Black Picket Fences : Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class [Paperback]

Mary Pattillo-McCoy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226649296 | ISBN-13: 978-0226649290 | Publication Date: November 1, 2000 | Edition: 1

Black Picket Fences is a stark, moving, and candid look at a section of America that is too often ignored by both scholars and the media: the black middle class. The result of living for three years in "Groveland," a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, sociologist Mary Pattillo-McCoy has written a book that explores both the advantages and the boundaries that exist for members of the black middle class. Despite arguments that race no longer matters, Pattillo-McCoy shows a different reality, one where black and white middle classes remain separate and unequal.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is the product of a three-year ethnographic study of Groveland, a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. Sociologist Patillo-McCoy challenges the myth that a thriving black middle class has relocated to white suburban neighborhoods, abandoning the black underclass in inner-city wastelands. She demonstrates that the majority of the black middle class are living in black communities, which encompass poor black neighborhoods. As a result, a vulnerable, underemployed black middle class has to contend with inadequate public schools and high crime and poverty rates. Patillo-McCoy focuses on Groveland's multigenerational families, primarily its youth, and neighborhood networks, concluding that the future advancement of African Americans will require that the black middle class be factored into the debate on policies regarding affirmative action, segregation, and poverty. For specialized collections in African American studies, urban studies, and sociology.ASherri Barnes, Long Island Univ. Lib., Brooklyn
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Black Picket Fences is a stark, moving, and candid look at a section of America that is too often ignored by both scholars and the media: the black middle class. After living for three years in "Groveland," a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, sociologist Mary Pattillo-McCoy has written a book that explores both the advantages and the boundaries that exist for members of the black middle class. In the face of arguments that race no longer matters, Pattillo-McCoy shows a different reality, one where black and white middle classes remain separate and unequal.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226649296
• ISBN-13: 978-0226649290
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proper Streets: Growing up in Groveland, December 5, 2001

By 

andy hall (durham, nc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class (Hardcover)

Members of Duke University's Sigma Nu fraternity are thugs. At least, one could get that impression from walking by their section and hearing such musical selections as "Baby I'm a Thug" and "Nothin' but a G Thang" that are frequently boom from within. Adopting parts of the gangsta persona for well-monied groups of future investment bankers and may be relatively consequence free but may not be the case for many youths in Chicago's South Side. This is one issue that Mary Pattillo-McCoy addresses in her ethnographic study of the middle class residents of the South Side's Groveland community, Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among The Black Middle Class.

Black Picket Fences is in part a response to what Pattillo-McCoy characterizes as the research pendulum of socio-economic studies of blacks having "swung to the extreme." That is, despite the large body of research focusing on the black population, the overwhelming majority further focuses on the less affluent portions of the population, having largely other segments the black population. However, research and knowledge of the black middle class is vitally important because, as Pattillo-McCoy points out, these are the people who are supposedly living the lives that our government and society has envisioned for all blacks following the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.

In the book, the author emphasizes the prevalence and importance of spatial orientation of racial communities. Pattillo-McCoy utilizes census data to show that in Chicago and most other metropolitan areas, black communities are concentrated in "black belts" surrounded by tracts of predominantly white communities. On the periphery of these black belts are often middle-income black communities that serve as a buffer between white communities and low-income black communities.

This picture, though, is not static through time. Pattillo-McCoy reveals a game of racial cat-and-mouse in which middle class black families are chasing their white counterparts. The pattern starts when a black family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood. Whites begin leaving the area, and soon the area is predominantly middle class black. Then lower income blacks migrate into the area, creating a mixture of economic statuses within the community. Such is the case in Groveland.

One concern that arises from her heavy reliance on census data, though, is the possibility of generalization. This is especially troublesome in light of the high socio-economic diversity of many black communities that Pattillo-McCoy describes. This is not as much in relation to her Groveland study area, but the other South Side communities that the author details in chapters one and two.

The implications of living in such an economically diverse community are large, especially for adolescents. Pattillo-McCoy points out that the appeal of deviance to teenagers cuts across racial and class lines, the motivations and accessibility of deviant behavior are often very different. In Groveland, a teenager is constantly confronted with realities of gang life and drug use because gang members and drug users are a large part of the Groveland community. In fact, most teenagers have acquaintances who are in gangs or who know gang members. This means that a part of the teenager's social network probably participates in gang behavior and drug use, making him or her both easy access and social reinforcement for such activities. This is less often the case for middle class whites, who often reside in homogenous neighborhoods where gangs and drugs are less common.

McCoy also emphasizes that today's young Groveland residents are much downward social mobility than previous generations of Groveland residents and middle class whites outside of Groveland.

There are often family and community security mechanisms to help Groveland residents. It is relatively common for divorced or resource-limited mothers to move in with her own parents. The grandparents help in parenting by supervising children, changing diapers, and serving as role models for children. Also, many families in Groveland are third or fourth generation residents, so most people in the community have long-standing social connections to other residents. These connections often prevent wrong-doers from targeting others in the community, and the familiarity helps potential targets feel more comfortable around people they perceive as being criminals, because in all likelihood they know each other or other's parents or children.

McCoy shows how individual Groveland residents deftly navigate between "street" and "decent" parts of their social networks by code and persona switching. Chief among these is William "Spider" Waters, a marijuana-smoking gang member who works two jobs with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Groveland Park, respectively. At the exchange, he speaks proper English, goes by Will, and works on his days off. In Groveland, he speaks Black English, goes by Spider, and "kicks it" with his friends. Tyson Reed, former Groveland gang member, student at Grambling University, and aspiring lawyer, points out the even though he talks about school, grades, and academic things, he doesn't broach the subjects of grades or Albert Einstein with his friends from the ghetto.

This book has wide-ranging relevance. It is enriching academic reading for students in sociology, cultural anthropology, and ethnographic studies. More importantly, though, this book is very important to American citizens in general. This book is about their neighbors and illustrates injustices that take place within America's borders. If the American social ideal of racial integration is to ever become a reality, the American public needs to be more informed about why integration is taking so long, why middle class citizens are still socially constrained, and what unjust situations are being perpetuated within America's borders. Black Picket Fences gives a very personal, very compelling answers to these queries. It is certain that the situations that exist in Groveland exist elsewhere in America and quite probable that they exist outside of America, too. Therefore, this book comes highly recommended to everyone.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh and insightful analysis and perspective!, October 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class (Hardcover)

A remarkable achievement for a young scholar of any ethnicity or cultural/social background. The fact that the author is young and Black is, however, inspiring. In this reviewer's opinion, the author offers insights and analyses, particularly as it relates to the complexities and complications of middle class, Black youth choices and outcomes, not heretofore provided in previous ethnographic studies. Anyone interested in gaining new or additional insights about why different outcomes may result among Black youth from similar backgrounds and circumstances should read this book.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Major Work, October 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class (Hardcover)

This is perhaps the most significant book on the black middle class since Wilson's Declining Significance of Race. The Author gives us a community study at par with Streetwise, Getting Paid, and Street Corner Society. Through this book, black neighborhood are transformed into multi-dimensional communities, rich with institutions and networks. Truely a balanced view, which goes beyond books like the Truely Disadvantaged (although both deal with the same community). Most importantly, the author reminds us of the link between structural factors and race. The content of the book should not be overlooked, and the conclusions regarding the need to maintain race-based affirmative action, even for middle class blacks, should influence every policymaker in the country.