home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- NATION, Page 41American NotesSOCIOLOGYThe Game of The Name
-
-
-
- American society does not do nearly enough to improve the
- lot of the poor, but it puts its whole heart into sprucing up
- the nomenclature used to describe them. Now sociologist William
- Julius Wilson has suggested that the term underclass be
- replaced by, well, maybe, "ghetto poor."
-
- Wilson believes the long-familiar term may need to be set
- aside "because it has become a code word for inner-city blacks
- [and] has enabled journalists to focus on unflattering behavior
- in the ghetto." Wilson, however, added that he was just
- advancing an idea, and would probably continue to use
- underclass in his own work.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-