The Myth of Black Progress

Professor Pinkey argues race continues to be an ever-present factor in American life.

Alphonso Pinkney (Author)

9780521310475, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 June 1986

212 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.2 cm, 0.28 kg

'Professor Alphonso Pinkney has set out to convince us that if we disregard the poverty and social decay of the large minority underclass, we must expect - indeed in the Greek sense of inexorable moral retribution, we shall deserve - a new round of racial rebellion … If full-scale recession or depression recurs, the myth of racial progress may disintegrate before our eyes. Those who have read Pinkney's book will be morally and intellectually prepared.' The Philadelphia Inquirer

In this important analysis of the status of black Americans since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Professor Alphonso Pinkey refutes the popular neoconservative stance that race is no longer a major factor in the efforts of black Americans to achieve socioeconomic parity. Instead, Professor Pinkey argues, race continues to be an ever-present factor in American life. He bases his argument on detailed analysis of data that support his discussion of income and unemployment, the black middle class, the growing underclass and educational issues such as open admissions, busing and affirmative action.

Preface
1. Introduction: the persistence of racism in the United States
Part II. Economic decline and the rise of the new conservatism
Part III. Class and race in America
Part IV. White attitudes and behaviour toward black people
Part V. Income, occupation and unemployment
Part VI. The black middle class
Part VII. And the black underclass
Part VIII. Some educational issues
Part IX. Bakke, Weber and the myth of reverse discrimination
Part X. Black equity in white America
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]