feel an obligation to reinvest in these neighborhoods or areas of high poverty in urban cities they should be immediately replaced with individuals who do care. Offering other incentives outside of a paycheck could also help teachers set up shop in these problem areas. Incentives such as tax breaks or other government programs could greatly contribute to attracting quality teachers to these problem areas.

http://talkpoverty.org/2014/05/22/henderson/

Globalization and You!

The way the world works now is actually kind of incredible. Now, I don't have to send a message to someone via the postal service. If I want someone to know something, I can let them know immediately via a small piece of plastic, metal, and glass in my pocket. The way we discussed globalization this week really put things in to perspective. The world we live in now is a crazy thing. The fact that we can have friends, as discussed in a presentation this week, in other countries that we can talk to any time we want is just unreal. Compared to thirty, forty years ago, the way we have instant communication at any time of day, in any place, is something of total awe. Its also something that people are going to grow up to just expect now, and that's something even more crazy to me, but for a different reason.

I belive it changes the neighborhood dynamic completely. When I was growing up, we had email and whatnot, sure. It wasn't anywhere near as big as it is now, though. It was still forming, and people were quoting the AOL "You've got mail!" slogan way more, because people were still being wowed by how far we've come as a technological world. We all went outside and played sports, went to the park, etc. Now, from what I've seen, kids spend way more time indoors on their games, on their tablets, watching television. Sure, we all did that, but we didn't have the access to them that we do now as a globalized society. Kids are now becoming more used to being connected on a whole other level. Skyping is becoming more popular, and I think that alone changes the neighborhood level with the kids that are growing up now. I used to have to go to a friends house to hang out with them, but now kids are playing their games and skyping, or using just in game voice chats. That, I feel, is a community.

The community for these kids goes way past what we were raised on. Kids are making friends, or not even just kids but people in general, with people they haven't even met, and becoming a community of people that all have their same interest. They base their community on that shared interest, and start to flock to that community, instead of the one that is in their neighborhood. It changes the way that people are interacting with their physical community. There is less community interaction and effort being put in, because why go outside and interact with people when its entirely possible to sit on a couch, turn on a machine, and then talk to your friends from all over the world that have your shared interests rather than go outside and interact with people that may not have the same interests as you, and actually have to have a conversation to learn something about them rather than already have something in common with someone over the internet? I feel this has changed how people are going to view the neighborhood and community dynamics. People are starting to just become people that we have to see and interact with, rather than people we could learn about and become friends with, and diversifying ourselves.

What I took away from our talk about globalization, is as I stated above. The world is transitioning in to a place that is always connected, and always online, instead of a place where people go outside to have their community events and participate in their world around them. The world is slowly becoming various communities, only varied by the types of interests the members of those communities have.

The Modern Era

            As always we have a different topic that we discuss every week. In this week’s discussion we discussed the book Great American City by Robert J. Sampson. This is a very interesting read it talks about the placements of interaction around the city of Chicago. An interesting point of view that Sampson mentions is how our networks have changed in the modern era. How technology has essentially become the root of all-evil.

            Something that you can’t deny in a city that you go to, you will experience a change of scenery as you go from neighborhood to neighborhood. Sampson mentions in the book on page 32 on how, “Neighborhoods differ dramatically in their quality, feel, sights, sounds, and smells.” Sampson points out the differences in the neighborhoods concentration of collective civil events. This event tells us a lot how community engagement effects the allocation of resources in different neighborhoods. He points out how real estate agents have brainwashed us when buying property, how it is all about location. I the neighborhood that I live in Little Village; 26^th street is considered to be the second magnificent mile behind Michigan Avenue on downtown. Despite not being in the core of downtown 26^th street has the second most profitable neighborhood in small business. But as Sampson mentioned it is all about location. You will never see a high-end store on 26^th street such as Louis Vuitton, Armani, Nordstrom, or even Starbucks in this neighborhood. There are many simple reasons why; the income that surrounds Little Village is not high. As in the book mentions, bad locations mean bad business and thus franchises are concentrated in particular parts of the cities. The couple stores that I mentioned you would only find them at specific high-income neighborhoods. But never at neighborhood that experiences a level of social disorganization. 

