Abstract
Fourth World theory is a methodology for examining and developing greater understanding of the extent of the distress and abandonment commonly found in the cores of American cities resulting from de-industrialization, historic segregation and discrimination patterns, suburban sprawl, erosion of a viable tax base, racism, inability to embrace the concept of desegregation and civil rights legislation, fear, despair, crumbling infrastructure systems, disinvestment in urban school systems, and environmental justice issues. This article uses the analytical lens of Fourth World theory to examine how such structural and cultural forces contributed to the severely distressed conditions now found in the city of Gary, Indiana. Tracking its one-hundred-year history, from its founding as an industrial town through its post-industrial decline occurring during the city’s first African-American mayor’s five terms in office, the methodology clearly demonstrates how the social construction of race has systematically undermined every aspect of Gary’s overall quality of life. To illustrate that this city is not an anomaly but rather reflects a typical pattern of disparity and uneven development arising from racist practices, Gary is compared to other cities of similar size and also to the much larger Detroit. The article triangulates academic literature, news media archives, and an oral history provided by the mayor to show how Gary evolved from being a model industrial city to a cauldron of racial disparity. The paper concludes by arguing that continued absence of reflection on the nation’s historical racialization of place threatens not just impoverished communities of color, but also the sustainability of the entire nation.
Highlights
The United States continues to be the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth; yet, little attention is paid to the scale and magnitude of its poverty and degradation
The primary objectives of establishing the Fourth World position are to: (a) explore the institutional abandonment of inner cities throughout the United States; (b) investigate the causes which have led to this massive disinvestment; and (c) attempt to develop a sense of empathy for the citizens who choose or are forced to remain in these environments
Similarities between Youngstown, Gary, and other Fourth World cities can be observed through a qualitative lens with respect to ethnic strife, resistance and violence, de-industrialization, historic segregation and discrimination patterns, suburban sprawl, erosion of a viable tax base, racism, inability to embrace the concept of desegregation and civil rights legislation, fear, despair, crumbling infrastructure systems, disinvestment in urban school systems, environmental justice issues, and institutional abandonment
Summary
The United States continues to be the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth; yet, little attention is paid to the scale and magnitude of its poverty and degradation. In the United States, the general reluctance to confront the social construction of race undermines productive dialog with respect to systemic patterns of sprawl, abandonment, the disappearance of work, and the resulting devastating socioeconomic and ecological consequences. Fourth World theory argues that the absence of critical reflection by policymakers and the general populous places the nation in serious jeopardy of self-induced, ultimate, and imminent collapse under the weight of its own history. In this account, my investigation will engage in “triangulating” sociological, geographical, and historical literature with archival sources and oral history as a means to minimize my intrinsic biases and strengthen my arguments.
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