Sign-In
Cart
Ensuring Inequality: The Structural Transformation of the African American Family
Hardcover
20th Century United States HistoryBlack American StudiesGeneral Parenting
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0195100786
ISBN13: 9780195100785
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: May 1 1997
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.21
Height: 1.03 Width: 6.41 Depth: 9.53
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780195100785
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: May 1 1997
Pages: 288
Weight: 1.21
Height: 1.03 Width: 6.41 Depth: 9.53
Language: English
There is a crisis today in the American family, and this crisis has been particularly severe in the African American community. Black women are more likely than ever to bear children as teenagers, to remain single, and to raise their children in poverty. As a result, a staggering number of African-American children are growing up without fathers and living in destitution. In this insightful new book, Donna L. Franklin offers an in depth account of the history and development of the African American family, revealing why the marriage and family experiences of African-Americans differs from those of white America, and highlighting the cultural and governmental forces that have combined to create this divide and to push the black family to the edge of catastrophe.
In Ensuring Inequality, Franklin traces the evolution of the black family from slavery to the present, showing the cumulative effects of centuries of historical change. She begins with a richly researched account of the impact of slavery on the black family, finding that slavery not only caused extreme instability and suffering for families, but established a lasting pattern of poverty which made the economic advantages of marriage unattainable. She provides a sharp critique of the policies of the Freedmen's Bureau during Reconstruction, and demonstrates the mixed impact of the new pattern of sharecropping. On one hand, tenant farming allowed greater autonomy than the older gang labor system, and tended to consolidate two parent families; on the other hand, it reinforced male authority, and bound African Americans in debt peonage. The twentieth century brought a host of changes for black families, and Franklin incisively examines their effects. First, black women began to move to cities in search of jobs as domestic servants, while men stayed behind to work the fields, dividing the families. Then, two world wars sparked the great migration north, as African Americans pursued employment in booming factories. When the white soldiers returned home, however, many blacks found themselves out of work, shunted to the least desirable, lowest paying jobs. Roosevelt's New Deal offered limited help: in the North, it tolerated the red lining of urban neighborhoods, making it difficult for blacks to obtain home mortgages; in the South, blacks found that, as agricultural laborers, they were exempted from most labor laws, while agricultural subsidies were administered in favor of white farmers. And the distinction made between programs paid for by beneficiaries (such as social security) and those based on need (such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children) stigmatized the poor. Most blacks found themselves living an ever more tenuous, socially isolated existence.
Franklin brings her comprehensive, nuanced study right up to the present, showing the impact on the urban poor of changes in the economy and society, from the dramatically shrinking pool of good jobs to the rise of the new right. The increasing reliance on welfare by young black mothers, she writes, corresponded to the erosion of opportunities for young black males. More important, she offers new approaches to solving the crisis. Not only does she recommend federal intervention to create new economic opportunity in urban ghettos, but she also stresses the importance of black self-help and proposes a plan of action. In addition, she outlines social interventions that can stabilize and strengthen poor, mother-only families living in ghetto neighborhoods. Exhaustively researched and insightfully written, Ensuring Inequality makes an important contribution to the central debate in American politics today.
Franklin brings her comprehensive, nuanced study right up to the present, showing the impact on the urban poor of changes in the economy and society, from the dramatically shrinking pool of good jobs to the rise of the new right. The increasing reliance on welfare by young black mothers, she writes, corresponded to the erosion of opportunities for young black males. More important, she offers new approaches to solving the crisis. Not only does she recommend federal intervention to create new economic opportunity in urban ghettos, but she also stresses the importance of black self-help and proposes a plan of action. In addition, she outlines social interventions that can stabilize and strengthen poor, mother-only families living in ghetto neighborhoods. Exhaustively researched and insightfully written, Ensuring Inequality makes an important contribution to the central debate in American politics today.
1 different editions
Also available
Ensuring Inequality: The Structural Transformation of the African American Family
Franklin, Donna L.
Paperback
$79.75
Also in
Black American Studies
In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Iton, Richard
Paperback
$69.59
Nothing But Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
Darden, Robert
Hardcover
From $14.99
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy a.
Paperback
$19.95
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy
Montgomery, Beronda L.
Hardcover
$26.59
Decoding the Devil: Black Women Codebreakers and the Secret War Against Stalin's Bomb
Valentine, Sarah
Hardcover
From $19.99
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
From $10.99
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Paperback
From $11.99
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Revised Edition: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy a.
Hardcover
$27.95
Nature Knows No Color-Line: Research into the Negro Ancestry in the White Race
Rogers, J. a.
