First published 2016
Orlando Patterson tackles one of America's most puzzling contradictions. Black youth face staggering challenges: dropout rates exceeding 40 percent, a third imprisoned at some point, chronic joblessness, and persistent violence. Yet these same young people create some of the world's most dynamic popular culture and embrace core American values. Patterson argues that culture holds the key to understanding this paradox. He identifies four distinct cultural streams that shape black youth experience: adapted mainstream culture, African American vernacular traditions, street culture, and hip hop. These cultures simultaneously support and sabotage young lives. Hip hop exemplifies this duality. While enormously influential, it doesn't always benefit its creators. Its emphasis on honor and pleasure reflects not separatist impulses but demands for full participation in mainstream American consumption and power. Patterson draws from sociology, psychology, philosophy, and ethnomusicology to show how culture interacts with structural forces to influence violence, artistic expression, education, work, family relationships, and moral development among black youth.
Genres: african-american, sociology, non-fiction, cultural, cultural-studies
Vibes: academic, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, cultural-analysis
Setting: America
Period: 21st-century
688 pages · Paperback · Harvard University Press