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When Dreams Disappear
Looking at Hoop Dreams and Wilson’s Novel, When Work Disappears
In William Julius Wilson’s book When Work Disappears, we learn about the qualities of the inner-city community from firsthand accounts, statistical evidence and social theory. Throughout the book, examples are given of poverty, inequality and ‘ghetto related behavior’ that helps to preserve a cycle of disorganization preventing any development or progress for those residents in the workplace. When you look at the structural implications, you have to think of the ghetto, where there exists therein a less than affluent, but large population of minorities that are fairly concentrated within their own segregated groups. Living conditions are hampered by both a formidable level of crime and a shortage of decent, affordable housing, usually made worse by unemployment and a lack of education towards family planning.
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Dealing with structure, you must also consider the amount and availability of resources in a given community, where, in a ghetto, the resources are very much limited. ‘Resources’ is a broad term that covers a variety of necessary components in a community that allow for it to function correctly. Even with such facilities and services for education, health and employment, organization is a necessary element that makes cause for progress. Wilson supports this idea in the third chapter saying that disorganization is a “form of social isolation that operates in the inner-city black neighborhood as a result of the lack of access to resources provided by stable working residents”. He later goes on to mention specific important resources within a given community, including informal job networks, which he regards as being crucial to development.
Social Disorganization Theory tells us that organization comes from interaction between individuals and groups that share norms and values while maintaining a place where people within the community can gather. The results of community organization include social control, solidarity and increased networks. With control and solidarity comes an increased sense of awareness, where people care and look out for one another, while bonding more and more. However, many factors make this type of organization unlikely, and this can be seen in the incomplete structure of an inner-city ghetto. Whether it be a lack of a safe meeting place or simply a fear of leaving your home, prejudice and overall deficiencies in status can make cause for a lack of potential in a given community.
Cultural implications are equally as important as the structural, and when dealing with the inner-city, culture has a tendency to be associated with race. In the introduction, Wilson claims that “Race, which reflects both an individual’s position (in the sense of social status defined by skin color) and network of relationships in society, is a social structural variable”. I find Wilson to be saying that the cultural aspects of a given community are flexible (a ‘variable’), but while related to structural characteristics, they can and will remain rigid without any outlet for change through opportunity. A given person’s disposition and ethnicity can definitely hinder their ability to find a job in the workplace, but resources within the opportunity structure could easily decide whether a single mother works on welfare or is caught up in a cycle of drug abuse, without applying themselves to change their situation. Wilson goes on to say in the third chapter that “The study of culture involves an analysis of how culture is transmitted from generation to generation and the way in which it is sustained through social interaction in the community.” Regular interaction in is normally seen as successful organization in a community, and any disorganization can very likely precipitate a high crime rate, a decline in educational and community institutions and then further contribute to existing stereotypes and prejudices. Physical deterioration can then be seen in the community, only proving to be another factor to the loss of business, as those people who have the capability and resources to leave will most likely move away.
This disorganization further harbors unemployment by failing to sustain a working network and a class of skilled workers. You then see a sense of hopelessness prevail, as the community cannot serve as a safety net in any way, and this only highlights other ‘illegitimate’ jobs that offer more visibility and the promise of a lucrative career. This casual movement from the legitimate to the illegitimate can be blamed on the lack of role models and the loss of feeling of connectedness to the world of work. Looking at Wilson’s book and it’s focus on the frustrations of employers and potential employees of the inner-city, we find that many black men and women are excluded from consideration due to an attitude that holds them in low regard, as they are thought to be lacking skills, irresponsible, unwilling to take on extra hours and mostly dishonest. However, it is not uncommon for employers to remain righteous amidst their accusations as Wilson supports this in chapter seven, saying that “arguments that blame the victim resonate with many Americans because of their very simplicity”. “They not only reinforce the salient belief that joblessness and poverty reflect individual inadequacies, they also discourage support for new and stronger programs to combat inner-city social dislocations”.
In the eyes of employers, black people of the inner-city are also believed to be attributed to a high turnover rate and associated with criminals or criminal activity. While these above characteristics are held by many to be sweeping generalizations, the inner-city lower-class status is very real, and it can have a devastating effect on the longevity or impact of any opportunity for education. Statistical discrimination comes into effect here as it represents the concept of differences and discrepancies in production and proficiency among two races, regardless of their being identical. Although supported through evidence, employers must learn to avoid this form of prejudice, as there exists separate factors that heavily influence an individual’s potential. Despite lacking basic skills, a man may not know how to conduct himself in a job interview, how to dress or he might even be financially unable to make the commute to work everyday.
People of color are not entirely blind to these factors however, and many are able to acknowledge these existing problems while accrediting it to racism. This only works to further distance themselves from the working world, allowing a widespread feeling of isolation to set in. These feelings and attitudes are then perpetuated by the strategies and methods put into effect by those employers looking how to most benefit their business through it’s new employees. While their intent is understandable and worthy, the techniques that are implemented are less than fair when you take into account that advertisements are limited to a small number of publications, phone interviews are widely adopted or all hiring is done from within. The latter may then include a refusal to advertise or accept applications, where any applications received will be ultimately destroyed. Those seeking employment opportunities will then respond to this exclusion in a variety of ways, where many may turn to criminal means to financially support themselves. Others may become violent and angry, but either way, racial prejudices are maintained and continued.
As mentioned before, these prejudices obviously influence a black man’s opportunity to rise above the inequalities and injustices of the ghetto, and so alternative methods are often sought. Illegitimate means have already been discussed, but the lofty goal of ‘making it’ through basketball is vividly illustrated in Steve James’ Hoop Dreams, which focuses on two young men plucked from the streets, given the opportunity to attend a ‘white’ prep school and play for a legendary high school coach. William Gates and Arthur ‘Bo’ Agee both soon find that their dreams of a career in the NBA become masked by the heavy burden of economics, family life, academics and athletic competitiveness.
The story told here is one that celebrates a collaborative effort on the part of both families (in one form or another) to see their son succeed, but the story is not told without a certain element of cynicism that reminds us that both of these individuals are putting all of their eggs in one basket. Director Steve James agrees by saying “If they risk tragedy by caring too much about basketball, its because the game is one of the precious few ways they know of to achieve a better life”.
With this idea, we can understand the level of disillusionment that also exists in the lives of Arthur and William, as they both uphold their tentative careers as their first priority, occasionally faltering in academics, but further uplifted by their success. The final resolution, where they seemingly understand their success upon making it to college, shows us that without basketball they have simply used their talents to achieve an attainable goal. However, in the world of recruitment among young black players from the inner-city, one would have a hard time believing that these athletes had any type of self-realization regarding other options in their life, or even other ways to develop unknown and un-tapped potential.
The larger issue that I find in this unit worth noting in conclusion, is the idea that there is predictably not an easy answer to the problem. More importantly, we must realize that employers will always maintain the tendency to look out for their livelihood first, as that is understandably their first priority. Anytime you make a major decision in your life you discriminate, and while I feel that not all discrimination is bad, sweeping generalizations made in the workplace are horribly detrimental, and the structure of how communities get caught in a vicious cycle of poverty is what we must work to change. Race is most definitely an issue, but in the words of Wilson, “We must recognize that these problems cannot be solved through race-based remedies alone”.
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