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American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass 1st Paperback Edition
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This powerful and disturbing book clearly links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities.
American Apartheid shows how the black ghetto was created by whites during the first half of the twentieth century in order to isolate growing urban black populations. It goes on to show that, despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, segregation is perpetuated today through an interlocking set of individual actions, institutional practices, and governmental policies. In some urban areas the degree of black segregation is so intense and occurs in so many dimensions simultaneously that it amounts to "hypersegregation."
The authors demonstrate that this systematic segregation of African Americans leads inexorably to the creation of underclass communities during periods of economic downturn. Under conditions of extreme segregation, any increase in the overall rate of black poverty yields a marked increase in the geographic concentration of indigence and the deterioration of social and economic conditions in black communities. As ghetto residents adapt to this increasingly harsh environment under a climate of racial isolation, they evolve attitudes, behaviors, and practices that further marginalize their neighborhoods and undermine their chances of success in mainstream American society. This book is a sober challenge to those who argue that race is of declining significance in the United States today.
- ISBN-100674018214
- ISBN-13978-0674018211
- Edition1st Paperback Edition
- PublisherHarvard University Press
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1993
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.14 x 0.78 x 9.25 inches
- Print length312 pages
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Editorial Reviews
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“Richly documented ... A splendid book. American Apartheid explores a topic that many of us have come to take for granted, presents a fascinating array of data that have never been assembled in one place and compellingly argues that segregation is crucial to understanding what has happened to [urban] blacks.”―Charles Murray, Times Literary Supplement
“In the meticulousness of its research and the density of its arguments, [American Apartheid] stands well apart from even the best-argued and most amply documented books by journalists on racial problems.”―Nathan Glazer, New Republic
“Essential reading for anyone interested in the causes, and possible cures, of urban poverty.”―Roberto M. Fernandez, Contemporary Sociology
“An incredibly readable book that must be studied by all Americans―liberal and conservative, black and white.”―D. K. Jamieson, Choice
About the Author
Nancy A. Denton is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York.
Product details
- Publisher : Harvard University Press; 1st Paperback Edition (January 1, 1993)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 312 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0674018214
- ISBN-13 : 978-0674018211
- Item Weight : 12 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.14 x 0.78 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #648,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #93 in Regional Geography
- #2,150 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)
- #2,285 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Douglas S. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Formerly he was the Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-author of American Apartheid (Harvard University Press, 1993), which won the Distinguished Publication Award of the American Sociological Association. He has written widely on topics pertaining to race, segregation, and social inequality. In addition to his American Apartheid, his books include Categorically Unequal and Spheres of Influence (both published by the Russell Sage Foundation) as well as Climbing Mount Laurel (Princeton University Press), which won the Paul Davidoff Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
Massey has also published extensively on Mexican immigration, including the books Return to Aztlan (University of California Press, 1987) and Miracles on the Border (University of Arizona Press, 1995). The latter book, co-authored with Jorge Durand, won a 1996 Southwest Book Award. Also coauthored with Jorge Durand are the books Crossing the Border (Russell Sage Foundation, 2004) and Beyond Smoke and Mirrors (Russell Sage Foundation 2002). The latter won the 2004 Otis Dudley Duncan Award for the best book in social demography. His most recent book on immigration is Brokered Boundaries, coauthored with Magaly Sanchez (Russell Sage Foundation 2010).
Massey has also served on the faculty of the University of Chicago where he directed its Latin American Studies Center and Population Research Center. He is also formerly a director of the University of Pennsylvania's Population Studies Center and chair of its Graduate Group in Demography. During 1979 and 1980 he undertook postdoctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1978. Massey is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Academia Europea. He is Past-President of the Population Association of America, the American Sociological Association, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
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Customers find the book easy to read and well-written. They find the information interesting and thought-provoking, describing it as eye-opening and disturbing.
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Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They appreciate its clear writing style and expose the issue of housing.
"...EXCELLENT READ!!" Read more
"American Apartheid is brilliantly written and exposes the evil of housing segregation in this country. The facts are stunning and disturbing...." Read more
"One of the best books that I've ever read about racial residential segregation in the USA...." Read more
"I needed this book for my Urban Problems class and it reads pretty well!" Read more
Customers find the book thought-provoking and eye-opening. They say the information included is interesting and disturbing.
"...This is one of the most important and eye-opening books I have ever read. It is a must-read and I highly recommend it." Read more
"The first few of chapters of American Apartheid are very thought provoking...." Read more
"It arrived quickly and in good condition. It was very informative, but, it constantly repeats itself chapter by chapter...." Read more
"Very interesting information included in this book." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2020Massey and Denton provide a detailed look into the discrimination that developed within the housing market. This book also explains HOW and WHY such egregious practices came about. EXCELLENT READ!!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016American Apartheid is brilliantly written and exposes the evil of housing segregation in this country. The facts are stunning and disturbing. You can clearly see some of the causes of inequality and the wealth gap. American Apartheid is referenced frequently in books, articles, and bibliographies. This is one of the most important and eye-opening books I have ever read. It is a must-read and I highly recommend it.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2015One of the best books that I've ever read about racial residential segregation in the USA. If you want to know how racial residential segregation came to be, how and why it has been so destructive for black people, and how it continues to persist despite the end of legal segregation, then this is the book for you
- Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2010"American Apartheid" is excellent.
It pulls back the curtain on the real-estate industry's malfeasance vis-a-vis black Americans. And, more importantly, it reveals the systemic collusion of local, state and federal gov't in said matter. All of them acted as "dis"-honest brokers who, for half a century, targeted blacks for ghetto-ization in the form of urban (Indian-like) reservations.
Housing discrimination - A metastatic aspect of racism which has befouled the land for 145 years.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2019This is a comprehensive, yet snapshot, of America’s contempt for the global majority and how she is hell bent on sustained hate of others.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2013The first few of chapters of American Apartheid are very thought provoking. It negates any illusion of a harmonious society of equality for all ethnicities in America.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2018Documents facts we all want to deny. Essential.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2016I needed this book for my Urban Problems class and it reads pretty well!





