"With this volume, Elijah Anderson has consolidated what is known about the dire and worsening social situation of young black men in the U.S. Against the Wall brings together a set of cutting edge empirical studies from sociology, economics, and cultural studies to present a nuanced and sobering picture."--Mitchell Duneier, Princeton University, author of Sidewalk and Slim's Table
"In a time when much of white America is in economic pain, Against the Wall is a timely and wide ranging reminder of the much greater and centuries longer pains which have been inflicted on poor young African Americans."--Herbert J Gans, author of Imagining America in 2033: How the Country Put Itself Together After Bush
Typically residing in areas of concentrated urban poverty, too many young black men are trapped in a horrific cycle that includes active discrimination, unemployment, violence, crime, prison, and early death. This toxic mixture has given rise to wider stereotypes that limit the social capital of all young black males, creating more alienation and thereby deepening the country's racial divide.
Edited and with an introductory chapter by sociologist Elijah Anderson, the essays in Against the Wall describe how the anonymous young black male has come to be publicly identified with crime and violence because of skin color alone. In reaction to his sense of rejection, he may place an exaggerated emphasis on the integrity of his self-expression in clothing and demeanor by adopting the fashions of the "street." To those deeply invested in and associated with the dominant culture, his attitude is perceived as profoundly oppositional. His presence in public gathering places becomes disturbing to others, and the stereotype of the dangerous young black male is often perpetuated and strengthened.
To understand the origin of the problem and prospects of the black inner-city male, it is essential to distinguish his experience from that of his pre-Civil Rights Movement forebears. In the 1950s, as more militant black people emerged to challenge the system, the figure of the black male became more ambiguous and fearsome. And while this activism did have the positive effect of creating opportunities for the black middle class who fled from the ghettos, those who remained faced an increasingly desperate climate.
Featuring a Foreword by Cornel West and sixteen original essays by contributors including William Julius Wilson, Gerald D. Jaynes, Douglas S. Massey, and Peter Edelman, Against the Wall illustrates how social distance increases, as alienation and marginalization within the black male underclass persists, thereby deepening the country's racial divide.
