Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T20:07:29.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

WHAT WE FACE

Framing Problems in the Black Community1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2012

Nicole Arlette Hirsch  and
Anthony Abraham Jack
Nicole Arlette Hirsch*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Harvard University
Anthony Abraham Jack
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Harvard University
*
Nicole Arlette Hirsch, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, 541 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Email: nahirsch@fas.harvard.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While many sociological studies analyze the causes, conditions, and mechanisms perpetuating American racial inequality, the literature on how African Americans understand and explain these inequalities is less developed. Drawing on 150 interviews with middle-class and working-class African American men and women, this paper analyzes inductively how respondents define and conceptualize the most pressing obstacles facing their group when probed on this question. We find that middle- and working-class respondents alike identify the problem of racism as the most salient obstacle facing African Americans. Class differences appear with respect to what other obstacles are singled out as salient: while middle-class respondents focus on lack of racial solidarity among Blacks and economic problems (in this order), working-class respondents are more concerned with the fragility of the Black family followed by the lack of racial solidarity. This analysis discusses the relevance of considering how groups make sense of obstacles, and of racism and discrimination in particular, for the study of destigmatization and antiracist strategies of stigmatized minorities.

Keywords

African AmericansSocial ProblemsRacismSolidarityEconomicsBlack Family
Type
Special Feature
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Spring 2012 , pp. 133 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

The authors would like to thank Michèle Lamont, Jessica Welburn, Crystal Fleming, Ann Morning, Mark Warren, and Nissim Mizrachi for their helpful comments and suggestions. The data was collected under the project “African-American Responses to Racism and Discrimination,” funded by the National Science Foundation (grant number SES-0701542; Michèle Lamont, PI). Earlier drafts of this paper were presented at the conference “Responses to Discrimination and Racism: Comparative Perspectives,” held at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, on April 10, 2010; at the 2011 Meeting of the Association of Black Sociologists in Las Vegas, NV; and at the 2011 Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas, NV.

