A New Look at Black Families

Charles Willie and Richard Reddick's A New Look at Black Families has introduced thousands of students to the intricacies of the Black family in American society. Using a case study approach, Willie and Reddick show the varieties of the Black family experience and how those experiences vary by socioeconomic status. The sixth edition has been re-organized and updated throughout. The new Part III: Cases Against and for Black Men and Women unites two chapters from previous editions into a cohesive discussion of stereotypes and misunderstandings from both scholars and the mass media. Also, a new chapter on the Obama family offers support for cross-gender and cross-racial mentoring, and it demonstrates the value of extended family relations.

By Charles V. Willie and Richard J. Reddick

With a sensitive eye to the diversity of experiences that characterize African Americans, Willie and Reddick put to rest the stubbornly persistent notion of a single "black experience." A book that does not shy away from either scholarly or policy controversies, A New Look at Black Families makes a valuable contribution to the national conversation on race. -- Mario Luis Small, University of Chicago An outstanding, thoughtful, rigorous and revealing study of how race, class and family matter in 21st century America. These complex intersections are revealed in the voices, case studies and personal histories of Black women and men of achievement who share intimate portraits of Black family life in low-income, working-class and affluent circumstances. This book offers substantial theoretical, research, and policy lessons for readers interested in understanding the paradox of persistent inequality alongside improved life opportunities for some Blacks in our society... -- Walter R. Allen, University of California, Los Angeles, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Education An outstanding, thoughtful, rigorous and revealing study of how race, class and family matter in 21st century America. These complex intersections are revealed in the voices, case studies and personal histories of Black women and men of achievement who share intimate portraits of Black family life in low-income, working-class and affluent circumstances. This book offers substantial theoretical, research, and policy lessons for readers interested in understanding the paradox of persistent inequality alongside improved life opportunities for some Blacks in our society. -- Walter R. Allen, University of California, Los Angeles, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Education A New Look at Black Families provides a provocative and precocious analysis of the diversity of the black family experience in which black families of all socioeconomic classes are regarded as contributing to the greater social fabric of American life. Journal Of African American Studies