Locked in the Poorhouse: Cities, Race, and Poverty in the United States [Hardcover]

Fred R. Harris (Editor), Lynn A. Curtis (Editor), Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (Contributor), Elliott Currie (Contributor), Greg J. Duncan (Contributor), Paul A. Jargowsky (Contributor), Molly Martin (Contributor), James M. Quane (Contributor), Bruce H. Rankin (Contributor), Gary Sandefur (Contributor), William L. Taylor (Contributor), Thomas Wells (Contributor), William Julius Wilson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0847691357 | ISBN-13: 978-0847691357

Thirty years ago we had riots in the city streets. Then-President Johnson convened the Kerner Commission to examine the reasons why, and it concluded that the U.S. was "moving towards two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal." Today, the city streets are populated more variously and suffering more quietly, but more people in U.S. cities are poorer now than ever before. As this book shows, U.S. cities are becoming poorhouses for blacks and Hispanics, and city life incubates hopelessness borne of un- and underemployment, criminal victimization, and racial discrimination, especially against nonwhite males.
In an update of the original Kerner Commission report, the high profile authors represented here say they know what works and what doesn't in solving the problems of minorities in the city. To close what has been called "the millennium breach" between and among the races, we as a society must re-commit ourselves to basic principles and public and private programs geared toward more and better jobs, employment training, early childhood education and quality care, inner city economic development, and crime and drug prevention, among other priorities so essential to improving the quality of life for all in American cities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the aftermath of urban disorders in scores of U.S. cities between 1965 and 1967, President Johnson convened the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, commonly known as the Kerner Commission. . . . Locked in the Poorhouse is an assessment of what has happened in the ensuing three decades. Contributors, many of them well-known and respected scholars, show that the conditions that gave rise to the riots of the 1960s have grown worse. . . . Several of the contributors point to the indifference and inaction of the federal government in furthering these destructive trends. The final chapter by Lynn A. Curtis contains a series of intelligent recommendations on how to reverse course, along with a discussion of obstacles that must be overcome and how to fund the programs and policies he recommends. (Choice )

Provides both a good history leading to the Kerner Commission and a good review of what has transpired in the intervening years. (Patricia W. Ivry Families In Society )

This well-researched collection of essays is recommended for university courses concerned with race, poverty, and urban problems. (John W. Critzer Ethnic And Racial Studies )

A compilation of essays by noted experts. (America @ Work )

Locked in the Poorhouse is an impressive and scholarly collection of writings and essays examining American cultural and economic conditions which have given rise to incidents of urban social unrest in the past. This book is very highly recommended and thoughtful reading for students of Urban Studies, Black Studies, and the study of American race relations as impacted by the 1968 Kerner Commission report. (The Midwest Book Review )

Fred Harris and Lynn Curtis have done us a great service by compelling us again to look unflinchingly into the heart of the American dilemma. This book is strong, pragmatic, eloquent, courageous, and unfashionably persistent in pursuing answers to the unresolved agenda of our incomplete and deeply compromised democracy. Enormously important. (Jonathan Kozol )

This volume, with contributions from a cluster of the most progressive social scientists in the U.S., charts what went wrong in the 30 years since the Kerner report's publication. The contributors outline their own bold programme for the future. These are as progressive a set of policies as we have heard in a long while. (Community Care )

This book is well-organized and the nine chapters provide evidence to support the major thesis. It is well-researched and readers will have no difficulty in following the main ideas in each chapter which brings home to the reader the true situation of the various racial and ethnic groups in America. The bibliography is comprehensive and appropriate quotations are used to support points where necessary. The book gives valuable insight into the causes of poverty, inequality, exclusion and oppression. In addition, it points to methods, policy and programmes to deal with the problems of inner cites and equality of opportunities particularly in multi racial communities. (Social And Economic Studies )

About the Author

Fred R. Harris is a former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma and a former member of the Kerner Commission. He is currently professor of political science at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and has authored or edited fifteen books including Quiet Riots: Race and Poverty in the United States.

Lynn A. Curtis is president of the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, the "keeper of the flame" for the work begun by the Kerner Commission in 1968. He is a former urban policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, former director of President Carter's Urban and Regional Policy Group, and author or editor of nine books. He is based in Washington D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (December 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847691357
• ISBN-13: 978-0847691357
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,120,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful reading for students of Urban Studies, March 19, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Locked in the Poorhouse: Cities, Race, and Poverty in the United States (Paperback)

Locked In The Poorhouse: Cities, Race, And Poverty In The United States is an impressive and scholarly collection of writings and essays examining American cultural and economic conditions which have given rise to incidents of urban social unrest in the past. The contributors include Fred R. Harris (The Kerner Report Thirty Years Later); Greg J. Duncan and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (Urban Poverty, Welfare Reform, and Child Development); Gary Sandefur, Molly Martin, and Thomas Wells (Poverty as a Public Health Issue: Since the Kerner Report of 1968); William Julius Wilson, James M. Quane, and Bruce H. Rankin (The New Urban Poverty: Consequences of the Economic and Social Decline of Inner-City Neighborhoods); Paul A. Jargowsky (Urban Poverty, Race, and the Inner City: The Bitter Fruit of Thirty Years of Neglect); Elliott Currie (Race, Violence, and Justice since Kerner); William L. Taylor (Racism and the Poor: Integration and Affirmative Action as Mobility Strategies); and Lynn A. Curtis (Policy for the New Millennium). Locked In The Poorhouse is very highly recommended and thoughtful reading for students of Urban Studies, Black Studies, and the study of American race relations as impacted by the 1968 Kerner Commission report.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars separation or imagination, September 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Locked in the Poorhouse: Cities, Race, and Poverty in the United States (Paperback)

This book was informative and helped to gain a better understanding of how things were thirty years ago and why the Kerner Commission was needed. The commission was seeing a separation of the United States into a black society and a white society. As these two societies were becoming unequal, the commission was hoping to fix the separation and bring together the United States as one.
The author feels as though the level and the separation amongst black and white Americans is worse today than when the Kerner Commission was convened. This book gives several statistics showing the fact that poverty in the U.S. is worse than in many other developed countries. However, the author appears to focus mostly on the separation of the two societies and the fact that the U. S. is not taking responsibility for the African Americans and Hispanics in poverty. The book covers how the author feels the U. S. should act in this situation, and the things that could be done in order to improve this poverty stricken area. There seems to be no mention of actions the people in the areas could take in order to help themselves out, which is an area that needs to be addressed. The book places the blame on the rest of society, when in fact the people living in poverty also need to take steps in order to ensure their security will improve in the future.
The author uses many statistics in order to get this point across, when in actuality, the statistics get so in depth, they just become confusing and therefore are almost meaningless. The book would be much more effective if stories were given, maybe some true life accounts. These stories would help to eliminate the second problem with the book, the extreme bias. The author appeared to be completely biased to the people in these poverty areas and toward African Americans. In one part of the book, the author designated himself to be the example of black children in poor schools; this bias causes a dramatic tone and could cause readers to tune out the message that is given.
Credit is due to the items dealing with schools and the improvements that need to be made. The areas describing smaller classrooms, and stressing the importance of the class work are things that need to be done in order to improve schools, as well as the economy as a whole. The highlight of this portion is the idea that parents need to take a more active part in their children's learning. This is a great idea and one that should be taken up again.