@article{771765,
      recid = {771765},
      author = {Greenbaum, Susan D.,},
      title = {Blaming the poor : the long shadow of the Moynihan Report  on cruel images about poverty /},
      pages = {viii, 177 pages ;},
      abstract = {"In 1965, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan--then a  high-ranking official in the Department of Labor--sparked a  firestorm when he released his report "The Negro Family,"  which came to be regarded by both supporters and detractors  as an indictment of African American culture. Blaming the  Poor examines the regrettably durable impact of the  Moynihan Report for race relations and social policy in  America, challenging the humiliating image the report cast  on poor black families and its misleading explanation of  the causes of poverty. A leading authority on poverty and  racism in the United States, Susan D. Greenbaum dismantles  Moynihan's main thesis--that the so called matriarchal  structure of the African American family "feminized" black  men, making them inadequate workers and absent fathers, and  resulting in what he called a tangle of pathology that led  to a host of ills, from teen pregnancy to adult crime.  Drawing on extensive scholarship, Greenbaum highlights the  flaws in Moynihan's analysis. She reveals how his  questionable ideas have been used to redirect blame for  substandard schools, low wages, and the scarcity of jobs  away from the societal forces that cause these problems,  while simultaneously reinforcing stereotypes about African  Americans. Greenbaum also critiques current policy issues  that are directly affected by the tangle of pathology  mindset--the demonization and destruction of public  housing; the criminalization of black youth; and the  continued humiliation of the poor by entrepreneurs who  become rich consulting to teachers, non-profits, and social  service personnel. A half century later, Moynihan's thesis  remains for many a convenient justification for punitive  measures and stingy indifference to the poor. Blaming the  Poor debunks this infamous thesis, proposing instead more  productive and humane policies to address the enormous  problems facing us today."--},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/771765},
}