Poor Reason: Culture still doesn’t explain poverty

“‘Culture of Poverty’ Makes a Comeback.” So read the headline of Patricia Cohen’s front-page article in the October 17, 2010 edition of The New York Times.
The article was prompted by a recent issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science under the title, “Reconsidering Culture and Poverty.” In their introductory essay, the editors, Mario Luis Small, David J. Harding, and Michèle Lamont, strike a triumphant note:

Culture is back on the poverty research agenda. Over the past decade, sociologists, demographers, and even economists have begun asking questions about the role of culture in many aspects of poverty and even explicitly explaining the behavior of the low-income population in reference to cultural factors.

Cohen begins with a similar refrain:

For more than 40 years, social scientists investigating the causes of poverty have tended to treat cultural explanations like Lord Voldemort: That Which Must Not Be Named. The reticence was a legacy of the ugly battles that erupted after Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then an assistant labor secretary in the Johnson administration, introduced the idea of a ‘culture of poverty’ to the public in his 1965 report on ‘The Negro Family.’

Cohen uncritically accepts two myths woven by William Julius Wilson, the prominent Harvard sociologist, and repeated by his acolytes: first, Moynihan was clobbered for bringing to light compromising facts about black families, and second, that this torrent of criticism constrained a generation of social scientists from investigating the relation between culture and poverty, for fear that it would be pilloried for “blaming the victim.” Thus, a third, patently self-serving myth: thanks to some intrepid scholars who reject political correctness, it is now permissible to consider the role that culture plays in the production and reproduction of racial inequalities.
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In Black America, The Depression Rolls On

The latest snapshot of the American job market, released by the Labor Department on Friday, confirms what most ordinary people already knew without need of a government report: Little is improving quickly or broadly enough to dislodge the anxiety that has taken up long-term residence in many communities.
The unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent in December, from 9.8 percent the month prior. But that had little to do with people actually finding work, and much to do with the jobless simply giving up and halting their searches, dropping out of the statistical pool known as the labor force.
A deeper dive past the headline numbers reveals a reality that ought to trigger national alarm but hasn't for the simple reason that it is already embedded in the country we have unfortunately become: the Divided States of America.
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Call for Essays-Hip Hop Spirituality

If you are interested in submitting a chapter for this book, tentatively titled, "Hip Hop Spirituality and Urban God Talk," please send me a response before the deadline.


As framed and constructed by the media and even some practitioners, hip hop culture is considered a hyper-violent, misogynistic, and materialistic culture devoid of anything holy, sacred and good. Indeed, many spiritual leaders of all faiths indict the entire culture of hip hop and promote it as the work of the devil (or Evil One). However, we suggest that a different reading of hip hop culture will allow one to discover a profound; yet diverse spirituality emanating throughout the culture. While not orthodox by typical religious standards and traditions, hip hop culture, like any other culture, finds hope, joy, comfort, relief, and understanding, through the practice(s) of its worship and spirituality.

Therefore, I am interested in compiling and editing a book of original essays on hip hop's spirituality. Essayists in this volume hope not only to contribute to the lack of scholarship that focuses on hip hop's spirituality, but we are also interested in examining how discourses concerning hip hop could change if a reading of hip hop included its spirituality and theological outlook. In addition, we hope this book begins an interdisciplinary dialogue that provides a rigorous, creative, and critical examination that encourages others to take up this exciting field of study. Scholars in all disciplines are encouraged to submit.

Please submit a 300-500 word proposal and CV to me at aejohnson762@bellsouth.net by February 28, 2011.

Dr. Andre E. Johnson is pleased to announce the publication of "An African American Pastor Before and During the American Civil War: The Literary Archive of Henry McNeal Turner, Vol 1" (Edwin Mellen Press, 2010). This is the first of a proposed 12 volume series that aims at collecting the  letters, speeches, sermons and essays of Turner.  Volume 1 consists of 63 writings from 1859-1865. Volume 2, "An African American Chaplain During the American Civil War" is forthcoming later this year. It will consist of 75 writings from 1863-1865. Volumes 3 and 4 will consist of Turner's writings from 1866-1879. 

