The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions
Wilson, William J. 1980. The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Institutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rating:
8
Summary:
Makes a good point, but you have to read the book close to tease it out
The primary gist of the book is, best outlined in the postscript that was included in the second edition (1980) of the book, “Even if all current discrimination were eliminated, the differences in the economic resources of blacks and whites would persist for years until the effects of past racial oppression disappear. Thus, when I speak of the declining significance of race, I am neither ignoring the legacy of previous discrimination nor am I arguing that racial discrimination no longer exists. I am referring to the relative role race plays in determining black life chances in the modern industrial period–in other words, the changing impact of race in the economic sector and, in particular, the changing importance of race versus class for mobility opportunities” (p. 167).
Let me see if I can further elucidate this point, as I think the basic argument of the book is commonly misunderstood. What the author is saying is not that race is no longer important but that a better understanding of the class structure of blacks is now what is needed in order to continue to help blacks. The author outlines a class structure specific to blacks (as opposed to the commonly referenced general class structure in the U.S.) that is polarizing: there is a growing distinction between black educated professionals and the black urban poor living in ghettoes. The point the author is making is that efforts to help blacks as a race (e.g., affirmative action) are primarily benefiting the educated professionals while the urban poor are being overlooked entirely. The author is not claiming that race no longer matters but rather is saying that if we are going to do something about inequality in America today we need to begin looking past race and focus on poverty, which disproportionately affects blacks, but also affects many other groups, all of whom need help.
How the author goes about building his argument is outlined in the quote from pages xi and xii below.
Review:
I think I need to explain, to begin with, the expectations I had of this book before reading it. This book, and the position of the author, was often referenced in a course I took on race and health. The instructor of the course seemed to indicate that the book made a very strong case that race no longer mattered in the U.S. and that class accounted for racial differences. While William Julius Wilson seems to be headed somewhat in that direction, after having finally gone to the source and examined the book, I think his book is misconstrued by many sociologists as indicating something that it never intended to indicate. Basically, the book is a very ‘toned-down’ version of that argument. It does not say that race is unimportant, it simply says that if we want to address race issues in the U.S. today, we are implementing policies that disproportionately benefit those who are already doing well – black educated professionals – and are over-looking the blacks who really need help – the urban poor. In making this argument, the author, almost in passing, groups the black poor with all the poor (race and ethnicity aside) in his attempt to reorient policy makers as to the real problem in America today – poverty!
Thus, while the misconstrued notion is seemingly related to the actual argument of the book, I think a closer reading of the text by those who use it so commonly in their courses, research, and conversations would reveal that the author is not making an ‘anti-black’ argument but rather a ‘let’s do something about poverty’ argument that overlooks racial and ethnic boundaries. When the author’s real argument is understood, I can’t help but admit that I agree with his point 100%. That said, let me move on to some of the criticisms I have of the book.
On a purely literary note, the book is not very clear, often repetitive, and has a tendency to get off topic and roam on unrelated tangents. If the author had stuck more closely to his arguments and the primary thesis, not only would it have made for more engaging reading but it may have prevented the necessity for including an entire chapter to explain the book in the second edition. Interestingly, the postscript is a good example of the benefits of criticism – the postscript is the clearest and most lucid part of the book. The postscript seems to illustrate that there is very little as effective as criticism for getting an author to clarify his/her argument.
As far as the author’s theoretical analysis, I have several criticisms. First, I’m not really sure why the author feels it is necessary to claim he is creating a class structure specific to blacks. Despite his claims, he proceeds to use the existing class model of the U.S. (i.e., lower, middle, and upper classes) for blacks. Perhaps the author felt that by illustrating how blacks are fanning out and even polarizing in the class structure that he was in some way moving beyond traditional understandings of class, but in the end I was left with the impression that his discussion of class structure could have been tremendously simplified if he had just said, ‘Blacks are spreading out over the traditional U.S. class structures, but they seem to be pooling primarily in two places – on the very lowest rung and near the upper-middle class.’ That is really the gist of his argument.
Another theoretical point the author tries to develop is that there is a difference between sociopolitical and economic racism. The author argues that in the past blacks suffered primarily from forms of economic racism (they did not control the means of production and, in fact, didn’t even control their labor), but now, the author argues, the racism blacks suffer is primarily sociopolitical in form – they are not in power politically and live in segregated sections of cities. I won’t disagree that the forms of racism have changed over time, but I’m not sure that this distinction adds additional understanding and, in fact, it may actually cloud understanding. Where one lives and political power are both based on economic power (as much as I hate to admit that money rules our lives, it certainly seems to be the case). Given this fact, sociopolitical racism is, at very best, a disguised form of economic racism. Thus, to draw distinctions between the two isn’t necessarily informative and may actually be misleading.
Despite my minor theoretical disagreements with the author, I should point out that the book is also informative. The author presents some very interesting information (primarily historical in nature) on racism during the 18th and 19th centuries, like the fact that in the Southern U.S. cities and towns were not segregated (to prevent blacks from building a power base). This discussion ultimately led to the author illustrating how the white, slave-holding class in the South worked to keep the poor whites and blacks down. Whether this was intentional or simply the wranglings of a group that wanted to maintain their wealth and power is uncertain (though Wilson seems to depict it as intentional), but it certainly does not present the wealthy whites of the Southern U.S. in the 18th and 19th centuries in a positive light.
Overall, though I’m a bit hesitant to admit it due to the lack of clarity in developing his argument, I will admit that I can see why this book deserves its place as a classic sociological work. By refocusing policy and research toward the real disparity in the U.S. – poverty – Wilson has made a solid contribution to both sociology as an impactful science and to humanity.