The argument that the problems that the black community experiences are a result of deficiencies of \u201cblack culture\u201d is one that has been prominent throughout decades of sociological research on racial inequality. Prominent sociologists like William Julius Wilson and, perhaps most notably, Daniel Patrick Moynihan have embraced this theory, arguing that persistent racial inequality is a result of the breakdown of the black family and a \u201ctangle of pathology.\u201d These arguments are individualistic, focusing on personal responsibility and putting some of the blame for black poverty on blacks themselves. However, it is important to remember the role that structural forces play in not only racial inequality but also the \u201ctangle of pathology\u201d that Moynihan references.<\/p>\n
The decision that many black youth in urban ghettos and even the middle-class neighborhoods that Mary Pattillo describes in Black Picket Fences<\/em> to sell drugs or join gangs can be seen as an effort to gain the respect of others. Other pathways to \u201crespect\u201d as it would be earned in white communities\u2014like doing well in school or getting a high-paying job\u2014weren\u2019t available to them because of the spatial mismatch of jobs and under-resourced schools. Thus, because of structural forces affecting their communities, the ways in which black teenagers attempted to gain esteem among their peers differed from those of white teenagers. As Jamelle Bouie wrote in the article about DeSean Jackson and black social mobility, \u201cYouthful experimentation for a white teenager in a suburb might be smoking a joint in a friend\u2019s attic. Youthful experimentation for a black teenager might be hanging out with gang members.\u201d This is not because \u201cblack culture\u201d values different things than \u201cwhite culture,\u201d but because of the differing context of white and black neighborhoods\u2014i.e., structural forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The argument that the problems that the black community experiences are a result of deficiencies of \u201cblack culture\u201d is one that has been prominent throughout decades of sociological research on racial inequality. Prominent sociologists like William Julius Wilson and, perhaps most notably, Daniel Patrick Moynihan have embraced this theory, arguing that persistent racial inequality is … Continue reading Respect and the \u201cBlack Culture\u201d Argument<\/span>