Praise for the Book:

Dr. Andre E. Johnson’s scholarship on the life, work, and writings of The Henry McNeal Turner recovers an incredibly important aspect of African American history.  It is always an important occasion when a scholar goes beyond the study of well known historical figures to re-introduce a leader who lived beyond the limits of current life memories, and whose efforts paved the way for current benefits. The volumes that will follow, document Turner’s contributions to history through his copious writings. Dr Johnson, a rhetorician, theologian, professor and pastor, is uniquely suited to edit volumes that will enhance our understanding of Turner’s work and the political, theological, and legal issues of the antebellum and reconstruction period.-Barbara A. Holmes, Professor of Ethics and African American Studies, Memphis Theological Seminary

In this collection of writings and speeches Dr. Andre E. Johnson opens up an aspect of American history that has been unavailable to scholars and general readers, the history of African Americans during the last half of the 19th-century and early 20th-century revealed through the mind of a southern black man.  Johnson characterizes Henry McNeal Turner as a public intellectual of his time given the range of topics he addresses and the vast quantity of his published and unpublished writing. A sample of what this collection has to offer is provided in Volume I, which covers the American Civil War period, 1859-1865.  In this first volume, we experience some of Turner’s personal life through his Journal writings; we share his reflections on language, politics and theology among other topics in his Essays and Sermons; and we read his first-hand accounts of war and politics in Washington, DC during Lincoln’s Presidency in Turner’s writing as a newspaper correspondent.  Furthermore, the problem of slavery and its resolution are interwoven through all Turner’s writings on whatever topic.  This is what truly distinguishes these writings.  We see American history from an uncommon angle, from the point of view of a black man striving to find freedom and equality for all people of color in a society that condoned racism and racist practices.-Sandra Sarkela, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Communications, University of Memphis

Book Review by Brittany Brown

Ghettonation

By: Cora Daniels

The author, Cora Daniels, is an award-winning journalist, and she describes in the book, Ghettonation, the process in which the behavior that is typically associated with African-Americans in the inner-city, i.e. the ghetto, is becoming more prevalent in mainstream America. Daniels identifies particular characteristics that she has noticed in her thirty years as an observer of “ghetto” behavior that she feels qualifies her as an expert on the phenomenon. Also, Daniels acknowledges that this phenomenon is afflicting significant segments of blacks in the country, and that this is a negative phenomenon that perpetuates negative stereotypes of African-Americans. However, before a critical analysis of the text can be given, an explanation of what Daniels means by “ghetto” is needed.
The most common denotation of “ghetto” is usually something similar to the following: an economically depressed community inhabited by low-income minorities. It is a physically tangible place, with borders that can be entered and exited. This is indeed similar to the definition that is given by Daniels, but her introduction offers multiple  denotations in the form of a dictionary excerpt. Among them is that “ghetto” means “behavior that makes you say ‘Huh?,’actions that seem to go against basic home training and common sense,” and also that it is “used to describe something with inferior status or limited opportunity...”

Two things should be of note with these definitions. The first is that obviously, the term “ghetto,” for Daniels, comes with negative connotations. Second, as opposed to the first definition of “ghetto,” the latter definitions indicate not a place that one can just travel to, but a state of mind. This is a claim that Daniels tends to follow throughout the length of the book. It is that the idea of “ghetto” is no longer reserved for locations. Daniels’ ghetto is a mindset that individuals can have in their heads, so this shows that not just the area is “ghettoized” or affected negatively, but there also exists this same infection within the people.