            It’s interesting the mentioning of Globalization and the effect of technology on networks within a community. Globalization is the connection of views, products or ideas that interchange through the world. Technology has advanced our way of living but also shape our behaviors in our daily lives. Globalization has become a culture that is practiced in a city. It brings culture, ideas, and innovations that we share through the world. Ideally globalization helps us advance and educated us more than what happens in our inner circle or neighborhood. In the book it mentions placelessness as a concept from modernity that we are able to live or move wherever one desires. We live under that idea that we are free to go anywhere we choose to go. Technology in the modern era helps us believe that we are capable of moving or living anywhere we want. The fact that we are connected with other countries or cities helps us believe in the dream of living anywhere we want. But as Sampson clearly points out, that people living under hard circumstances they can’t escape that reality. Due to reason they can’t control such as discrimination, crime, poverty, or status they are stuck in those circumstance. The idea of technology liberating you is interesting to me. Technology has helped us advance in many ways. Technology can become a source a tool in order to liberate us and have the opportunity to live where we choose. The ways I see how technology has helped us improve is the way we do business. An example that I could think of is the whole app industry. 20-15 years ago that industry didn’t exist. Now it is an industry that has potential for anyone to participate. But the most important part is if your application becomes successful you can essentially make a good amount of money. It opens yourself into a new world that you weren’t exposed before and essentially it has helped you improve economically. An example is the game angry birds how successful it has become. It is considered under the top 5 as the most profitable application that exists according to Forbes magazine.

            Despite being a different era, the world hasn’t change much. Money is the main thing that matters here. It opens up your chances of opportunity in lifestyle. From who you to socialize with to the type of education you receive. Despite that the world may come more together due to technology those barriers still exist and the quality of life of the rich and the poor haven’t differ in much. The gap may have changed to better or worse.

Neighborhood Effects

The opening chapter of Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here resonated a peculiar frequency with me. The first pages of the book portray a vibrant scene with Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers out on an adventure with their cousin and friends. The mission for the day as the young boys romped across a row of train tracks was simple - catch garter snakes. I had countless days similar to this during my childhood, characterized by new places, expended energy, and ultimately scraped knees. There is something fundamentally pure about these kinds of days - being able to explore even your own backyard for a child is a liberating feeling that to some extent we can all relate to. While images of climbing over dirt hills and searching for critters brings back personal memories, the story soon changes for these two boys and we are exposed to the reality of the world for Lafeyette and Pharoah; Kotlowitz reminds us pointedly in the title that contrary to this depiction of a child’s innocence that there are in fact no children here. This juxtaposition continues throughout the book when we are periodically reminded the ages of the children which evoke a certain feeling of shock given the circumstances they face and the experiences they have. Countless shootings, robberies, and close contact to gangs characterizes the experiences of children at the Henry Horner Homes and other public housing units in Chicago in the mid to late eighties. For Lafeyette and Pharoah the funeral of a friend was an all too common experience. Kotlowitz also portrays other problems facing the community including rising tension with police despite a lack of law enforcement presence, overcrowded and underfunded schools, and a proliferation of drug trafficking. This violent and unstable environment we see ultimately has a direct effect on the boys: Lafeyette slowly turns towards acts of deviance while along with many of their friends while Pharoah tends towards his schoolwork and good behavior. The book gives us an insider perspective on the realities for these boys and shows, quite undeniably, the ways in which their environment has directly shaped their behavior.

