African Americans and the Public Agenda
The Paradoxes of Public Policy
Edited by:
January 1997 | 304 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Who truly represents African Americans in the American political process? If white racism seems to be declining, why does there seem to be increased white resistance to programs that seek to redress equality? And, why do so many programs that were intended to amend inequality seem to exacerbate it? In African Americans and the Public Agenda, editor Cedric Herring and a distinguished group of scholars shed light on these apparent paradoxes. This presidential collection of invited and refereed chapters have been selected primarily from the 1995 Annual Conference of the Association of Black Sociologists. The book presents competing perspectives in a rigorous yet accessible way and will help bridge the gap between scholars and policymakers.
Both perceptive and timely, African Americans and the Public Agenda examines a wide variety of issues surrounding race and public policy, thus making it an essential resource for students and professionals in race and ethnic studies, sociology, American studies, political science, and anthropology.
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
William Julius Wilson
Preface
Cedric Herring
African Americans, the Public Agenda, and the Paradoxes of Public Policy
PART TWO: CHALLENGES TO LEADERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
Yvonne Scruggs
Cross-Cutting Black Issues Affecting the Changing Role of Government
Michael I J Bennett, Cedric Herring, and Douglas Gills
Political Consolidation or American Apartheid? Some Political and Economic Consequences of Black Empowerment
Jesse L Jackson
Balanced Opportunity
PART THREE: RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH
Rae Banks and Assata Zerai
Policy Context and the Relationship between Maternal Drug Abuse and Infant Mortality
Katrina Bell McDonald
The Psychosocial Dimension of Black Maternal Health
PART FOUR: RACIAL INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL POLICY
Sharon Collins
Race Up the Corporate Ladder
PART FIVE: CHANGES IN IDEOLOGY AND CULTURAL MYTHS
Steven Rosenthal
Affirm Equality; Oppose Racist Scapegoating
Charles Jarmon
Conservative Religious and Ideological Thought
Juan Battle and Michael Bennett
African American Families and Public Policy
PART SIX: RACE AND EDUCATIONAL SEGREGATION
Gail Thomas
Race Relations and Campus Climate for Minority Students
Kerry Rockquemore
Afrocentric Schools
PART SEVEN: CRIME, UNEQUAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND PUNISHMENT
Rae Banks
Race, Representation, and the Drug Policy Agenda
Verna Keith and Garry L Rolison
Race, Gender, and the Timing of Justice
Darnell F Hawkins
Which Way Toward Equality? Dilemmas and Paradoxes in Public Policies Affecting Crime and Punishment