Customer Reviews

The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Chances (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)

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Lots of books have been written about poor, black males in Chicago. There is the personal ("Our America"), the journalistic ("There Are No Children Here"), and the academic ("Slim's Table"). In this book, the author tries to analyze how 26 young, poor black men think, and not just what they do or the choices they make. He has some very counterintuitive findings.

As great as a book this is, reading it can be depressing to the nth degree. The interview subjects are just clueless about how society is organized and how the marketplace is changing. They come off as so naive and uninformed! This could really help fortify racist fallacies about black mens' intelligence.

Further, the people in power who are most interested in hurting black men could have a field day with this book. The subjects almost never say racism is a big deal. They blame themselves entirely for what has happened in their lives. They believe that a positive attitude will change all their woes. This type of "pull yourself by the bootstraps" lets racism and classism in American institutions off the hook.

Further, this book may hurt people who believe in or benefit from affirmative action. The author observes that those who have had the most exposures across races and classes are the most cognizant of racism and classism in this country. Many people might read this and say, "Well then blacks would be less angry at others if they didn't observe us." or "If diversity makes blacks bitter, they should not be exposed to it." etc. Thank goodness the Supreme Court already stated that affirmative action is legal in Michigan where the author works.

Speaking of Michigan, I am surprised that the author did not complete his study there. Like Chicago, Detroit has problems with segregation, unemployment, and post-industrialization. Why keep making Chicago look bad when many urban areas are hard places in which to live for African-American men?

Despite my critiques, I enjoyed this book. I actually do recommend it for antiracist activists and other progressive thinkers.