Customer Reviews

There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America

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Aside from the irritating and unnecessary practice of using fake names for the neighborhoods explored (a basic knowledge of Chicago and access to Wikipedia makes it easy to figure out which neighborhoods they are), this is a solid ethnographic exploration of race and class in four very different South and Southwest Side Chicago neighborhoods. The researchers participated intensively in neighborhood life and are able to reveal the consistently racist (sometimes shockingly so) attitudes that whites and Latinos carry around with them. The field work was done from 1993 to 1995 - not during the racial upheavals of the '60s and '70s - so it's sobering to see that naked racism is alive and well in one of the most segregated cities in the country.

The authors' analysis of the problems is much weaker. They do a good job comparing the varying degrees of racial tension among the neighborhoods and finding explanations for this variation in both the racially-structured competition over resources and the very American confusion of racial difference with class inequality. Yet they don't go deeper into the social structures that actually create these dilemmas.

They regard competitive racial identities and the existence of class as almost forces of nature that can never be eliminated, and their prescriptions are therefore remarkably timid: increase federal funding for city programs and try to convince privileged urban and suburban citizens that extending aid to the poor will help the metropolitan area as a whole economically and socially.

This may be an attractive agenda to the policymakers who see nothing fundamentally wrong with the severe inequalities and social tensions produced by a racially stratified neoliberal capitalism. But to those who believe that breaking down racial boundaries and ending class divisions are both possible and urgent tasks, a more ambitious program will be necessary.

The authors gathered results of information collected by researchers in four Chicago area neighborhoods over the past many years. Unfortunately, the outcome is a rather surface descriptive of racial and ethnic and class interaction among Black, Hispanic and White populations. There are several simple PowerPoint-like graphs comparing sizes of ethnic populations; but, beyond that, important statistics are few, relevant quotes from residents and officials are wanting...and actual differences between the neighborhoods are sketchy at best. Although Wilson and Taub do describe relevant differences about four outlying sections of the city (which are miles apart), a dry "sameness" pervades each of the chapters on each of the neighborhoods.

Maybe it's that I'm Chicago-familiar, but I was invariably wondering why the real names of the neighborhoods had to be hidden for this book. As I read, I often tried to figure out exactly where each of the places were/are as there are no such neighborhoods as "Beltway," "Dover," "Archer Park," "Groveland." The authors alert readers to the name-changes; yet, they don't say why this might have been necessary in a serious book of this sort. "Racial, Ethnic and Class Tensions" explained? -More like "described." --Not a bad work. I learned a few things but expected much more detail in what was an overly compact, quick read.

Often it is Institutional Review Board at the University from which the research was conducted that requires names be changed. It is not always the desire of the researcher to do so, but they must follow all IRB requirements.

An institutional review board (IRB), also known as an independent ethics committee (IEC) or ethical review board (ERB) is a committee that has been formally designated to approve, monitor, and review biomedical and behavioral research involving humans with the aim to protect the rights and welfare of the research subjects. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (specifically Office for Human Research Protections) regulations have empowered IRBs to approve, require modifications in planned research prior to approval, or disapprove research. An IRB performs critical oversight functions for research conducted on human subjects that are scientific, ethical, and regulatory.

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After figuring out the names of the real neighborhoods from the census data (which I thought was unnecessary to hide there names, so here they are: Beltway = Clearing, Dover = Brighton Park, Archer Park = Little Village, and Groveland = Avalon Park), I thought the descriptions the tensions in the neighborhood were fairly accurate and unbiased. The authors' analysis and conclusions, however, lacked insight. They also unnecessarily ranted on the Bush Administration. Their prescription for integrating neighborhoods was basically form multiracial coalitions and throw a ton of Federal money at the problem. Overall, I'm excited that these parts of Chicago are being investigated but unimpressed by the level of scholarship.

I'm about 3/4's through the book, but I feel like I've read enough to offer an objective review. I like the book and found it an interesting look at society and racial views and attitudes in neighborhoods. I just wish the researcher had been able to name the real neighborhoods, but I understand why the names were changed.

Overall, if you're looking for well-written, detailed research on how views on class and race are changing neighborhoods this is a book for you.

OMG!!!!! I was excited when I had to read this book for a class, but angered when I read this little nugget of racism, and by racism I mean by the author's views against any one who isn't himself. He points out over and over how people wanting to keep their neighborhoods in "good Shape" is racism, but praises the 98% black neighborhood of Groveland for doing the same things as the other races...! UGGHHH a terrible book, its people like Wilson who keep real racism alive!

The book contained informative information which I could relate to within my community and surrounding areas.

dry, sociological analysis of 5 southwest chicago suburbs---reads a bit like an academic dissertation, but interesting in its conclusions.