This powerful and disturbing book clearly links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities.

American Apartheidshows how the black ghetto was created by whites during the first half of the twentieth century in order to isolate growing urban black populations. It goes on to show that, despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, segregation is perpetuated today through an interlocking set of individual actions, institutional practices, and governmental policies. In some urban areas the degree of black segregation is so intense and occurs in so many dimensions simultaneously that it amounts to "hypersegregation."

The authors demonstrate that this systematic segregation of African Americans leads inexorably to the creation of underclass communities during periods of economic downturn. Under conditions of extreme segregation, any increase in the overall rate of black poverty yields a marked increase in the geographic concentration of indigence and the deterioration of social and economic conditions in black communities. As ghetto residents adapt to this increasingly harsh environment under a climate of racial isolation, they evolve attitudes, behaviors, and practices that further marginalize their neighborhoods and undermine their chances of success in mainstream American society. This book is a sober challenge to those who argue that race is of declining significance in the United States today.

Richly documented ... A splendid book. American Apartheidexplores a topic that many of us have come to take for granted, presents a fascinating array of data that have never been assembled in one place and compellingly argues that segregation is crucial to understanding what has happened to [urban] blacks.

Essential reading for anyone interested in the causes, and possible cures, of urban poverty.

A major contribution to our understanding of both racism and poverty... One hopes that the book will be read, not only by other scholars and policy analysts, but by a broad spectrum of citizens and by all the leaders of the nation.

An incredibly readable book that must be studied by all Americans-liberal and conservative, black and white.

significance in the United States today.

This powerful and disturbing book links persistent poverty among blacks in the United States to the unparalleled degree of deliberate segregation they experience in American cities. "A major contribution to our study of both racism and poverty".--Washington Post Book World.

Preface

1. The Missing Link

2. The Construction of the Ghetto

3. The Persistence of the Ghetto

4. The Continuing Causes of Segregation

5. The Creation of Underclass Communities

6. The Perpetuation of the Underclass

7. The Failure of Public Policy

8. The Future of the Ghetto

Notes

Index