Seminar
Living in areas of concentrated ghetto poverty, still shadowed by the legacy of slavery and second-class citizenship, too many young black men are trapped in a horrific cycle that includes active discrimination, unemployment, poverty, crime, prison, and early death. High rates of violence and crime in urban communities is to be associated with historical prejudice and the cumulative effects of racial discrimination that has resulted in profound alienation in the urban black ghetto. In such communities, given the severe economic downturns, an underground economy has emerged based on three prongs: welfare payments, low wage jobs, and the underground economy of hustling, bartering, borrowing, and street crime—the most lucrative and prominent example of which is the drug trade. The existence of this economy and the profound alienation that it fosters has led to the erosion of civil law. In these circumstances, “street justice” fills the void—making the reputation for “street credibility” a most viable local social coin. The incessant interpersonal campaign for street credibility has exacerbated the already high levels of violence besetting these communities. This toxic mixture has given rise to wider stereotypes that limit the social capital of all young black males, creating more alienation and thereby deepening the country’s racial divide.