The Truly Disadvantaged by William Julius Wilson
"The Truly Disadvantaged" by William Julius Wilson explores the complex socioeconomic issues faced by the African American population in the United States, particularly those living in urban poverty. Wilson, an influential African American sociologist, discusses the persistent challenges of violence, unemployment, and educational disparities, arguing that these issues have intensified despite government efforts to combat racial discrimination and alleviate poverty. He critiques the notion that individual choices alone explain the persistence of poverty, instead highlighting how economic and cultural shifts have shaped attitudes and behaviors within marginalized communities.
Wilson emphasizes the impact of structural changes in the labor market, which disproportionately affected African Americans, leading to increased rates of female-headed households and a decline in traditional family structures. He contends that social isolation, rather than a "culture of poverty," is a significant factor hindering economic mobility. The book advocates for race-blind policies aimed at improving opportunities for all low-income Americans, alongside a call for comprehensive economic strategies to foster sustained employment and growth in disadvantaged areas. Wilson's insights have spurred further research into these critical issues, making his work a vital contribution to understanding the dynamics of poverty and race in America.
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Subject Terms
The Truly Disadvantaged by William Julius Wilson
First published: 1987
Type of work: Cultural criticism
Form and Content
Wilson is a highly respected African American sociologist. He writes in a dispassionate and analytical manner about sensitive issues involving the poverty component of the United States’ African American population. These issues include violent crime; childbearing among young, unmarried women; poor education and low job skills; and unemployment and nonemployment.
Wilson highlights the disturbing fact that, after significant government efforts to eradicate racial discrimination and after the initiation of the so-called War on Poverty in 1964, the various pathologies associated with African American poverty became more prevalent. Acknowledging that racism remains far from being eradicated, Wilson insists that the persisting poverty in the United States does not arise significantly from racism. He is also very critical of the “individualist” style of economic analysis, represented by Charles Murray, which finds the roots of the problem in the poor attitudes and poor choices of individual persons. In Wilson’s view, attitudes and choices are not ultimate data but arise from underlying economic and cultural changes in society. He cites abundant evidence that government welfare programs did not contribute significantly to the proliferation of female-headed households and out-of-wedlock births.
Wilson does not flinch from examining the data on the pathologies contributing to African American poverty, beginning with violent crime. Even before the impact of the “War on Drugs,” the rate of African American imprisonment in 1984 was six times that of imprisonment among whites, and half of all arrests for violent crime involved African American perpetrators—and almost always African American victims.
The proportion of U.S. households headed by females rose rapidly after 1965. Wilson notes that “46 percent of black children under eighteen years of age resided in families whose incomes were below the poverty level in 1983, and three-fourths of those were in families headed by females.” Wilson was writing before the outpouring of data showing the high probability of delinquent behavior among both boys and girls raised in fatherless households.
In Wilson’s view, much of the rise in the number of female-headed households and the decline in the rate of marriage among African Americans can be attributed to the condition of the labor market. Unemployment rates in the United States increased substantially during the 1970’s, more so for African Americans than for whites. Structural declines afflicted manufacturing sectors (such as automobile manufacturers) that had traditionally employed many African Americans. The shifting distribution of employment increased opportunities for the well educated, while limiting the chances of workers who had not advanced beyond high school. Employment declines were substantial in the nation’s inner cities.
Inner-city populations changed. African American professionals and those in the middle class migrated to suburbs where job opportunities were expanding. The urban centers abandoned by these demographics lost their stabilizing influence. Crime, poverty, and delinquency in downtown neighborhoods increased. Inner-city schools deteriorated just as the premium placed on education increased. The migration of young African Americans to inner cities from the rural South enlarged the age cohort most prone to violence and criminality. Black women encountered a worsening shortage of eligible black marriage partners, as measured by their employment and income.
Wilson does not accept the “culture of poverty” arguments associated with Oscar Lewis that imply that a poverty-based lifestyle becomes endemic and persistent. Rather, he feels there develops “social isolation,” in which low-income people are out of contact with real work, marriage, and constructive civic institutions. He feels that measures such as affirmative action do little to overcome the disadvantages facing low-income African Americans. If anything, such measures have produced a bifurcation of outcomes, in which only the better-educated African Americans are able to improve their economic status relative to whites. Low-income African Americans would benefit more, Wilson believes, if more emphasis were placed on race-blind measures to improve life opportunities for all low-income Americans.
Wilson favors
a general economic policy that would involve long-term planning to promote both economic growth and sustained full employment, not only in higher-income areas but in areas where the poor are concentrated as well. Such a policy would be designated to promote wage and price stability, favorable employment conditions, and the development and integration of manpower training programs with educational programs.
He stresses the advantages of a tight labor market, in which demand for labor exceeds the supply. Wilson feels that social-welfare programs in Western Europe are superior to those in the United States, in part because they are universal and thus enjoy wider popular support. In particular, family allowances are paid on the basis of number and age of children, without regard to family income.
Critical Context
Wilson’s work helped stimulate a great expansion of research into minority economic problems. Wilson accepted a prestigious appointment to Harvard University, was cited by Time magazine as one of the twenty-five “most influential Americans” in 1996, and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1998. His subsequent books include When Work Disappears (1996) and There Goes the Neighborhood (with Richard P. Taub, 2006).
His writings have been criticized for unduly downplaying the continuing influence of racism on African American economic conditions. He also felt obliged to comment in later writings on the fact that many unskilled immigrants seemed to fare better than did African Americans born in U.S. ghettos. The immigrants were less prone to form single-adult child-raising households, were more likely to develop support and information networks (experiencing less “social isolation” than African Americans), and were better located.
A valuable perspective on Wilson’s work can be found in The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture, by Bakari Kitwana, the editor of The Source, a periodical focused on the overlaps of music, culture, and politics. The book affirms the persistence of the problems highlighted by Wilson but adds the recent development of expressions in music and films of defiant attitudes celebrating many of the attitudes underlying those problems.
Bibliography
Anderson, Elijah, and Douglas S. Massey, eds. Problem of the Century: Racial Stratification in the United States. New York: Russell Sage, 2001. Praises and extends Wilson’s emphasis on geographic factors, particularly in urban neighborhoods.
Darity, William, and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. Persistent Disparity: Race and Economic Inequality in the United States Since 1945. Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, 1998. Two African American economists examine the data on racial income inequality, finding more evidence of racism than Johnson found.
“Discrimination in Product, Credit, and Labor Markets.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 12, no. 2 (Spring, 1998): 23-117. Collects six articles that provide much detailed evidence on the forms and extent of racial discrimination in U.S. markets.
“Economic Inequality Among Racial and Ethnic Groups.” In Economic Report of the President. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1998. Notes that inequality within racial and ethnic groups has grown relative to inequality between such groups.
Kitwana, Bakari. The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture. New York: BasicCivitas Books, 2002. Candid assessment of the continuing pathologies contributing to African American poverty. Extends Wilson by documenting continuing racism in law enforcement and noting intra-black conflicts, between generations and between men and women. Refreshing description of African American activist organizations and leaders.
Levitt, Steven D. “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990’s: Four Factors That Explain the Decline and Six That Do Not.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18, no. 1 (Winter, 2004): 163-190. Gives much attention to the waxing and waning of the crack epidemic and to African American imprisonment as important influences on crime.
Smith, James, and Finis Welch. “Black Economic Progress After Myrdal.” Journal of Economic Literature 27, no. 2 (1989): 519-564. Reviews and analyzes the large improvement in the economic status of African Americans between 1940 and 1980, emphasizing improved education and geographic relocation.