The book American Apartheid by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton is an eye-opening book that throws light on the issues of poverty and seclusion among African Americans. Contrary to many illusions and simplistic assumptions about the economic backwardness of blacks in America, Massey and Denton show that the community’s poverty is directly linked to its ‘segregation’ within the urban landscape. In their comprehensive survey of major American cities, the authors found that the process of black ghetto-making since the start of the twentieth century has significantly contributed to their seclusion from other spheres of civic life. The fact that the Civil War of the nineteenth century and the Civil Rights movement of the subsequent century have won minorities in America many fundamental rights has not greatly contributed to their prosperity and wellbeing.
Even the Fair Housing Act of 1968 has played no effective role in desegregating urban society. The authors suggest . . . Read More