Our other reading for the week, Great American City, as well as Chapter 8 from The New Urban Sociology places a large emphasis on location in considering the shaping of cities and inequality within them and is particularly relevant in understanding the problems facing Lafeyette and Pharoah. According to Sampson in Great American City many people presume, in light of globalization, that a certain level of community has died; although still separated by distance, many people would argue advancements of technology have bridged physical distance and in essence flattened the world, connecting us on a new cyber level. This can most commonly be seen in the expansion of social networking, global market expansion, and our seeming inability to detach ourselves from cellular devices. While globalization can be seen in nearly every aspects of our daily lives, Sampsons suggests that this perspective overlooks the influence of location in social interactions and is fundamentally problematic in that it suggests location is no longer relevant in social inquiries. However, a walk down Michigan Avenue with Sampson suggests otherwise. Starting near Water Tower Place, Sampson describes the skyscrapers of the gold coast and casts them quickly after against the broken window communities of the south side. This walk reminded me of a moment in There Are No Children Here when Lajoe takes the children on a trip to the loop. The stark contrast between downtown and the realities of the Henry Horner Homes and it’s occupants was evident even for the children. In comparing the experiences and details of There Are No Children Here we see the ways in which Sampsons theories on neighborhood effects and an emphasis place. Of particular interest to this perspective, Sampson considers pre-world War II frameworks from the Chicago School of Sociology and asserts that “neighborhoods possess relatively enduring features and emergent properties that transcend the idiosyncratic characteristics of particular ethnic groups that inhabit them” (2011: 37) He further suggests that contrary to the idea of social disorganization, studies have shown that it is not so much a disorganization that is occurring but  rather an internal organization, an idea clearly evident in the continued existence and organization of gangs within neighborhoods like the Henry Horner Homes. Although recognizing that globalization is occurring, I think in this regard Sampson makes a relevant point - as seen in There Are No Children Here and especially in the contemporary evidence which he provides, the extent of globalization has much narrower reaches than we often assume and place still largely dictates many aspects of social life.

Sources:

Sampson, Robert J. 2011. Great American City. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Social Disorganization

Stepping into the city of Chicago, one would assume that the cities wealth would be equally distributed throughout the neighborhoods. Yet, this is not the case, one can easily distinguish which neighborhoods have wealth.  For example, in the city of Chicago, one of these neighborhoods is Lincoln Park.  The Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago provides the city with high-end stores, bars/restaurants and the zoo.  One can be confident when walking through the streets of this neighborhood as one would be surrounded by beautiful tall buildings and nice houses. These neighborhoods more often than not, surround Downtown Chicago and are one of the reasons why this area is typically, considered a safe place to be. 

As one begins to deviate away from the downtown area it becomes prevalent that these neighborhoods are strongly affected by social disorganization.  Some characteristics of social disorganization are poverty and weak social bonds. These neighborhoods are often poisoned with higher rates of delinquency and crime rates.  Stepping into these neighborhoods, one notices a lot of differences compared to the neighborhoods described before.  Upon stepping into these neighborhoods one notices rundown buildings and abandoned factories, among many other things.  If one takes the time to observe in these neighborhoods, witnessing acts of violence or criminal activity is not uncommon.

In the book ‘There Are No Kids Here” Lajoe is trying to raise her children in one of these neighborhoods and experiences many challenges because of this. The fact that they reside in a neighborhood filled with social disorganization affects the individuals in many ways.  These children are exposed to homicides at a very young age and often have higher rates of delinquency since the kids growing up in these neighborhoods lack strong social bonds with their families. It is often that you hear stories of children who fall into the neighborhood pressure.  As time progresses, children raised in these neighborhoods often times stop going to school and begin engaging in extracurricular activities such as drug dealing and gang banging.   One of the lines in the book that I feel accurately depicts the levels of criminal activity was when the teacher spoke about the scariest part of her day.  She stated that she was terrified walking to and from her car to the school because of the things that could happen.  She had to hide her paycheck in her bra in fear of it getting stolen. The younger kids in these neighborhoods often do not have something positive to look forward to or even have positive role models.  This reason is one of the main reasons why the children growing up in these neighborhoods often become victims of the streets. These neighborhoods also have very weak social ties.  One can tell the relationship neighbors have with each other just by observing.

 Where I live back home, I know my neighbors very well and they know my family as well. Having these kinds of relationships is beneficial and a step towards a safer community.  The book stated that often times, the neighbors would break into each other’s apartments in order to raid medicine cabinets as well as other things.  The presence of these social ties would hinder these kinds of actions from occurring as more and more individuals would be looking out for the welfare of each other.  These social ties would enable the use of programs such as neighborhood watch, something that is not very prevalent in these neighborhoods.

Growing up, I had programs in my school system designed to keep children out of trouble.  These programs were known as D.A.R.E AND G.R.E.A.T..  D.A.R.E. was focused around keeping the children informed about drugs and saying no.  G.R.E.A.T. was primarily focused on gang resistance education.  Both of these programs were aimed at improving the next generation and keeping children educated and out of trouble.  Often times these programs work when the children have the support of their peers and neighborhood.  This isn’t always the case when it comes down to the socially disorganized neighborhoods.  These programs often fail because the support is not there.  I know individuals who have grown up in these neighborhoods and hearing them tell stories of their childhood is absolutely terrifying.  I could never imagine having to look over my shoulder every second of every day that I decided to step foot outside. 

