Class or Race??

I think the class issue IS a race issue. Which races make up the majority of poor neighborhoods? Who suffers from Environmental Racism? Minorities. Many being African Americans. If we look through the charts in Marger’s book it is clear that African Americans lag far behind whites in education and wealth and that is due to a large history of discrimination. While I agree with Wilson and his argument that class is a huge factor in continuing disenfranchisement of minorities and African Americans; I believe Wilson should have clearly outlined institutionalized racism. Through institutionalized racism African Americans and other minorities are kept near poverty. Little to no aid is given to uplift ghettos that are mainly inhabited by minorities. Yes, class and wealth play a huge role in determining who resides in these neighborhoods. I don’t think we can overlook that fact that minorities reside in these neighborhoods because they were not given opportunities in the past. Whether or not minorities are deprived today because of their income does not fully solve the race vs. class issue because we have to look at the history of disenfranchisement that landed minorities in these positions on the lower end of the social ladder.