Black youths, joblessness, and the other side of 'Black Lives Matter

Bibliographic Data

ID2147236
AuthorsWilliam Julius Wilson (Hutchins Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume39
Issue8
Pages1450-1457
Publication date2016-06-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2016.1153689
OpenAlexW2369250104
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

When income segregation is coupled with racial segregation, low-income blacks cluster in neighbourhoods that feature disadvantages along several dimensions including joblessness. Residents of these neighbourhoods are often innocent victims of crime, including violent crime, which frequently goes unnoticed or unreported in the media. They represent the other side of 'Black Lives Matter', which suggests the need for a broader vision that also highlights the plight of innocent victims of violent crimes in the inner city, and that recognizes the close association between such crimes and joblessness. I therefore call for a policy prescription that would enhance the employment prospects of jobless youth, who are disproportionally involved in criminal offenses, especially those stigmatized by prison records. In making the case for this public policy prescription, I challenge Orlando Patterson's assumptions, based largely on the research of Roger Waldinger, that young black males are reluctant to take low-wage employment by highlighting the important research of Stephen Petterson on reservation wages

Black male · Criminology · Demographic economics · Economics · Political science · Prison · Sociology · Wage · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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