Why Both Social Structure and Culture Matter in a Holistic Analysis of Inner-City Poverty

Abstract

A complex web of racialist and nonracialist structural forces, along with cultural forces, have adversely impacted life in inner-city black neighborhoods. Yet a number of studies have raised questions about the real effects of living in such neighborhoods, including the widely cited studies on the Moving to Opportunity experiment. The author highlights studies that provide compelling evidence for considering the cumulative effects of residing in poor segregated neighborhoods. While some of these are structural, others are cultural, such as the effects of prolonged exposure to cultural traits that originate from or are the products of racial exclusion. Advancing the argument that structural conditions provide the context within which cultural responses to chronic economic and racial subordination are developed, the author suggests a holistic public policy perspective whereby the complex web of structural and cultural factors that create and reinforce racial inequality is recognized and appreciated. To illustrate this perspective, he highlights the Harlem Children’s Zone, which President Obama has identified as a model for the creation of a national program of “promised neighborhoods” to address chronic racial and economic subordination.