Crossing the Class and Color Lines

Leonard S. Rubinowitz, James E. Rosenbaum

ISBN 10: 0226730905 / ISBN 13: 9780226730905

Published by The University of Chicago Press, US, 2002

About this Item

In the United States, it is rare that people of different races and social classes live together in the same housing developments and neighbourhoods. The Gautreaux programme, one of the most innovative and extensive court-ordered desegregation efforts ever, in which thousands of low-income, African-American families voluntarily moved from Chicago's inner city to mostly white, middle-class suburbs, was specifically designed to help redress this problem. This is the story of this unique experiment in racial, social and economic integration that began in 1976 and ended only last year. The book tells of the Gautreaux families' initial discomfort and of the discrimination they felt. Yet it also relates how, against the odds, their lives changed for the better, in employment and education, exploding the notion that poor, inner-city blacks cannot escape the "culture of poverty". Today, with vouchers and certificates replacing public housing, the Gautreaux success story is the most valuable record of the possibilities and limitations of mobility programmes.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780226730905

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Crossing the Class and Color Lines
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press, US
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226730905
• ISBN 13: 9780226730905
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 340 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In the United States, it is rare that people of different races and social classes live together in the same housing developments and neighbourhoods. The Gautreaux programme, one of the most innovative and extensive court-ordered desegregation efforts ever, in which thousands of low-income, African-American families voluntarily moved from Chicago's inner city to mostly white, middle-class suburbs, was specifically designed to help redress this problem. This is the story of this unique experiment in racial, social and economic integration that began in 1976 and ended only last year. The book tells of the Gautreaux families' initial discomfort and of the discrimination they felt. Yet it also relates how, against the odds, their lives changed for the better, in employment and education, exploding the notion that poor, inner-city blacks cannot escape the "culture of poverty". Today, with vouchers and certificates replacing public housing, the Gautreaux success story is the most valuable record of the possibilities and limitations of mobility programmes.

About the Author

Leonard S. Rubinowitz is a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law.

James E. Rosenbaum is a professor of sociology, education, and social policy and a faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.