Abraham Attenoukon

Midterm
3-27-2012

The relationship between race, poverty, and youth violence in contemporary urban
America has developed an ongoing scholarly debate, which in turn has led to the creation of
various theories and concepts. These concepts and theories are aimed at explaining how race,
poverty, and youth violence are intricately related in determining the social outcomes of
individuals, families, and communities. In this class we have primarily discussed the theories and
concepts of, social capital, oppositional culture, code of the streets, social disorganization,
informal versus formal social control, concentration of poverty, deindustrialization, and culture of
poverty versus structural inequality. While all of these theories and concepts help to determine the
complex relationship between race, poverty and youth violence, it is my belief that the culture of
poverty versus structural inequality concept best explains this relationship because they
incorporates pieces of all of the other concepts and theories in their arguments.
In contemporary urban America, youth violence and poverty are concentrated amongst
members of the African-American community. This phenomenon raises many questions; the first
being, what has caused urban poverty and violence to essentially be viewed as characteristics of
the African-American community? It is in my opinion that in order to answer this question, we
must first look at structural inequality and the consequences that emerged for the black
community. Michelle Alexander points to a form of structural inequality that black people in
America continually face, through the brief history of a man named Jarvious Cotton (2010).
Jarvious Cottons’ great-great-grandfather could not vote because he was a slave, his great-
grandfather was murdered for attempting to vote, his father was prevented from voting due to
literacy test, and finally, Jarvious forfeited his right to vote after he became a convicted felon
(2010). This small example shows how the system has been adapted and restructured, in order to
prevent blacks from participating in the process of selecting policy makers. Structural inequality
has prevented blacks from equal housing, education, and job opportunities. In Bastards of the
Party, Cle “Bone” Sloan, references structural inequality when he stated that deindustrialization
prevented blacks from economic opportunities and helped to establish an oppositional culture
within the black community (2005). Michael Eric Dyson points out in his NPR interview that
these structural barriers are the primary causes that hold blacks back, rather than deficiencies
within the black community (Gordon,2005).
With structural inequalities firmly in place, many have argued that blacks have created a
culture of poverty. This supposed culture has prevented blacks from escaping poverty, and in
turn, influences violent criminal behavior amongst the black youth. Former assistant labor
secretary, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, described the urban black family as caught up in an
inescapable “tangle of pathology” of unmarried mothers and welfare dependency, which
attributed self-perpetuating moral deficiencies to the black community (Cohen, 2010). In a 2004
speech to the black community, Bill Cosby says, “what the hell good is Brown versus the Board
of education if nobody wants it”(Gordon, 2005) Through these words, Cosby is essentially stating
his belief that the African-American community has accepted a culture of poverty and
underachievement, despite the opportunities that are now available to them. Although, this theory
may see like it unfairly blames the victim, there is proof of shared beliefs, values, and norms
within a community, whether it is affluent or poverty-stricken. Patricia Cohen writes about a
research project carried out by Professor Robert J. Sampson, in which he dropped stamped,
addressed envelopes in various Chicago neighborhoods, in order to see how many would be
returned (2010). Ultimately he concluded that it was not necessarily levels of poverty that
determined if the letters would be mailed back, “but rather the community’s cultural norms, the
levels of moral cynicism and disorder” (2010).
The theories of structural inequality and culture of poverty both make valid arguments
concerning the reason for the black communities continued struggles. However, there are
weaknesses to both these arguments, and they lie within the other. The structural inequality
argument shows weaknesses when one is to consider the leaps and bounds that black community
has made, in terms of rights, since the civil rights era. For example, we have Brown v Board,
Affirmative Action, and even a black president. It is no longer appropriate to blame the
shortcomings of the black community entirely on structural issues, not only because of the
progress that has been made, but also due to examples like the Harlem Children’s Zone. The
Harlem Children’s Zone shows how despite intervention to increase the quality of poor inner-city
blacks education, there was still minimal levels of progress being made. For example, a New
York Times article by, Sharon Otterman stated that only 15 percent of seventh graders, who were
in their third year at one particular charter school, passed the 2010 state English test (2010). Some
may argue that culture is responsible for these shortcomings, but one only needs to look at the
structure of public schools to see that culture arose in response to the inadequate structure
provided to these black communities.

