Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America's Future

by Angela Glover Blackwell, Stewart Kwoh, Manuel Pastor Ph.D

Overview

With a mixed-race president, a Latino population that is now the largest minority, and steadily growing Asian and Pacific Islander populations, race is both the most dynamic facet of American identity and the defining point of American disunity.

By broadening the racial dialogue, Blackwell, founder of PolicyLink; Kwoh, president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center; and Pastor, professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, bring new perspective to this essential American issue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393336856
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/07/2010
Series:	American Assembly Books Series
Edition description:	Revised and Updated
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Angela Glover Blackwell is is the founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity, with offices in Oakland, California, and New York, New York.

Stewart Kwoh is the founding president and executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles.

Manuel Pastor is a professor of American Studies & Ethnicity and the director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

Preface 13

Acknowledgments 17

1 Are We Postracial Yet? 21

Change in America 29

Stories of America: How We Came to Update This Book 36

Angela Glover Blackwell 38

Stewart Kwoh 40

Manuel Pastor 43

Complicating the Quest for Equity: Five Dimensions 46

The Black-White Paradigm versus Multiculturalism 46

Diversity versus Racial and Social Equity 47

Universal versus Particular Strategies 48

National versus Regional versus Local Responsibility 49

Structural Factors versus Individual Initiative 51

A Call on Leadership 51

Notes 52

References 53

2 Color Lines 55

Growing Diversity 56

Accepting Diversity 70

Mixed Attitudes 77

Defining the Black-White Paradigm 80

The Lingering Black-White Paradigm 84

Limits of the Black-White Paradigm 92

Notes 96

References 99

3 American Progress and Disconnection 103

The Color of Work 106

Race and Well-Being: Will These Differences Persist? 115

Race and Economics: Complicating the Story 124

Minority Small Business: A Bright Spot 127

The Driving Factors of Inequality 131

A New World, a New Agenda 146

Notes 148

References 149

4 Urgent Challenges 154

The Road Ahead: Key Issues for the Twenty-First Century 157

Comprehensive Education 157

A Look at the Data 163

Twenty-First-Century Employment 169

Immigration Reform and Immigrants 173

Incarceration and Prisoner Reintegration 188

Healthy Metropolitan Communities 193

Transportation 195

Access to Grocery Stores 196

Protecting Against Displacement 197

Putting It Together 199

Climate Change and Equity 200

Conclusion 204

Notes 204

References 206

5 New Leadership for the Twenty-First Century 211

Leadership for Changing Times 214

Leadership in the New Economy 218

Leadership, New Politics, and New Demography 219

Leadership in the New Geography 229

Leadership, New Technology, and New Skills 233

Putting It Together: New Capacities for Communities 235

Approaches to Developing Effective Leadership 237

Leadership Networks 238

Leadership Development Programs 240

Developing Leadership in Ongoing Organizing Work 243

Notes 246

References 246

6 The Way Forward: An Equity Model 249

Leading with Equity 250

Leading for Equity 253

Leading on Equity 256

References 257

Data Sources 259

About The American Assembly 269

Index 271