Limited Visions of Race Relations and the Problems of Race, Societal Organization, and Public Policy

Revisiting Wilson this week reminded me of his central argument on the state of inequality and condition of the urban underclass, that the framework of contemporary inequality has its foundations in economics rather than race . In recent weeks’ readings in Massey and Denton we have primarily focused on the impact of discriminatory policy and racial segregation in access to housing and the influence this has had on the dynamics of urbanization. Wilson has issues with this perspective. While assistive programs have specifically focused on blacks and segregation policies have been uplifted, Wilson asserts a race relations view and war on poverty policies have inadequately addressed the true issues at hand especially economic inequality (1987). In this chapter he again revisits common discourse surrounding urban dislocations and considers both the conservative and liberal perspectives. According to Wilson the introduction of war on poverty policies in the wake of the civil rights movements were expected to be to the advantage of blacks living in poverty. However a worsening economic state of these communities concurrent with the introduction of assistive programs created a platform for conservative criticism of welfare and a stance of “culture of poverty” in explaining the plight of the urban underclass. There has been some consideration of structural factors by scholars in the past however. Contrary to the “victim blaming” approach, Wilson references the work of Kenneth Clark, Lee Rainwater, and Elliot Liebow which provides “a comprehensive analysis of the deleterious structural conditions that produce [features associated with the underclass]” (1987: 127). Wilson continues however by suggesting that a new explanation for the “black condition” competed with these scholars work; the idea of racial solidarity among blacks was rising and challenging interracial cooperation. This aspect of inequality I believe is often overlooked. In the wake of the civil rights and late 1960s, Wilson suggests these racial solidarity sentiments emerged as a result of a lack of progress; although the civil rights movement had uplifted discriminatory law and policy, racist sentiment sustained a “we versus them” dichotomic discourse (1987). With attention directed towards tension between race, Wilson suggests little consideration was given to economic factors in shaping social dislocations but instead discussions have been directed towards addressing the behaviors of the poor. I think this point is very well taken and relevant in contemporary discussions on inequality. Although race certainly plays a role in inequality, as demonstrated in Massey and Denton’s work, Wilson asserts that both perspectives have wrongly considered the role of race in inequality. Most central to this argument is the idea that even  the liberal perspective, which has largely relied on defending the rights of minorities and advocating for alleviating racial inequalities, has overlooked the economic factor and overemphasized the role of race (1987). I would agree with Wilson that there are larger structural considerations necessary in understanding urban inequality, however I don’t think the work of Massey and Denton and the idea of racial segregation can be ignored as well.

Wilson, William Julius. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press