Problem of the Century : Racial Stratification in the United States

In 1899 the great African American scholar, W.E.B. DuBois, published The Philadelphia Negro, the first systematic case study of an African American community and one of the foundations of American sociology. DuBois prophesied that the color line would be the problem of the twentieth century. One hundred years later, Problem of the Century reflects upon his prophecy, exploring the ways in which the color line is still visible in the labor market, the housing market, education, family structure, and many other aspects of life at the turn of a new century. The book opens with a theoretical discussion of the way racial identity is constructed and institutionalized. When the government classifies races and confers group rights upon them, is it subtly reenforcing damaging racial divisions, or redressing the group privileges that whites monopolized for so long? The book also delineates the social dynamics that underpin racial inequality. The contributors explore the causes and consequences of high rates of mortality and low rates of marriage in black communities, as well as the way race affects a person's chances of economic success. African Americans may soon lose their historical position as America's majority minority, and the book also examines how race plays out in the sometimes fractious relations between blacks and immigrants. The final part of the book shows how the color line manifests itself at work and in schools. Contributors find racial issues at play on both ends of the occupational ladder―among absentee fathers paying child support from their meager earnings and among black executives prospering in the corporate world. In the schools, the book explores how race defines a student's peer group and how peer pressure affects a student's grades. Problem of the Century draws upon the distinguished faculty of sociologists at the University of Pennsylvania, where DuBois conducted his research for The Philadelphia Negro. The contributors combine a scrupulous commitment to empirical inquiry with an eclectic openness to different methods and approaches. Problem of the Century blends ethnographies and surveys, statistics and content analyses, census data and historical records, to provide a far-reaching examination of racial inequality in all its contemporary manifestations. Cover Title Page, Copyright Page Contents Contributors Chapter 1. The Sociology of Race in the United States Chapter 2. Ethnic Change in Macro-Historical Perspective Chapter 3. Immigrant-Black Dissensions in American Cities: An Argument for Multiple Explanations Chapter 4. Who Speaks for Women? Racial Exclusivity, Feminist Ideology, and the Dilemmas of Constituency Chapter 5. Race, Stratification, and Group-Based Rights Chapter 6. The Population Dynamics of the Changing Color Line Chapter 7. The African American Population, 1930 to 1990 Chapter 8. The Fading Dream: Prospects for Marriage in the Inner City Chapter 9. Quality of In-Patient AIDS Care: Does Race Matter? Chapter 10. Socioeconomic Status and Segregation: African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in Los Angeles Chapter 11. Do Racial Composition and Segregation Affect Economic Outcomes in Metropolitan Areas? Chapter 12. Segregation and Violent Crime in Urban America Chapter 13. Gender, Race, Local Labor Markets, and Occupational Devaluation Chapter 14. Working Steady: Race, Low-Wage Work, and Family Involvement among Noncustodial Fathers in Philadelphia Chapter 15. The Social Situation of the Black Executive: Black and White Identities in the Corporate World Chapter 16. Race and Ethnic Differences in Peer Influences on Educational Achievement Index

Referring to W.E.B. DuBois' contention that race would be the problem of the 20th century, Anderson (social sciences, U. of Pennsylvania) and Massey (sociology, U. of Pennsylvania) present 16 articles that explore the myriad ways that DuBois' prediction continues to resonate at the beginning of the 21st. After exploring theoretical and conceptual issues about the construction of racial identities and how concepts of race interact with other social constructions such as gender, class, and nationality; fundamental demographic issues are explored including the relative paucity and inaccuracies of data on race in America, the data on marriage in the inner cities, and the high rate of mortality among African Americans. Finally, geographic issues of segregation are explored and specific processes of racial stratification in employment and education are discussed.

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"In 1899, the great African American scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, published The Philadelphia Negro, the first systematic case study of an African American community and one of the foundations of American sociology. Du Bois prophesied that the "color line" would be "the problem of the twentieth century." One hundred years later, Problem of the Century reflects upon his prophecy, exploring the ways in which the color line is still visible in the labor market, the housing market, education, family structure, and many other aspects of life at the turn of a new century."--BOOK JACKET.