There is much to say about this connotation of the word though. Sure it is used quite frequently by many in the manner that Daniels uses it, but Daniels’ proclamation that “ghetto” is infiltrating mainstream America is a bit overblown. In the introduction to the book, Daniels describes two television incidents that made her realize that “ghetto” is a mindset. In one incident, Martha Stewart said about herself, “Oh, I can get ghetto when I need to.” In the other, Paris Hilton, during an episode of the show, “The Simple Life,” mentioned that a truck was “ghetto” when it would not start. Daniels says that when she heard Stewart, who she calls “queen of all that is proper,” and Hilton, the multi-million dollar heiress, use the word, she knew that it was a more prevalent issue than she had previously believed.

These two incidents do not indicate some pandemic that has swept the nation however. If anything, it only implies that certain features of African-American culture have become more widely accepted into the American mainstream. In this case, it is language. The suggestion that because Stewart and Hilton said “ghetto” is evidence of the prevalence of the mindset is highly unlikely. It only represents the adoption of popular speech into high society, not the development of a Ghettonation.

The beginning of each chapter of Ghettonation begins with a section “That’s so ghetto...” In it, Daniels has lists of things one can consider typical of the ghetto. Such lists include ways people in the ghetto supposedly speak, the way they dress, their diet, actual quotes heard by the author, the supposed behavior of ghetto inhabitants, as well as their financial habits. This also does not help advance her point. It is merely a list of stereotypical behavior compiled by the author, and offers no information that proves the “ghettoization” of America.

Also, Daniels’ lists do not necessarily represent anything negative as her definition of “ghetto” suggests. For example, the first line under the “What We Say” section is an example of a particular way of speaking common in African-American vernacular English (AAVE). It is the phrase “I seen” such as in “I seen that movie.” This is a sentence structure that is common among numerous groups of African-Americans across the country. There is nothing dangerous to the nation about this. It appears that the author is making a common mistake. Daniels is guilty of mainstream chauvinism in that she assumes that, because a particular behavior or peculiarity that a certain demographic possesses is different from the mainstream of a population, it is thus flawed in comparison. This is the case with regard to “ghetto” speech or AAVE. African-Americans have a history and culture quite distinct from that of mainstream America, and part of this difference is reflected in language. It would be interesting to see what position Daniels would take if the way of speaking under discussion was Cockney English. Would she still consider this dialect of English just as bad as AAVE?

A similar argument can be made against other parts of the “That’s so ghetto...” segments of the book. Unorthodox baby names, particular attire associated with a “ghetto mentality,” and the preoccupation with the acquisition of material possessions are all considered “ghetto” by Daniels, but again, these can all be considered merely mundane attributes of a race or ethnicity. Anthropologically speaking, there are no positive or negative attributes when it comes to the culture of a group of people. It is only their particular way of living.               

The chapter of Ghettonation, “Livin’ Large,” gives a further explanation of “ghetto.” Daniels says that “At its heart... ghetto is thinking short-term instead of long-term. Today is the most important because tomorrow doesn’t matter.” She offers two personal anecdotes to support this statement. The first is that she saw a billboard depicting the rapper 50 Cent, and displayed was a quote by him that said “Where I am from there is no Plan B. So take advantage of today because tomorrow is not promised.” This quote does a lot to explain what Daniels means by “thinking short-term.” She is saying that the ghetto sometimes offers little hope of advancing, little hope of a future, and so the emphasis in the lives of those that live in the ghetto can be of on the present. Also, Daniels has the experiences of another, 50 Cent, who grew up in the ghettos of New York, to help substantiate her claim.

The second anecdote, however, is not as convincing. Daniels once became acquainted with a teenager, Sanjay, whose parents emigrated from India to the United States. Despite the fact that he lived in a predominantly black neighborhood and spoke like his peers in the community, Sanjay dressed quite differently in that he did not wear expensive brand clothing. He was also astounded by the fact that the author had cable on her television. This showed that Sanjay, though from the same community as his peers, grew up with a different mindset, one that expected him to live within his means.