References

REFERENCES

Bobo, Lawrence D. (2001). Racial Attitudes and Relations at the Close of the Twentieth Century. In Smelser, Neil J., Wilson, William Julius, and Mitchell, Faith (Eds.), America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences, pp. 262–299. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence D. (2004). Inequalities that Endure? Racial Ideology, American Politics, and the Peculiar Role of Social Science. In Krysan, Maria and Lewis, Amanda E. (Eds.), Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity, pp. 13–42. New York: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence D. and Charles, Camille Z. (2009). Race in the American Mind: From the Moynihan Report to the Obama Candidacy. Annals of the American Association of Political and Social Science, 621: 243–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence D., Charles, Camille Z., Krysan, Maria, and Simmons, Alicia (Forthcoming). The Real Record on Racial Attitudes. In Marsden, Peter V. (Ed.), Social Trends in the United States 1972–2000s: Evidence from the General Social Survey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence D. and Dawson, Michael C. (2009). A Change Has Come: Race, Politics, and the Path to the Obama Presidency. Du Bois Review, 6(1): 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2009). Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers and Cooper, Frederick (2000). Beyond Identity. Theory and Society, 29(1): 1–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, Prudence L. (2003). “Black” Cultural Capital, Status Positioning, and Schooling Conflicts for Low-Income African American Youth. Social Problems, 50(1): 136–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, Camille (2006). Won't You Be My Neighbor? Race, Class, and Residence in Los Angeles. New York: Russell Sage FoundationGoogle Scholar
Collins, Patricia Hill (1990). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Employment. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Conley, Dalton (1999). Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Dawson, Michael C. (1994). Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Edin, Kathryn and Kefalas, Maria (2005). Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Feagin, Joe R. (1991). The Continuing Significance of Race: Antiblack Discrimination in Public Places. American Sociological Review, 56(1): 101–116.Google Scholar
Feagin, Joe R. and Sikes, Melvin P. (1994). Living With Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Fleming, Crystal, Lamont, Michèle, and Welburn, Jessica (2012). Responding to Stigmatization and Gaining Recognition: Evidence from Middle Class and Working Class African-Americans. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(3): 39–53.Google Scholar
Furstenberg, Frank (2007). The Making of the Black Family: Race and Class in Qualitative Studies in the Twentieth Century. Annual Review of Sociology, 33: 429–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gans, Herbert J. (1995). The War Against the Poor: The Underclass and Antipoverty Policy. New York: BasicBooks.Google Scholar
Hochschild, Jennifer (1995). Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (1996). The Individual, Society, or Both? A Comparison of Black, Latino, and White Beliefs about the Causes of Poverty. Social Forces, 75(1): 293–322.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (2007). African-American, Hispanic, and White Beliefs about Black/White Inequality, 1977–2004. American Sociological Review, 72(3): 390–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, John L. Jr. (2001). Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Richard (2008). Social Identity, 3 ed.New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kinder, Donald R. and Sanders, Lynn M. (1996). Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kirshenman, Joleen and Neckerman, Kathryn M. (1991). We'd Love to Hire Them, But … : The Meaning of Race for Employers. In Jencks, Christopher and Peterson, Paul E. (Eds.), The Urban Underclass, pp. 203–234. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Krysan, Maria (2000). Prejudice, Politics, and Public Opinion: Understanding the Sources of Racial Policy Attitudes. Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 135–168.Google Scholar
Lacy, Karen R. (2007). Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lamont, Michèle (2000). The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lamont, Michèle and Bail, Christopher (2005). Sur les frontières de la reconnaissance: Les catégories internes et externes de l'identité collective. Revue Européenne des migrations internationales, 21(2): 61–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamont, Michèle and Fleming, Crystal (2005). Everyday Anti-Racism: Competence and Religion in the Cultural Repertoire of the African American Elite and Working Class. Du Bois Review, 2(1): 29–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamont, Michèle and Mizrachi, Nissim (2012). Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, One Step at a Time: Responses to Stigmatization in Comparative Perspective. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(3): 2–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Link, Bruce G. and Phelan, Jo C. (2001). Conceptualizing Stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27: 363–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loury, Glenn (2002). The Anatomy of Racial Inequality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Loury, Glenn (2003). Racial Stigma: Toward a New Paradigm for Discrimination Theory. The American Economic Review, 93(2): 334–337.Google Scholar
Major, Brenda and O'Brien, Laurie T. (2005). The Social Psychology of Stigma. Annual Review of Psychology, 56: 393–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Massey, Douglas and Denton, Nancy (1993). American Apartheid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
McLanahan, Sara and Sandefur, Gary (1994). Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick (1965). The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.Google Scholar
Pager, Devah (2007). Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pager, Devah and Shepherd, Hana (2008). The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. Annual Review of Sociology, 34: 181–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pattillo, Mary (2000). Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among the Black Middle Class. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, Becky and Western, Bruce (2004). Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration. American Sociological Review, 69(2): 151–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pew Charitable Trust Foundation (2007). Blacks See Growing Values Gap between Poor and Middle Class: Optimism about Black Progress Declines. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.Google Scholar
Quillian, Lincoln (2006). New Approaches to Understanding Racial Prejudice and Discrimination. Annual Review of Sociology, 32: 299–328.Google Scholar
Smith, Sandra and Moore, Mignon (2000). Intraracial Diversity and Relation among African Americans: A Case Study of Feelings of Closeness among Black Students at a Predominantly White University. American Journal of Sociology, 106: 1–39.Google Scholar
Steensland, Brian (2006). Cultural Categories and the American Welfare State: The Case of Guaranteed Income Policy. American Journal of Sociology, 111(5): 1273–1326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census (2011a). Current Population Survey, 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of the Census (2011b). Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2011). Economic News Release: Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Race, Sex, and Age. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics. ⟨http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm⟩ (accessed September 1, 2011).Google Scholar
Waters, Mary C. (1999). Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welburn, Jessica and Pittman, Cassi L. (2012). Stop “Blaming the Man”: Perceptions of Inequality and Opportunities for Success in the Obama Era Among Middle Class African-Americans. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 35(3): 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, William Julius (1976). Power, Racism, and Privilege. New York: First Free Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, William Julius (1978). The Declining Significance of Race. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, William Julius (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, William Julius (1997). When Work Disappears: World of the New Urban Poor. New York: Vintage Press.Google Scholar
Wimmer, Andreas (2008). The Making and Unmaking of Ethnic Boundaries: A Multilevel Process Theory. American Journal of Sociology, 113(4): 970–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Alford A. Jr. (2004). The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Chances. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zubrinsky, Camille and Bobo, Lawrence D. (1996). Prismatic Metropolis: Race and Residential Segregation in the City of Angels. Social Science Research, 24: 335–374.Google Scholar