These neighborhoods are lacking many traits to be successful.  The differences you witness between the wealthier neighborhoods and those on the poverty stricken side are major.  There are many challenges that the residents of these neighborhoods have to face especially since it appears as if everything is designed to bring them down.    

Gangs Facilitating Commerce and Culture

I am a normal looking, clean cut, white male from the burbs of Chicago. Like, definitely the burbs, like I shouldn’t technically feel right telling people I’m from Chicago while traveling or otherwise. My family resides in a nice middle class home in a lovely neighborhood, my father works hard and makes a great living and has been able to support my mother, brother, and me since this family started. Under my designation as such, a white man in this very advantaged environment, privilege is something that has always been a part of my life, but something that I don’t realize all too often.

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, really brings to light some of the things that I couldn’t possibly grasp as reality having lived in the fashion that I have for my whole life. There were many things about living that had me convinced that that’s just the way it is, but in a reverse to Tupac’s version. In this version, I thought everyone could really stand a chance at living this very well-off life, and that that belief was irrefutable. However, I was wrong ok! And one thing that forms a large separation between what I have come to know in my privileged life and the disadvantaged life of urban black communities is the presence of gangs to make up for circumstantial shortcomings.

In the burbs where I have lived and grown up in, I have been able to find work without any bit of a problem, whether it is simple kid work or the chance to move up into managerial positions, I had that opportunity. In There Are No Children Here, people are living in an impoverished area where they don’t have much of a chance for upward mobility. With such little opportunity, young adults and even children would begin to integrate themselves into the gangs as a means of finding work. Jimmie Lee’s production alone was able to generate tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of profit each week. In a similar case to much of what we have assessed in terms of poverty over the course of this semester, people acted out of necessity and did what they had to in order to survive given the lack of options otherwise. In a course that I had taken on criminology in previous semesters, the notion of innovation was brought up, and that was what came to mind through much of this reading. In an attempt to make a solid living, people within the area surrounding the Henry Horner Homes had to innovate new methods in order to sustain themselves and keep a living. However ways that fall within this innovative schema are typically through criminality, as this was the case for the gangs that would sell drugs or commit theft in order to make that living.

Aside from just a way to make a living, institutions take on a different persona with respect to these black urban populations like those in the text as well. I had a recent experience where my brother and I were stopped by an officer for apparently following the car in front of us a little too closely. Before we knew it, our whole car was being searched (I promise, I’m clean, a beer or two or three is the limit for me) thoroughly multiple times. It was the first time that I ever really felt like the law wasn’t on my side, or there to protect me, for the first time, it felt like an officer was just fishing for ill intent on my part even. Appropriately enough, I found this intriguing in comparison to the reality of what happened in There Are no Children Here. The notion of police as a protective and service institution had failed. The police had treated urban black populations as an enemy to the point that the urban black community had to form its own system of protection. That protection was found in gangs, as they were seen as such by the people of the community. Where the law fell short of helping their situation, the gangs made up for it.

So in essence, the gangs of this area served as industry in order to generate some sort of money to make a living and protection and law enforcement since the law enforcement institution was not providing these means. A sort of counter culture is formed out of necessity based on the primary culture of the privileged. I have spoken often on the notion that black urban disadvantage stems from perceptions of culture on them as being a culture of poverty, and I will add further to that argument that gangs form out of necessity in this respect.

                 

An Evolving Civilization

After having presented on the first two chapters of Sampson's Great American City, I feel that it would be better, or at least more interesting for the poor souls forced to read my words, to expound upon his ideas in a more creative way rather than repeating what was said in class. I will do my best to do so, but first I think it is necessary to briefly explain globalization and Sampson's idea of placelessness.


Globalization is the idea that the world over is slowly becoming linked and connected often exemplified by impressive new advances in technology. The internet is the perfect example as it is both analogous to this and one of the greatest tools in furthering globalization. Through the internet people are able to communicate and exchange ideas across the entire globe. This video by Michio Kaku, an Astrophysicist of great note, explains the future of civilizations from a theoretical standpoint:

A type one civilization controls the entire planet, a type two civilization controls the energy output of a star, and a type three controls the energy output of a galaxy. He further states that we are a type zero, which means that we use dead plants to fuel ourselves, however, we aren't exactly zero. In fact, the internet is the beginning of a type one telephone (communication) system.


