Poor black communities see civic and institutional life eroded by isolation and neglect

Evidence

The quality of life in black neighborhoods has changed dramatically since the 1960s. The steady loss of jobs, decades of government neglect, and deepening class divisions within black America have left certain black communities profoundly isolated. In the first chapter of this book, I referred to these communities as opportunity deserts—places where entire groups of people are considered disposable. It is in neighborhoods like these that we see most clearly the erosion of black institutional life. For years, social scientists have suggested that increasing economic inequality is reflected in civic life. People simply check out, and rightly so. They are too busy trying to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and avoid landing in jail or prison thanks to the aggressive police presence in their communities. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 351

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Municipal neglect caused the decay whites blamed on black residents — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 180