Hope for the Inner City

American inner cities have been plagued by a set of problems that seem intractable. As we study inner-city life, we are often confronted with the same questions: What is poverty? How can we attend to it? And are these even the right questions to ask regarding the condition of poverty? We will explore these questions with both an honest, realistic position and a hopeful outlook. We must analyze the problems that plague the inner city from the perspective of Christian personalism, the entrepreneurial vocation, and simple solutions. What we will discuss is aimed at providing a practical approach to the integration of these vital factors.

Recommended Readings

Shelby Steele, The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America (New York: Harper Collins, 1990); A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America (New York: Harper Collins, 1990)

Elizabeth Lasch-Quinn, Race Experts: How Racial Etiquette, Sensitivity Training, and New Age Therapy Hijacked the Civil Rights Revolution (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001)

Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2005); Race & Culture: A World View (New York: Basic Books, 1994); A Conflict of Visions (New York: Basic Books, 1987); The Quest for Cosmic Justice (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001)

Orlando Patterson, The Ordeal of Integration (New York: Basic Books, 1997)

Stephan & Abigail Thernstrom, America in Black & White (New York: Touchstone, 1997)