The Philadelphia Negro:
- 1st published study of the living conditions of African
Americans
- Collected data on 9,675 Americans
7th Ward: Historically black neighborhood that attracted
families of all classes
- Asked questions about age, gender, education, literacy,
occupations, earnings, and crimes
- Documented the ways in which African Americans different
from Philly’s white residents
● Lower literacy rates
● Higher rates of poverty and crime
● Higher concentration of workers in the service industry
than in manufacturing or trade
● Mortality rates were higher as the rate of illness
- Concluded that much of the dysfunction within black
communities came inferior access to education and lucrative
jobs
- Occupational hazards, poverty, and limited access to
healthcare
- Race matters because of the power society gives it
- Because of the beliefs of values and morals of black
workers, trade labor unions didn’t allow black to join
- Because they couldn’t join labor unions, black workers
couldn’t get manufacturing or trade work- which paid much
better than the service industry
- Because black men couldn’t get these jobs, they had higher
rates of poverty and more criminal behavior and
unemployment rates
- Which allowed white workers and unions to justify their
decisions to exclude them in the 1st place
- Beliefs about race and racism reinforce
Sociologist William Julius Wilson:
- Explored why Black and White Americans tend to have such
different outcomes in terms of income, education, and more
- Argued that class, not race, is the determining factor for
many Black Americans
- The reason class gaps exist to begin with is because of
structural disadvantages in Dubois’s time
- 1st published study of the living conditions of African
Americans
- Collected data on 9,675 Americans
7th Ward: Historically black neighborhood that attracted
families of all classes
- Asked questions about age, gender, education, literacy,
occupations, earnings, and crimes
- Documented the ways in which African Americans different
from Philly’s white residents
● Lower literacy rates
● Higher rates of poverty and crime
● Higher concentration of workers in the service industry
than in manufacturing or trade
● Mortality rates were higher as the rate of illness
- Concluded that much of the dysfunction within black
communities came inferior access to education and lucrative
jobs
- Occupational hazards, poverty, and limited access to
healthcare
- Race matters because of the power society gives it
- Because of the beliefs of values and morals of black
workers, trade labor unions didn’t allow black to join
- Because they couldn’t join labor unions, black workers
couldn’t get manufacturing or trade work- which paid much
better than the service industry
- Because black men couldn’t get these jobs, they had higher
rates of poverty and more criminal behavior and
unemployment rates
- Which allowed white workers and unions to justify their
decisions to exclude them in the 1st place
- Beliefs about race and racism reinforce
Sociologist William Julius Wilson:
- Explored why Black and White Americans tend to have such
different outcomes in terms of income, education, and more
- Argued that class, not race, is the determining factor for
many Black Americans
- The reason class gaps exist to begin with is because of
structural disadvantages in Dubois’s time
