Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If I could cite one statistic that inspired this book, it would be the following: in 1994, the median white family held assets worth more..." (more)
Key Phrases: parental net worth, primary residence equity, other illiquid assets, African Americans, United States, Social Security (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Many of the socioeconomic differences between blacks and whites in the U.S. have been attributed to differences in income. Several years ago, though, sociologists Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro suggested in their book Black Wealth/White Wealth that net financial assets can be used as a better indicator of the opportunities available to blacks and whites. Conley, an assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Yale, goes way beyond this basic premise to argue that many of the inequities that exist between the two races are the result of gaping differences in accumulated family wealth. Moreover, he shows that when wealth is held constant, many differences diminish. Conley analyzes the reasons blacks own so much less property than whites. Without denying the impact of other factors, he suggests that his findings have major implications for social policies ranging from affirmative action to the privatization of social security. This book is based on Conley's dissertation, which was named best graduate thesis for 1996 by the American Sociological Association. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

What is more important--race or class--in determining the socioeconomic success of the blacks and whites born since the civil rights triumphs of the 1960s? When compared to whites, African Americans complete less formal schooling, work fewer hours at a lower rate of pay and are more likely to give birth to a child out of wedlock and to rely on welfare. Are these differences attributable to race per se, or are they the result of differences in socioeconomic background between the two groups?

Being Black, Living in the Red demonstrates that many differences between blacks and whites stem not from race but from economic inequalities that have accumulated over the course of American history. Property ownership--as measured by net worth--reflects this legacy of economic oppression. The racial discrepancy in wealth holdings leads to advantages for whites in the form of better schools, more desirable residences, higher wages, and more opportunities to save, invest, and thereby further their economic advantages.

Dalton Conley shows how factoring parental wealth into a reconceptualization of class can lead to a different future for race policy in the United States. As it currently stands, affirmative action programs primarily address racial diversity in schooling and work--areas that Conley contends generate paradoxical results with respect to racial equity. Instead he suggests an affirmative action policy that fosters minority property accumulation, thereby encouraging long-term wealth equity, or one that-while continuing to address schooling and work--is based on social class as defined by family wealth levels rather than on race.

Dalton Conley is Assistant Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies at Yale University.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520216733
• ISBN-13: 978-0520216730
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #585,817 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read, September 19, 2001

By	lizardcub "lizardcub" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This book is both meticulous and very clearly written. Every time I had, while reading Conley's analysis, a nagging question in the back of my head, he went on to address it in far more detail than had even occurred to me.

Perhaps because of this thoroughness, _Being Black, Living in the Red_ fundamentally altered the way I think about certain social policies, and about race and wealth in general. It also interested me in sociology of inequality, a field about which I had known nothing. The book is incredibly informative about a matter of great public importance, but I appreciated that Conley seemed wary of overstating his case. I truly felt I was getting an honest, and extremely skillful, evaluation of the evidence.

Under the circumstances, I'd be hard pressed to do anything but advise you to read this book at the first chance you get.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Significant Thinking, July 12, 1999

By	"lalalarue" (Boston MA) - See all my reviews

What would the USA be like today if former slaves had were given the elusive "40 acres and a mule"? How are the black poor in America different from the white poor everywhere? Although I haven't yet read this book, I am familiar with the dissertation on which it was based. This book is a definate must read for anyone with an interest in poverty, ethnic studies or our modern power structure. Conley successfully anayzes the connection between poverty and property that will no doubt leave many readers with a fresh perspective on the hows and whys of many "underclass" issues. I am anxiously to read this updated version.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any serious human being in today's world., April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This is a compilation of hard data that answers the author of the "Bell Curve." Conley rephrases old arguments about wealth and race. In this book, he puts stereotypes of the African American to rest.