Paperback
$14.94
The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism Within Us Slave Culture
Woodard, Vincent
Paperback
$56.55
Sacred Pampering Principles: An African-American Woman's Guide to Self-Care and Inner Renewal
Gandy, Debrena Jackson
Paperback
$17.09
The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (and What We Can Learn from Them)
Omara, Atima
Hardcover
$27.00
A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing
Doll, Kemi, MD Mscr
Hardcover
$27.54
Redeem a Nation: The Century-Long Battle to Restore the Soul of America
Solomon-Simmons, Damario
Hardcover
$27.90
The African-American Heritage Cookbook: Traditional Recipes and Fond Remembrances from Alabama's Renowned Tuskegee Institute
Tillery, Carolyn Q.
Hardcover
$26.60
Stories in the Seams: A People's History of Black Quilts and Their Makers
Plummer, Sharbreon
Hardcover
$26.96
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power
Miller, W. Jason
Hardcover
$28.50
A Second Sight: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom
Jackson, Sarah J.
Hardcover
$28.80
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
Haas, Jeffrey
Paperback
$17.09
This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
Cobb, Charles E., Jr.
Paperback
$24.65
Mindful Meditations for Black Men: Restorative Practices to Soothe Mind, Body, and Spirit
Caraballo, Jor-El
Hardcover
$16.15
The People Can Fly: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time
Bennett, Joshua
Hardcover
$27.00
The Cure for Everything: The Epic Struggle for Public Health and a Radical Vision for Human Thriving
Williams, Michelle A.
Hardcover
$30.40
The Legend of Wyatt Outlaw: From Reconstruction Through Black Lives Matter
Boggs, Belle
Allen, Sylvester, Jr.
Hardcover
$28.50
Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul
Adeeyo, Oludara
Hardcover
$16.14
Black Film: A History of Black Representation and Participation in the Movies
Walker, David F.
Hardcover
$22.49
Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership
Baker, Brea
Hardcover
$28.50
Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture
Carter, Michael, Jr.
Hardcover
$28.45
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Twitty, Michael W.
Paperback
$18.04
A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past
Ford, Clyde W.
Hardcover
$28.50
The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable
Squires, Delano
Hardcover
$30.40
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing
Degruy, Joy Angela
Paperback
$18.95
The Spirit of a Man: A Vision of Transformation for Black Men and the Women Who Love Them
Vanzant, Iyanla
Paperback
$14.24
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
Smith, Clint
Hardcover
$28.50
From Infinite World: The Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tragedy of AIDS in the Black Church
Crawley, Ashon Thomas
Hardcover
$33.25
The Valley of the Dry Bones: The Conditions That Face Black People in America Today
Windsor, Rudolph R.
Paperback
$13.25
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Bloom, Joshua
Martin, Waldo E., Jr.
Paperback
$33.54
Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District
Johnson, Hannibal B.
Paperback
$23.74
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture
Brown, Sherronda J.
Paperback
$20.85
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race
Tatum, Beverly Daniel
Paperback
From $11.99
How I Know White People Are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist
Lassiter, Jonathan
Hardcover
From $17.99
Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s Through the 1980s
Fayer, Steve
Hampton, Henry
Paperback
$32.00
Marked by Time: How Social Change Has Transformed Crime and the Life Trajectories of Young Americans
Sampson, Robert J.
Hardcover
$26.96
The Platinum Age of Gospel: The Years When Crossover Music Changed Everything
Barron, Charrise
Hardcover
$25.60
W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America
The W. E. B. Du Bois Center at the University of Massachuset
Hardcover
$30.88
The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose
Wilson, Chris
Witter, Bret
Paperback
From $9.99
White Evangelical Racism, Second Edition: The Politics of Morality in America
Butler, Anthea
Paperback
$15.20
Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice: A Guide to Success for Black Americans
Kimbro, Dennis
Hill, Napoleon
Paperback
$10.44
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
King, Gilbert
Paperback
From $10.99
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
Penniman, Leah
Paperback
$33.20
Historically Black Phrases: From I Ain't One of Your Lil' Friends to Who All Gon' Be There?
Hill, Jarrett
Anderson, Tre'vell
Hardcover
$26.59
Contempt of Court: The Turn-Of-The-Century Lynching That Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism
Curriden, Mark
Phillips, Leroy
Paperback
From $10.99
Nature Knows No Color-Line: Research into the Negro Ancestry in the White Race
Rogers, J. a.
Hardcover
$24.99
Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans
Bridges, Khiara
Hardcover
$29.66
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
Baptist, Edward E.
Paperback
$23.74
Never Wear Red Lipstick: 8 Lies That Stop Black Women from Succeeding in Life and Business
Dunham Burton Phd, Karmetria
Hardcover
$23.74
Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
Sandweiss, Martha A.
Paperback
$27.00
Black Fatigue, Second Edition: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit
Winters Reese, Mareisha N.
Winters, Mary-Frances
Paperback
$20.66