4 Stars
I don't think there's a rational person out there who can watch the news or look around them and say, "Everything is okay."
The fact of the matter is if there were a simple solution it would have been done before. That said, what we have presently is unacceptable. There are significant socioeconomic problems in our society that need to be addressed. The focus of this book is about improving Black American lives as a whole, what's wrong, what steps need to be taken, what has been done since the first edition, and where we as a country still need to go.
HEALTHCARE: The issue of health and well being of Black Americans and minorities and disadvantaged persons brings the issue of access to healthcare, disease rates, and nutrition and lack of access to healthy food to the forefront. While there have been inroads with the American Care Act that saw dramatic improvements and the full effects have yet to be seen as more citizens get the medical care and preventative care they need. Especially noteworthy is that First Lady Michelle Obama addressed two of the keys points brought up in this chapter with her "Let's Move" program and focus on home gardens to raise fresh produce.
EDUCATION: Dr. Gordon's introduction puts forth an ambitious goal. The notable gender gap between females and males is not limited to Black communities, it is prevalent in White communities as well. Early education is key, but as the text points out there is no simple answer and all four of the original bullet list items require complicated efforts. Areas of great need are access to early education, Pre-K and revision of discipline policies in schools. Socioeconomic inequity causes widespread problems that are not quickly solved. And as always, family and community involvement in young members lives is key to success.
JUSTICE: Addressing inequity, I entered this chapter fearing it. I'm not a legal scholar but the three strikes rule was wrong to begin with and the statistics surrounding incarceration skews horribly along socioeconomic lines. Plus side: 2010 Fair Sentencing Act. I was surprised the Supreme Court's ruling on Johnson v. United States was not commented on since it was brought up in the original guidelines. Overall, the ground still needed to be covered in regards to juvenile offenders is enormous, though changes to zero tolerance policies and restricting prosecutorial leeway in determining whether children between the ages of 14-17 should be tried as adults seem an excellent starting point.
POLICING: Issues of bias, racial profiling, and the media. The skewed ratio of stopped or incarcerated Black Americans in proportion to the population is problematic. The media's preference of rating grabbing over journalism perpetuates false "truths". But, fundamentally, a police force needs to be compromised of community members to eliminate that us versus them mentality so recruiting and retention is critical.
AFFORDABLE NEIGHBORHOODS: This a major sociological issue that needs addressing. The ever shifting expansion and contraction of people from urban to suburban neighborhoods is complicated. Compounded by discriminatory practices in lending, sales, and rental, Black Americans struggle to find homes in areas with jobs. There is no easy solution, but holding elected officials accountable for dispersing funds effectively is important for all of us.
CLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY: Underrepresentation of Black Americans in Congress leads to lack of voice and unmet needs. Challenges include voter harassment, loss of voting rights due to felony convictions, gerrymandering, and new laws limiting voter participation. Additionally, no representation for the District of Columbia and through not addressed herein, other territorial possessions of the U.S.
STRENGTHENING OUR RURAL ROOTS: Rural poverty is a major challenge, especially for those in the Deep South and Appalachia. The ensuing lack of healthcare, education, and food is a major hurdle. These areas have been left out of the economic cycle of goods and services, and the residents suffer. The concept of incorporating 1/2 million individual Black farms to create a block that would be able to access more money and develop their existing assets as a unit instead of evanescing as so many small farms across the U.S. are doing was a bold proposal ten years ago. Stressing better information and access to available funds and services is critical.
ACCESSING GOOD JOBS, WEALTH, AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY: There are some sobering facts regarding the 2006 Recession and its effects. It points out the importance of home ownership as an investment mechanism and illustrates the barriers to it from predatory lending to the lack of down payments. It offers new mechanisms to tackle the barrier from housing to entrepreneurialism, tax free accounts. The issue of healthcare that is a major issue for Americans and a big expense was pointed out, but the update did not address the Affordable Care Act which I found disappointing. Overall, the divergence in wealth and the diminishing middle class is having a profound effect on our society, and it is critical to address poverty.
ASSURING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR ALL: the inequity of protection against environmental transgressions is acute and vulnerable populations, minority and poor, are targeted by businesses and not given the same compensation. The main topics addressed are lead paint poisoning and toxic waste dumps, both which disparately affect low income people.
CLOSING THE RACIAL DIGITAL DIVIDE: access, training, and affordability are key issues. To be competitive in the modern job market requires it. Telecommunication companies versus the Community Broadband Act is an interesting and evolving struggle.
I've plucked out some key points in the chapters, but obviously all the supporting data and arguments I didn't mention make this an interesting and comprehensive read. The chapters break down into an introduction, the original edition text, status update, and real life tips and programs that are successfully bridging the topic areas. In summary, this isn't meant to be academic, but a tool to understand issues and use to improve lives--NOW .
There is a very conscious and intentional logic and tone to the the book from the topic, to the format, and even the grammatical structure. I whole-heartedly agree with structuring the sentences so that minorities were the subject of active verb sentences; making them the agents of action and not objects passively waiting. This was incredibly successful in advocating power and self-primacy. On the other hand, while I understand the subtextual importance and psychological impact of capitalizing Black and Hispanic and not white within the text, refocusing attention and the highlighting the subject matter, at some point it lost that edge and looked more like a grammatical or proofing error.
The fact is that in many instances the fabric of Black communities have been shredded and until they can be rewoven, until people belong to a cohesive, multigenerational group the struggle is going to continue. This book provides suggestions and key points to focus on for success.
We can do better and we will do better. Life is moving forward. Things change, break, or just need to be switched as we and our society evolves. As Americans, we want people to have the right to LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
We ALL deserve it. It's our unalienable right.
This book successfully tackles the issues by providing real action items.
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