Flip Side of the Underclass Unexpected Images of Social Capital in Majority-African American Neighborhoods

Many movies, television shows, and news programs show African American neighborhoods as places of distress, deviance, and danger, as if the stereotypical "urban ghetto" is all there is to show for black residential life. But, as The Flip Side of the Underclass shows, there is far more to the picture than that. The book provides a rare, fact-based account of a crucial story in which communities do better when their residents are connected to one another and have the organizational capacity to translate their sentiments into effective action. Drawing on a groundbreaking study of more than 800 neighborhoods in 15 cities across the country, the authors reveal a vitally important fact: most inner-city black communities are working-class, middle-income, or better.Exploring the largely unreported variation in socioeconomic status among majority-African American neighborhoods, the authors provide valuable insights about the look and feel of a wide range of neighborhoods -- the housing stock, property uses, public services, retail trade, and recreational services that residents report they care about. In particular, they examine whether and how social capital -- such as kinship networks and civic organizations -- contributes to the ability of neighborhoods to stave off the forces of decline. They detail how neighborhoods rich in sociocultural ties are more likely to improve over time, be perceived by their residents as satisfying, child-friendly environments, and provide better access to, use of, and satisfaction with health care services. Civic infrastructure was found to vary by neighborhood type, with homeowner/tenant associations, faith-based groups, block clubs, business development, andsocial service agencies being the most common organizations for improving neighborhoods.Wright, David J. is the author of 'Flip Side of the Underclass Unexpected Images of Social Capital in Majority-African American Neighborhoods' with ISBN 9780914341987 and ISBN 0914341987.