Mary Pattillo is the Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and coeditor of Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
1999, 2013 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2013.
Printed in the United States of America
22 2120 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-02119-5 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-02122-5 (e-book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226021225.001.001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pattillo, Mary E.
Black picket fences : privilege and peril among the black middle class / Mary Pattillo. Second edition.
pages. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-02119-5 (pbk. : alk.paper) ISBN 978-0-226-02122-5 (e-book)
1. African AmericansIllinoisChicagoSocial conditions. 2. African American youthIllinoisChicagoSocial conditions. 3. African AmericansIllinoisChicagoEconomic conditions. 4. Middle classIllinoisChicago. 5. Chicago (Ill.)Social conditions. 6. Chicago (Ill.)Race relations. I. Title.
F548.9.N4P38 2013
305.896'073077311dc23
2013005615
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
FOREWORD
Given the preoccupation of America with the failings of the poor, social science researchers rarely focus on the middle class. This problem is particularly true of the African American middle class. Originally published in 1999, Black Picket Fences offered a fine analysis of a (lower) middle-class neighborhood in Chicago, which Mary Pattillo calls Groveland. Not only did Black Picket Fences receive positive reviews and scholarly awards, but the book has also been influential in social science and policy debates.
Now, a decade later, Pattillo has returned to Groveland. She offers a lucid analysis of the changes that have unfolded over time in this Chicago neighborhood. Her research for this second edition included carrying out in-depth interviews with some of the people she studied in the early 1990s, reviewing countless local documents, and conducting extensive research on changes in the experience of the black middle class in this city and in America. Pattillo enters a conversation, begun by William Julius Wilson, Elijah Anderson, and others, about the role of the black middle class in the city, and the dynamic intermixing of decent and street folks in the same set of square city blocks.
The first edition of Black Picket Fences, and the follow-up, reveal a paradox. On the one hand, the black middle-class families in her study, and across the country, have advantages over white and black low-income families. They own houses; they do not rent. They have often gone to college; they are not high school dropouts. They are much more likely to have stable jobs; they are less likely to be unemployed. Their incomes are above that of many whites; they are not part of the one-quarter of African Americans living below the official poverty line (230, 260). Hence, her study reveals a group of Americans with privilege.
On the other hand, the original book and the follow-up also reveal significant challenges. On almost every significant measure, members of the African American middle class fare worse than do comparable whites, and often worse than low-income whites. African Americans live in neighborhoods with many more poor people than do whites. African Americans are also less likely to be able to keep their children in the middle class. For example, over one-half of African Americans who come from middle-income families experience downward mobility: they fall below their parents income as adults. This pattern, however, is true for only about one-third of middle-income whites. And African American extended families are much more likely to have a relative who is poor than are white families. The unemployment rate of African Americans is about twice that of whites. Private school enrollment rates are lower for blacks than whites. Black middle-class families are more likely to be victims of crimeblacks with incomes over $75,000 are more likely to get their cars stolen than whites in families earning less than $7,500 (242). Neighborhoods remain heavily racially segregated; and black neighborhoods are more likely to have a lot of poor people in them than white neighborhoods, and high-poverty neighborhoods are found to have many woes, including high crime rates, particularly homicide rates, boarded-up buildings, inferior schools, and limited availability of fresh vegetables and other groceries. Thus, her study of the black middle class also shows significant peril.
Not only are these themes true for the individuals in her study, but she found a similar juxtaposition between privilege and peril in the neighborhood of Groveland both at the time of the original study and more recently. On the one hand, unlike blocks of desolation that characterize many cities, she finds neat bungalow houses in this 96-percent black neighborhood with lush, trim green lawns, fashionable cars, and clean streets. The value of homes increased over time. New businesses have moved into the area. A bustling youth summer camp offers an array of activities. There is a new library branch. The number of people in the neighborhood who have a college degree grew. Hence, in the ensuing years since Pattillos original research the neighborhood did not stand still. Instead, the neighborhood remained stable in key ways and, in other ways, thrived.
On the other hand, the proportion of families living below the poverty line in Groveland increased. The unemployment rate also went up in the last decade. The amount of rental housing grew significantly, particularly the number of government-subsidized housing units for poor people. People she spoke with were worried the neighborhood was going downhill. As Pattillo writes, This position of being more advantaged than other predominantly black neighborhoods but less advantaged than white neighborhoods is the recurring theme of this book (240241).
As Pattillo develops her analysis of the experience of the black middle class, I found three themes in the original book and the follow-up to be particularly revealing. First, Black Picket Fences helps us develop a language of how social class shapes daily lifea language that has been underdeveloped in America. Since the publication of Pattillos book, others have built on her work to develop our knowledge further. For example, Karyn Lacys book, Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007) contrasts the experiences of black middle-class families in the Washington, DC, area. Some families choose to live in the predominantly black middle-class communities of Prince Georges County, but then send their children to private school. Others, however, moved to the predominantly white suburbs of Virginia, where the schools have a strong reputation. These black middle-class parents worked hard to supplement their childrens lives by making sure that they take part in social groups with other African American children. Karyn Lacy has also undertaken a study of the exclusive African American organization for children called Jack and Jill. This class variation among black families was also highlighted in my book
