Black Corona [Hardcover]

Steven Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History | Publication Date: April 6, 1998

In this study, Steven Gregory examines political culture and activism in an African-American neighbourhood in New York City. Using historical and ethnographic research, he challenges the view that black urban communities are "socially disorganized." Gregory demonstrates instead how working-class and middle-class African Americans construct and negotiate complex and deeply historical political identities and institutions through struggles over the built environment and neighbourhood quality of life. With its emphasis on the lived experiences of African Americans, the book provides a fresh contribution to the study of the dynamic interplay or race, class, and space in contemporary urban communities. It questions the accuracy of the widely used trope of the dysfunctional "black ghetto," which, the author asserts, has been often deployed to depoliticize issues of racial and economic inequality in the United States. By contrast, Gregory argues that the urban experience of African Americans is more diverse than is generally acknowledged and that it is only by attending to the history of politics of black identity and community life that we come to appreciate this complexity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gregory employs the discipline of anthropology to penetrate the many myths and cliches that obscure the dynamics of black life in an urban community. Corona is the perfect subject for his investigation.... Black Corona is ideal for the community organizer, neighborhood historian, or academic.... [A] well-researched and beautifully written study." -- Bill Batson, New York Amsterdam News

"Gregory gives an up-close look at community organization in a black middle-class community that defies stereotypes by outsiders about urban pathology and the disorganization and chaos that are supposed to exist in black neighborhoods." -- Booklist

"[Gregory] investigates class within race, race within place, and place within politics. . . . [He] makes important points about the structuring of black identities in reaction to racial, class, and gender hierarchies. . . ." -- Mary Pattillo-McCoy, American Journal of Sociology

From the Back Cover

"Gregory's great insight is to focus on the ways in which the dynamics of class and race inform the actual patterns of daily struggle in real communities. Black Corona represents a significant contribution to the study of contemporary black urban life."--Manning Marable, Professor of History and Director, Institute for Research in African-American Studies, Columbia University

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; 1St Edition edition (April 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691017395
• ISBN-13: 978-0691017396
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,424,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars shows why race & gender are important to consider, May 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Corona (Hardcover)

This book does a good job at showing the influence politics plays on race & how people perceive themselves in class & society. Gregory discusses the overlap of class & ethnicity while steering thoughts far away from stereotypes. He gives a historical representation to show how thoughts have shifted over time to where they are now.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Treatment of Black Neighborhoods and Politics, September 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Corona (Paperback)

This is a refreshing look at neighborhood politics in the black community. Issues of class are explored more fully than in other studies, and the role of gender and diversity are also explored.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an honest ethnography, May 4, 2009

By 

Lisa G. Cunningham (Fairfax, Virginia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Corona (Paperback)

This ethnography was fairly educational (about Corona's history) but an extremely dry read. The setting is Corona in NY (near or in Queens) and about the "war on race" and the "war on poverty" post war through the 1960s/70s. I did not enjoy this text at all. If you want to read about the genesis of the concept of "race" I suggest reading some Molnar or Brace.