Have you ever wondered why, despite reform efforts, poverty remains such a prevalent issue in the Black community?
Credit: Barnes & Noble
“Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform” by philosopher Tommie Shelby is an aptly titled political philosophical work of normative theory that delves into issues of institutional racism, justice, and injustice that underlies the problem of poverty in the black community.
It is not only a refutation of previous attempts to remedy the problem of ghettos, nor is it a simple extension of previous frameworks. It is a deep dive into the realm of non-ideal theory, opting to root its critiques and explanations within the real, tangible world.
He opens the book questioning why ghettos persist in the United States. Shelby paves his own way through different answers to this question, arguing that instead of being remedied through reform, ghettos should be abolished. He advocates for a reformation of the basic structure of our society, a basic structure that allows systemic injustice to continue to oppress the downtrodden. Although explicitly focused on issues within the Black community in the United States, these changes would “help all who are unjustly disadvantaged” (278).
He ends the book by acknowledging the limitations of his work and leaves the dialogue open for other scholars to “build on and correct” his initial efforts in this philosophical meditation.
In terms of content, this book is impressive. The sheer depth in which Shelby methodically wades through controversial issues of poverty culture, punishment (how the criminal justice system should treat oppressed people), and acceptable forms of dissent for the oppressed, should be thoroughly admired. The book is split into three sections, with each section encompassing three chapters, not including the introduction and epilogue. Interestingly, although each chapter builds upon the previous one with new ideas, almost every chapter can easily stand on its own as an article.
Amidst all of its strengths, this book, like many other philosophical works, has some weaknesses. The most glaring weakness is it does not go beyond the academic realm. Shelby admits this early on, stating that “one won’t find herein concrete marching orders for activists and organizations seeking to improve the conditions of the ghetto poor” (7). It is not necessarily his responsibility to do so. He already establishes the values and principles that he believes “should guide grassroots reform efforts and policy prescriptions” (7). But if he does not, who will? I do not think it should simply be left in the air, waiting for the slow continuation of the discourse. He acknowledges the urgent nature of the issues at hand. The response should be equally urgent. It may not be his responsibility to begin the push for advocacy, but there should be a greater push within academia in general to create material change. Philosophers should not limit themselves to exist only within their field. Real change can only manifest itself with direct advocacy.
While it is true that this is an academic book meant for scholarly review, the academic structure of the chapters and technical language limit the number of people who can interact with the theory. Once again, this is an issue not limited to this book alone, but within philosophy as a greater field. It is true that the technical terms are necessary to understand the arguments being made (and sometimes they are quite self-explanatory), but the arguments would be better if they were grounded within more examples so the reader can more easily understand and connect these terms with the issues at hand.
Overall, this book is an extremely powerful read. I implore anybody interested in philosophy and in challenging your preconceived notions on how to approach the issue of ghettos in the United States to pick up a copy of this book on Amazon. Hopefully, at the very least, by the end of your time reading, you will at least be interested in continuing this discussion. In the words of Shelby himself, “My hope is that other scholars, seeing merit in my approach, will be moved to supplement, build on, and correct these initial efforts. I don’t expect mine to be the last word.”