"There is a paradox at the heart of cultural sociology, which both seeks to explain behavior in broad, categorical terms and promises to respect its subjects' autonomy and intelligence. The results can be deflating, as the researchers find that their subjects are not stupid or crazy or heroic or transcendent—their cultural traditions just don't seem peculiar enough to answer the questions that motivate the research. Black cultural sociology has always been a project of comparison: the idea is not simply to understand black culture but to understand how it differs from white culture, as part of the broader push to reduce racial disparities that have changed surprisingly little since Du Bois's time."
Kelefa Sanneh in The New Yorker marks the fiftieth anniversary of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's "The Negro Family: A Case for National Action."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment