3. The Values and Beliefs of Disconnected Black Youth

Making Sense of Culture

“…Not only has this undermined the cumulative process that is essential for progress in any arena of study, but it has also undercut the reputation of cultural studies generally. Although we are repeatedly told that there has been a "cultural turn" in sociology and related disciplines going back to the 1980s (Bonnell & Hunt 1999, Friedland & Mohr 2004b, Steinmetz 1999cf. Biernacki 2000), and indeed, the culture section of the American Sociological Association is now one of the largest, most noncultural sociologists are still wary of culture and either shun any exploration of its role in their explanatory models or go out of their way to point out its lack of importance or relevance.…”

“…Nearly all the classic works in American cultural sociology such as those of Herbert Gans, W.F. Whyte, Elliott Liebow, Robert Bellah, and Daniel Bell were written in this tradition, and in spite of the high-profile "turn" to semiotics, this remains true of many, perhaps most, of the best work being produced by established and younger scholars (see the excellent edited volumes by Binder et al 2008, Friedland & Mohr 2004a, Hall et al 2010.…”

“…Survey and ethnographic studies find that blacks cherish marriage as much as whites but attach very multiple choice survey questionnaires are a more reliable instrument for uncovering people's deepest "gut" feelings and views, especially those likely to influence behavior (Vaisey 2009, Martin 2010. However, recent work by Fosse (2014) on a large number of national surveys on black youth and by Patterson (2014) on their cultural configurations suggests caution before fully embracing this argument. Thus, black youths overwhelmingly condemn the misogyny and violence of rap music but avidly buy and listen to it.…”

“…At the same time, I agree that the dual-process model of cognition is "unwelcome news" for cultural sociologists who rely solely on in-depth interviewing. different motivational force to it, reflected in blacks' low rate of marriage (Edin & Kefalas 2007, Fosse 2014. Such prioritization is strongly reflected in the "metaphors we live by," as Lakoff & Johnson (1980, p. 22) point out.…”

“…Thus, the hip-hop configuration has long sprung from its South Bronx crucible to become nationally available to American youths of all ethnicities and classes, indeed, to global youths. It is now a vibrant ensemble of foundational cultural slots that are instantiated, on the ground-in Harlem, Chicago, Los Angeles, the banlieues of France, and elsewhere-in ways that, however "recontextualized," creatively reproduce certain dynamically stable aesthetic modes and signifiers: rapping, DJ-ing, MC-ing, graffiti art, breakdancing, distinctive fashions, and embodied styles, as well as "black-inflected identities" and themes such as antiracism, equality, hypermasculinity, authenticity, and subaltern rage (Alim 2009, Drissel 2009, Patterson 2014.…”