For Daniels, this anecdote may be satisfactory for proving her point, but it is not hard to see that it is lacking. It does not support the “ghettoization” of America because though this mindset that Sanjay possesses is different from that of typical “ghetto” behavior, it is also different from the behavior of American culture at large. This comes not from a recent “ghettoization” but from the concept of the American Dream. The American Dream has always been a material one, and there is an element of austerity that is prevalent Indian society. The Western concept of credit is not as widespread in that region of the world, and therefore, living within one’s means is quite common. However, in the U.S., Americans have had a history of credit, of buying without being able to pay for it. It is a part of Americana, and it existed decades before the development of “ghetto” culture.

At many times in the book, it appears that some of the information was merely filler. It seems that instead of positing material that would have contributed to a better understanding of the work, Daniels instead offers unnecessary information that did little to support her position. Aside from the superfluous anecdotes, another case of her redundancy is the sixth chapter of the book, “Nigga What, Nigga Who.” In this chapter, Daniels creates a conversation out of the lyrics of popular rap songs. What she is trying to accomplish from such a creation is not clear. What can be assumed is that Daniels is attempting to creatively show the negative elements of rap music and how it promotes “ghetto” behavior, but this could have been more successful if she would have written a traditional chapter and related actual instances of violence and misogyny to the lyrics of songs.

Also, right before the last chapter, “Do You Speak?”, Daniels allows an entire page for the reader to include their own observations of “ghetto” behavior. Though this too may seem like a creative endeavor to promote reader involvement with the text, this appeared to be filler as well. Indeed, it is admirable that Daniels attempts to get the reader thinking about the information in the text, but the page would have been put to better use if it contained material to support her argument. With regard to Daniels’ frequent use of anecdotes, the conversation that made up all of Chapter 6, and the blank page before Chapter 9, Ghettonation would have been a better read if these aspects of the book was altered by the editor.

In conclusion, though Cora Daniels offers an interesting look into the phenomenon of “ghetto” life and culture, some of her conclusions on the subject are erroneous. Her belief that the nation is acquiring a “ghetto” mentality is hard to adopt, and it surely doesn’t warrant a fear of such a behavior becoming mainstream. Also, despite Daniels’ journalist background, she may have benefitted from a better editorial process. However, though there are indeed flaws in Ghettonation, Daniels generates interesting questions that must be asked and addressed by not just the African-American community, but the entire nation.     

Black Feminist Movement

While I do believe there is still a need for black women to promote equality and fairness for themselves in the black community and in American society as a whole, I also believe that while the Black feminist Movement combined, with Affirmative Action, has advanced black women in the area of education and in the workplace, it has also caused considerable harm to the black family and to relationships between black men and women.

Black women have made significant gains in education and in the workplace. But I don't think it was because white America saw that black women faced triple oppression racially, sexually, and socio-economically, and wanted to lift them up. I believe that black women were educated, hired, and promoted to silence the Black Movement and the Women's Movement by "catering" to two oppressed groups in one person. This so-called acceptance into society was great for black women, because it meant that they were admitted in to more collages, entered into fields that had been closed to them, earned more money, and became more independent. Black men were left in the cold, and saw their places on college campuses, in the workplace, and eventually as breadwinners in the home decrease as compared to black women.
I believe this division has played a major part lead to what we see going on now in the black community and in black man/woman relationships. Staring in high school, more black girls/women are in the classrooms because black boys are not supported, encourage, or expected to excel in many public schools. At the college level, black men are practically non-existent as students and as instructors. In corporate and not so corporate America, more black women hold positions at every level. More and more women are owning and running businesses, buying homes, raising children alone, and cry out that they don't need or want a black man to live a successful life. Every time I hear a black women say that I cringe. I can't help but think that the Black Feminist Movement played a part in that. But I don't for one minute believe it was ever intended to weaken our community and families. Black feminists only wanted to have black men and white feminists to understand that they were oppressed too, and deserved to have their voice heard in the struggle. It's sad that it has been turned around and used as a tool of white America to keep black men and women from communicating and working together to better ourselves as a whole.

Bring Your A Game

Tell me what you think about this video aimed at young Black men