Throughout the urban areas of the United states there is currently a pervasive problem of
youth violence, particularly within the African-American community. Many theories have been
proposed such as, social capital, social disorganization, informal/formal social controls, and
oppositional culture, in attempt to understand why youth violence effects the black community
more than any other group. In response to these theories, I have come up with a theory of my
own, which I call collective learned pessimism. My theory is based on the idea of learned
helplessness. The premise of this idea is that individuals who experience continual hardships will
eventually accept those hardships without fighting back, and when the opportunity to escape
these hardships arises, they will no longer care to try to escape their condition.
The theories of social capital, social disorganization, informal/formal social control,
social isolation, and oppositional culture all hold the assumptions that there is a lack of common
values and beliefs amongst members of a community. However I believe that black people in
America who have the shared history of slavery, have over time developed a collective notion that
they will always be treated as second-class citizens, regardless of any progress being made. This
belief is based in personal experience and in the previously stated theories used to explain urban
violence. Whereas, the other theories suggest that a lack of cohesiveness leads to individual
decisions on how a family or individual socializes with the surrounding community, my theory
suggest that a cohesive belief amongst the black poor has developed differential avenues of
coping with their condition.
If I use my own experiences, growing up in the crime-laden community of Park Heights,
in West Baltimore, I noticed that my family approached poverty with optimism, while most of the
people I encountered lived lives based on pessimism. My parents were immigrants from Africa,
making me and my 6 siblings first generation African-Americans. Since my parents did not grow
up in America during the civil rights struggle, nor did any of their immediate family experience
the cruel racism that has existed through our nations history, my siblings and I were not raised
with a sense that our blackness would be a hindrance to our social mobility. I do not mean to
suggest that we were any better than African-Americans whose families have been here for
generations, but rather that the lack of the shared experience of slavery and oppression gave us a
clean slate.
I call my theory collective learned pessimism because I believe that African-Americans,
who have the common history of slavery and oppression, have learned to distrust the system and
that is what has lead to fragmentation within black communities. This is key because many of the
other theories fail to see a collective belief system amongst the black urban poor, because they
concentrate more on how families and individuals have coped with their situations. For example,
if we take a look at the theories of social disorganization, and informal social control, we see that
social disorganization theory suggest that crime and disorder are directly attributable to a lack of
social control at the neighborhood level. The suggestion is that individuals in these socially
disorganized communities, do not self-regulate their community because they do not hold
common beliefs and goals. I would argue the opposite, that they do share common beliefs and
goals, but they have become so pessimistic, that many believe that their responsibility is only to
worry about their own advancement, and not those around them. This concept applies to both the
families who would consider themselves decent, as well as to those families considered to be
street oriented (Anderson, 2000).
Going back to my comments earlier regarding my belief that being a first-generation
African American is different from being an African-American whose history is riddled with
strife and oppression, let us consider the role of social capital. Social capital theory also suggest
that the lack of common values in the black community has led to limited social capital, and or
the inability to effectively utilize whatever capital that may be available. Here again I would
disagree that there is a lack of common values because most black urban families desire to go to
good schools and to have friends with influence. The true problem is that they have either
completely lost faith in the capital around them to bother to utilize it or they have placed their
faith in social capital that has failed them.
For my family, although my siblings and I grew up poor, my mother found a way to make
sure that all seven of us have gone to college, although she did not. In her mind, there were
opportunities out there to take advantage of, regardless of the hardships that may have to be
encountered in order to posses these opportunities. I contrast my personal situation with what I
observed watching the Boys of Baraka documentary. Through the examples shown in the film, we
see that there were many parents that desired to see their children succeed. These parents were
willing to send their kids to Africa in hopes that it would help their children escape poverty.
However, when the program is ended, many of the parents are in despair, rather than optimistic
about the possibility of finding another avenue to properly educate their children. The difference
between my situation and the examples in the film, is not that my family was better or necessarily
more resourceful, but rather that my family has not yet learned to be pessimistic concerning the
available social capital.
This collective pessimistic attitude amongst the urban black poor has had adverse affects
on their communities because there is a dog-eat-dog mentality, that even the decent families are
aware of. The other theories fail to recognize that there was an initial point of collective
pessimism, that instead of uniting the black poor, has led them to believe that all people are their
competitors, especially those people relegated to their same fate.

