Making New Sense of Poor Black Men in Crisis
The introduction gives us a really good insight on what is to come later in the book. It also gives a good explanation about the setting and how Young did he research.
The Setting
Young conducted his research in a couple different public housing developments in the Near West Side of Chicago. Young describes the area as "geographically and socially isolated from downtown Chicago and the opulent western suburbs, and resembles a holding pen for the economically immobile." The first development that Young went to was the Governor Henry Horner Homes. The development had "19 buildings with 1,774 units, almost all of which are occupied by African Americans."
In these households over 85% received public assistance, and only 8% were able to be supported by the employment of a member of the household. The second development was the ABLA homes which is located 1 and a half miles away from the Henry Horner Homes. The ABLA development contains 160 buildings with 3,505 units and just like the Henry Horner homes ABLA is almost all African American. ABLA occupants do a little bit better financially with 75% needing public assistance and a little over 8% able to support themselves.
The Mandate
The other half of the introduction talks about what made Young want to research and write this book and what the main ideas of the book are. Young says that the main goal of this book is to "uncover these men's worldviews on issues such as mobility, opportunity, and future life chances." So this book is not about what was going through these men's heads when they were dealing drugs or carrying a firearm but instead about how they view the place in American society and what they think about their futures.
Read more about this topic: The Minds Of Marginalized Black Men, Introduction
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