Chapter 2: The Black Urban Poor Summary and Analysis

Racist theories, which attribute the economic inferiority of blacks to racial inferiority, were common at the time this book was published. Many published studies do nothing except reinforce various stereotypes about poor blacks and their authors seem to be satisfied with the results. The perspective and beliefs of the poor blacks themselves have generally been ignored in favor of armchair theories concerning the "culture of poverty," a theoretical construction which hypothesizes that among the poor blacks there is a culture which teaches and reinforces a variety of destructive behaviors which are responsible for keeping them poor. Such a theory is difficult to maintain in light of the fact that there are so few economic opportunities available to poor blacks that, regardless of their behavior, they could do little to improve their economic status...