In this class we have read and viewed a variety of books, articles and films related to the
topic of the prevalence of youth violence within poor urban black communities. These books,
articles, and films have all given insight into the various concepts discussed in this class such as,
social capital, code of the streets, culture of poverty, and structural inequality. While all of these
materials have contributed to our discussions, I believe that a few stand out, primarily because of
the innovative and insightful ways they approach the concepts of black youth violence. For the
book category, I give my award to The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. For the film
category, I give my award to Bastards of the Party, Finally, for the article category I give awards
to Culture of Poverty Makes a Comeback, by Patricia Cohen, and Successful Parenting in High-
Risk Neighborhoods, by Robin L. Jarrett.
The book, The New Jim Crow, tells the story about how the structure of society has
changed from the formal discrimination of Jim Crow laws to a system of mass incarceration. This
new system is in place to maintain the status-quo and ensure the disenfranchisement of African-
American youth. Alexander makes a bold suggestion in her book, that the war on drugs that
began in the early 1980’s was not in response to a crack-cocaine problem, but rather a deliberate
attempt to rob poor black people of their liberty. She goes on to provide evidence that the
government knowingly allowed massive amounts of cocaine to be introduced into poor inner-city
neighborhoods so that they could justify the mass incarceration of blacks, which in turn alienated
poor blacks from available social capital and economic opportunity (2010). With millions of
black people being convicted of drug related felonies, the black community lost many of its
leaders and the ability to participate normally in the larger society. Her book receives my award
due to the bold statements that she makes concerning the problem of mass incarceration in the
black community, as well as the meticulous evidence she uses to prove her points.
The documentary film, Bastards of the Party was one of the most insightful films that I
have ever seen regarding any topic. I was completely unaware of many of the truths revealed in
the film, from the testimony of many people that this society has deemed criminals and unworthy
of many basic rights. In the film, Cle ‘Bone’ Sloan says, when did the black community switch
from the unity of the mid-nineteenth century to the black on black crime that we are so familiar
with today. This was a question that I did not have the answer to and that many never even
bothered to consider. However, through the film we are given many insights into how black gangs
were originally created and the method by which they became the violent organizations that they
are today. For instance, we are told that many of the black gangs were originally formed as
support groups against white oppression,. When these groups began to gain positive power and
influence over the community, government agents intervened to create strife amongst the groups,
which helped to foster a culture of violence. The film goes even further to discuss concepts such
as deindustrialization and its impact on the black community and the prevalence of gang activity.
Of all the films that we have viewed related to this class, none are as comprehensive or as diligent
in uncovering the truth behind black youth violence.
The article, Culture of Poverty Makes a Comeback, discusses a topic that many have
sought to avoid due to the controversial notion that black poor people are somewhat responsible
for their condition. Although, the structural problems that have obstructed the social advancement
of inner-city blacks is well documented and discussed, few have discussed the contributions of
black poor people themselves to their continued inferior social status. The article does not suggest
that there is necessarily a conclusive culture amongst inner-city blacks, but that there are common
values and levels of moral cynicism amongst black communities that determine how they view
and participate in the larger society (Cohen, 2010). I give this article an award because, it
addressed the familiar structural problems facing poor blacks, while simultaneously admitting
that culture plays a role in their condition.
The article, Successful Parenting in High-Risk Neighborhoods is insightful because of the
examples that it provides to other black parents of ways to successfully raise their children in
neighborhoods and communities that provide little to no assistance. This article resonates with me
personally because I feel that my mother had to be a super-mom in order to make sure that we did
not succumb to our surroundings. There is a part of the article that suggest that many inner-city
parents desire to see their children succeed academically, but acknowledges that only a small
minority of these parents are willing to make the sacrifices that are necessary in order to make
that desire a reality. Instead of chastising these parents, this article almost serves as a positive
example from which other parents can emulate. Like all of the other books and articles that
received my award, this article addresses the well known structural problems, but provides
alternative ways to raise inner-city black children, despite the existing obstacles all poor black
parents face. I give this article my award because it shows that perseverance and optimism can
lead to positive outcomes.

References

Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New
York: New Press

Anderson, E. (2000, c1999). Code of the street :decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner
city. New York : W.W Norton
Cohen, P. (2010, October 17). Culture of Poverty Makes a Comeback. The New York Times.

Gordon, E. (Host). (2005, May 11). Michael Eric Dyson and 'Is Bill Cosby Right'. NPR News.

Otterman, S. (2010, October 12). Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Problems. The New
York Times.

Sloan, C. (Director).(2005). Bastards of the Party.[Documentary]. HBO [United States].