Further still, Michio Kaku explains how we also see world (or country) wide organizations such as NAFTA or the European union, despite our past differences, how the global language will likely be English due to the current world predominant power (America/Europe), and certain cultural things such as blue jeans and certain fashion styles. This is globalization. Much in the way that Sampson points out that certain things such as strip malls are seen all over.


The importance in clarifying this globalization is necessary in examining a city, because it is unlikely that there are any American (or first world) cities that do not adhere to it and, so long as society keeps advancing, the world over will one day be a single nation and people – this is the end game of globalization, and the birth of a type one civilization.




But we are examining cities and urbanization in our current time, so we will reduce our scope to examining the city. A community is built upon the corporeal and the incorporeal. A city is physically built with buildings; some of these are for economic interests, some of them are for cultural interests, some of them are for living quarters, etc.


The city is built in this physical sense. But there is also the people based aspect, or interest. This can be exemplified by the cultural or perhaps by the fact that (some) people value art or parks rather than what could be more economic space. This is the mental aspect, or psychological aspect, that people can likely not do without – much in the same way that people are “social animals” and need to communicate.


Placelessness is the idea that, because of technology and our modern age, anybody should be able to move anywhere they'd like. Sampson posits that it is because certain people cannot escape their situation, placelessness does not exist as it should, and, therefore, there is discrimination that prevents them from doing so. This is the reason there are certain hot spots for things such as crime, poverty, and immigration.


I feel strongly that it is monetary differences that prevent people from being placeless. The internet and other technology allows for a mental, incorporeal transfer to other places, provided one has access to it, but even then it's simply an “escape” rather than a better situation. As I said in our presentation, it's hard to be elsewhere mentally if you're starving physically.


While I don't personally disagree that there is some racism in the system and in people, it seems to me to be in the same vein as nostalgia and “the good old days” mentality that beguiles people. When asked, people would likely say that racism is worse than ever or certainly not better, but go back to the civil rights acts and it's undeniable better since then, and go back even further to the days of slavery and it's still more undeniably better. Once more, I am not saying it's ideal, but the ongoing trend is definitely a slow progress towards the end of racism.


That is not to say that racism will die off. Racism will probably always be a part of human life, but the distinct racism brought about by the dark history of America should only get better from here.

Is Wilson Relevant?

Robert J Sampson wrote about the progression of the neighborhood level effect and why it is still relevant today. He also mentions that stepping stones like William Wilson have contributed many things to neighborhood level studies. William Wilson contributed to the idea that social transformation of the 70’s and 80’s increased concentration of disadvantaged segments of the urban black population (Sampson 2012). Sampson also writes that what should be taken from Wilson is that racially based concentrations of poverty and joblessness have resulted from macro structural changes. With this I started to wonder, what makes Wilsons ideas more relevant today than it was when his book The Truly Disadvantaged was published. What I found was that modern data retrieved from a federally funded program, Moving to Opportunity, has provided support for some of Wilsons argument. Furthermore, the events of the last decade have made it seem that Wilson’s argument may not have actually been heard, but it’s really more relevant today.

        To give some history, the Move to Opportunity was a program that was framed to assess whether neighborhoods matter. It provided poverty level urbanites the chance to move to suburban areas with a condition. This neighborhood had to be at least 90 percent comprised of residents living above the poverty line. In an article featured within The Chronicle Review on higher education by Marc Perry, Robert J. Sampson was featured as explaining that the mixed picture appearing for this project is feeding broader topics about helping the urban underclass. Findings have indicated that families who moved to safer and better-off neighborhoods experienced reductions in obesity and diabetes while also showing less depression. However it did fail to indicate better earnings and job employment.

        Marc Perry brings up Wilson’s association with government and his influence. Having been involved with both Bill Clinton and Obama administrations, society has seen involvement of sociologists decline. Massey has even been quoted as stating that sociologists felt marginalized (Perry, 2012). Yet concentrated poverty after decreasing in the 1990’s has now started to rise again in the 20^th century. Perry argues that the new administration has lacked in bringing up racial issues within the urban areas and in fact downplayed them. With events in the last few years like Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner have shown an increase for information in administration about urban race issues. With rising concentration of poverty and main stream media issues of race, there has not been a more important time for scholars to address this stagnant issue.

