Racial Segregation

By using this data, the effects of racial segregation within neighborhoods may be seen in the comparison of the black and white middle class. Of the black middle class, “half of all black children born between 1955 and 1970 into middle class families grew up in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods” (49). The same could not be said of their white middle class counterparts, of which the percentage of children raised in highly disadvantage neighborhoods approached zero. The highly segregated neighborhoods have left black communities isolated within or around the inner-city, so much so that the “vice-district” may become synonymous with the “black district.”
The Mainstream. Not only is it important to understand the disadvantage created by segregated …show more content…
Where this difference from the mainstream is most pronounced is in the black youth’s view of masculinity. In this respect the old generation and the new greatly differ. To show how this masculinity manifests itself, an integrated school with middle class black youth was observed. In this suburban school away from the ghetto, the parents of the black youth showed all the standard parenting styles as the white parents; Patterson notes that these parents of the black youth were more engaged with the school than the white parents. Academically, the black girls performed as expected in their advantaged position; nearly all of them went onto college. The black girls, like the white girls and boys, were admired and popular for their success academically; black boys recognized the necessity of education and its use practically. However, no black boy was popular for his academic success. Instead, they were made popular by excelling at the black male identity. This consisted of a cool pose and a walk that signaled “strength, control, lack of emotion verging on the point of indifference, fearlessness and toughness, a preoccupation with black music, a demonstration of prowess in terms of sexual conquest” (pg 59), athleticism and success at fighting. Their most common activity was chillin’, which consisted of multiple hours every day taking turns rapping and flirting with passing girls. Another important aspect was their clothes; there was a necessity for wearing the correct brand, often the most expensive. The worst faux pas a black boy could commit was to wear “fake,” such as Fruit of the Loom. This strong emphasis on the black masculinity was most prominent in those who failed academically; the enactment of black masculinity in its all-consuming time demands and tremendous rewards in popularity undermined the academic achievement of even those boys who showed they could

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