Ain't no makin' it
by Jay MacLeod · first published 1987
2mentions
1recommended by
2HN commenters
2013first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
The author immersed himself in the teenage underworld of Clarendon Heights. The Hallway Hangers, one of the neighborhood cliques, appear as cynical self-destructive hoodlums. The other group, the Brothers, take the American Dream to heart and aspire to middle-class respectability. The twist is that the Hallway Hangers are mostly white; the Brothers are almost all black. Comparing the two groups, MacLeod provides a provocative account of how poverty is perpetuated from one generation to the next. This edition retains the vivid accounts of friendships, families, school, and work that made the f
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…interesting phenomenon that happens in the US. Upward social mobility almost never happens, but in the rare instance when it does, those examples are given as proof of the "American Dream". The book Ain't No Makin' It (http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Makin-Aspirations-Attainment-Neig...) does a good job of explaining the sociological issues. It's a fair assumption to say that bright kids from "tough backgrounds" are less…
on “The Ivy League Was Another Planet” ↗I haven't read that book. I recommend: Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams http://www.amazon.com/Limbo-Blue-Collar-Roots-White-Collar-D... EDIT to add: $25.52 for a Kindle book (Ain't No Makin' It)?! So the people who would be interested in perhaps reading it are screened out from affording it. Insanity.
on “The Ivy League Was Another Planet” ↗