        So I ask again, with declining influence within governmental policies and issues and the mixed results for whether the neighborhood matters or not, what makes sociology and Wilson’s arguments more relevant today. The simple matter is that neighborhood level effects had started to be shunned away from for fear of the ecological fallacy. Yet like Sampson points out the individualistic fallacy can’t be ignored either. It’s not that previous research isn’t valid, but that we need to properly frame questions and units of analysis. That still however doesn’t address the relevance of Wilson’s neighborhood level effect argument.

        To do this with the first two chapters, one must realize that a major proponent for the argument against is an ideas proposed by Wilson is this idea of placelessness. That we can be anywhere and nowhere because we are all preoccupied and liberated by technology. Sampson points out a stereotype of a girl who is always on here phone. To back this up, there have been videos of women on their phone walking into fountains, maybe that’s where he got the idea. Anyway while technology allows us to communicate to others around the globe, conduct business, pay bills, learn, order groceries and shop, etc., technology can’t make us placeless. In an urban community where crime is concentrated in specific areas it is simple to argue that Englewood is different than Oak Lawn, or that people in Boston speak different than people in California. A southern twang is influenced by place, not placelessness. So the argument against concentration effects and neighborhood level effects is fundamentally flawed. One can’t argue effectively that influence of area is negated by liberated tech. With that I leave with the thought that Wilson is relevant for studies today, but I’m excited to see where Sampson expands it.

Research methods-from Chicago to Darfur

                Sociology poses a problem in that, in trying to explain human behavior, it is one of the most corruptible and easily manipulated disciplines. Along with history and religion, Sociology has contributed to some horrible doctrines and practices, such as Social Darwinism and eugenics. The upside of this argument, however, is that Sociologists ultimately learn from their mistakes and most often have the advancement of all people at their core, unlike some (looking at you, Spencer and Galton.) One key point that Sampson makes about his analysis of ‘everything,’ seen through the lens of neighborhood effects, is that while he borrows much from the Chicago School of urban sociology, the amount and datedness of what he borrows is not of major consequence. He devotes an entire section of the second chapter to the roots of urban sociology and its players, as well as theories, but notes that he may not use any of the ideas depending on how well they explain the situation of enduring neighborhood effects in Chicago (as a microcosm/case study for cities.) He is not concerned with technicalities and arguments whether one should or should not use a theory because it is old-if it had been disproven, this may be something different, but he is open to using a range of theories to explain the phenomenon he sees. This seems like logical and sound Sociological practice, and is likely one of the reasons he has found such success-only by not binding one’s research can one be most effective. Another thing to note is that he collected data from the field as well as from statistics, which does not bind him in potentially unfair, ivory-tower-longstanding assumptions.

        In that vein, the introductory data that he presents also provides a useful method of conceptualizing neighborhood effects. This type of research may be useful across place, as he shows with his comparison of Chicago and Stockholm. While he is following the idea of ecological mapping, it reminded me of a similar research project I had done for independent study over the summer following my study abroad. (Yes, everything does have to link back to genocide and mass atrocities prevention, so be ready.) In asking the question of what motivated the Janjaweed (Arab nomads) to attack Black Africans in the Darfur genocide (which is still ongoing, by the way), I applied the greed versus grievance theory of political sociology. I used quantitative and qualitative data, and while one half of the research was based off of survivor testimony, the other half was from Global Imaging Systems (GIS) captured during the conflict. Through telescopes and cameras in space, much like google earth, one can see the amount of damage done to villages but also the amount of land that has been grazed over by cattle. In the Darfur genocide, these two images correlate with each other and are predictive of where an attack on a village has happened for the purpose of acquiring grazing lands for Arab nomads’ cattle herds. While this can be seen as the opposite of urbanity, it does support Sampson’s research methods and their application across areas of study in the discipline of Sociology.  Sampson deserves the notoriety that he has received for both his theory and research methods!

Nerd article that no one but myself is interested in showing the application of Sampson's research methods:

http://www.giscorps.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=63