In More than Just Race, Wilson (2009) tried to investigate the correlation between factors that contribute to social inequality in the US; that is, social structure and social culture in African-American culture . Social structure “is the way social positions, social roles, and networks of social relationships are arranged among institutions (such as the economy, the politics, education and organization of the family)” (Wilson, 2009) . On the other hand, culture “is the sharing of outlooks and modes of behavior among individuals who face similar place-based circumstances or have the same social networks” (Wilson, 2009) .
Wilson starts by investigating two critical cultural forces, namely national views and beliefs on race and cultural traits. According to Wilson (2009), intra-group interactions formed as a result of discrimination and segregation share similar cultural traits such as traditions, worldviews, etc. due to the sharing of collective experiences. Given that racism has been pre-dominant in the African-American community, the majority of Americans have developed racism prejudices against blacks.
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Additionally, Wilson also investigates on two social structure forces; that are, social acts and social processes. Social acts are behaviors that individuals portray within societies, such as discrimination and stigmatization. On the other hand, social processes are “ ’machinery’ of society that exists to promote ongoing relations among members of the larger group ” that includes laws and policies meant to discriminate people based on their ethnicity backgrounds (Wilson, 2009).
Concentrated poverty can be defined as all neighborhoods in which more than forty percent of the residents are poor; that is, they are below the federal poverty-line ( Shapiro, Murray & Sard, 2015) . According to Wilson (2009), political/economic forces influence racial inequalities within the communities. In the US, societies are divided based on their levels of opportunities. Also, “laissez-faire” racism, which consists of prejudices and stereotypes blaming African-Americans for their societal predicaments, is also viewed as a source of concentrated poverty. Moreover, segregation in the housing subsidization program in the US has also contributed economically to the concentration of poverty ( Wilson, 2009) . On the other hand, political forces that influence the concentration of poverty include making policies based on ethnicity backgrounds.
The inner cities seem to be experiencing a lot of problems, and especially in the African-American communities. This pushed Wilson (2009) into researching the influences of social structure and culture on these problems and how these forces can be used to end high poverty rates in these communities. Wilson (2009) argues that while conservatives focus on cultural forces, liberals, on the other hand, focus on social structures. Wilson claims that the liberals are against the idea that cultural factors contribute to problems witnessed in the inner circles due to fears of being criticized for blaming the victims in these cycles.
Thus, Wilson developed a framework comprising of cultural and structural factors used in analyzing problems in the inner-city ghetto. For instance, Wilson highlighted some cultural norms in African-American communities, such as avoiding eye contact. Such norms might be considered as anti-social behaviors in another context, such as while being interviewed for a job vacancy, one is required to maintain eye contact with the interviewer; thus, such norms might make one lose job opportunities.
Ethnicity backgrounds and poverty lines shape the cultural frames of inner cities. Consequently, these cultural frames determine how residents in these inner-cities respond to poverty. Behaviors and social relationships in these communities are molded around the “codes of shady dealing” (Wilson, 2009). For instance, these communities have "rules of the street," which are to be respected regardless of the situation; thus, when employment opportunities arise, such individuals, fail to turn up to avoid breaking these street rules. This argument is supported by Smith (2007) investigating the high number of jobless in black individuals. Smith also found that these individuals were fond of influencing their ability to get hired because of cultural forces.
However, despite Wilson’s emphasis on the incorporation of culture in investigating problems in the inner-city ghetto, he still believes that “Structure trumps culture” (Wilson, 2009). Thus, for an effective analysis of problems in the inner-city, Wilson recommends a balance between these two forces by uniting them in fighting poverty.
I tend to agree with Wilson’s work that despite claims that racism no longer exists in America, it still impacts the lives of minorities in one way or the other and also believes that social structures are the contributors to inner-city problems. Additionally, the political and economic forces affect the lives of every American citizen. For instance, due to globalization, medium-waged employment opportunities have decreased significantly, and this is being felt by every American in that class; however, it is believed that African-Americans are affected more. Therefore, social structures and culture are just part of the equation that contributes to problems experienced in the inner-cities. Hence, Wilson concludes that black poverty is less affected by racism and puts forward that other factors, such as changes in the labor market that are to blame for these predicaments.
Additionally, Wilson also supports the notion of public education on issues on racial issues. Thus, despite supporting the liberals who argue that social structures are the primary causes of problems in inner-city problems, Wilson’s research also provides information on conservative’s views on cultural issues that are also associated with problems witnessed in the inner cities; hence, this research is not biased.
References
Shapiro, I., Murray, C., & Sard, B. (2015). Basic Facts on Concentrated Poverty. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Policy Futures .
Smith, S. S. (2007). Lone pursuit: Distrust and defensive individualism among the black poor . Russell Sage Foundation.
Wilson, W. J. (2009). More than just race: Being black and poor in the inner city (issues of our time) . WW Norton & Company.
