Overview

This week we will be engaging with the work by William Julius Wilson and his work on the inner city communities he categorized as truly disadvantaged. In this work, he focused on the underclass, particularly the Black underclass. In particular, he overviews social, economic, and political factors which contribute to truly disadvantaged communities.

Readings:

* Chapter 4 in Wilcox, Pamela, et al. Communities and Crime: An Enduring American Challenge, Temple University Press, 2017. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bmcc/reader.action?docID=5124754&ppg=71

Read the chapter here:

Communities_and_Crime_An_Enduring_American_Challen…_-_4._Community_as_the_Truly_Disadvantaged-1

Wilson W. J. (2012). The Truly Disadvantaged: the Inner City the Underclass and Public Policy (2nd. Ed. ). University of Chicago Press. Chapter 1: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=N_tVVPXLfMIC&pg=GBS.PA2&hl=en_US

To watch:

Watch The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) on Kanopy. (1hr 23min)

https://www.kanopy.com/en/bmcccuny/video/126559

While viewing the documentary on Pruitt-Igoe, please think of the title of the documentary: “Pruitt Igoe Myth.” What myth does the documentary dispel? What caused the collapse of this public housing project? What lessons can we learn from this? 

Use your CUNY First login info, you have free access!

Power Point