Assimilation Blues contributes to an expanding body of comparative family studies. . . . a springboard for the development of more directly comparative analysis. Family research involving issues of race and class should flow naturally from insights suggested by this work. As a significant contribution to the way we think about families, black-white relations, and social change, the book is well worth serious examination by scholars, as well as individals who find themselves in similar circumstances. Contemporary Sociology
This incisive study uses a phenomenological approach in its examination of black families in a white community. It goes beyond the probability statistics of attitude and behavior surveys to let the families speak for themselves about their experiences. Assimilation Blues provides an in-depth look at the realities of being a middle-class black parent, living, working, and raising children in a predominantly white community, through first-hand interviews. The candid responses of both parents and children about their lives and experiences raise many important issues that have immediate relevance for black families regardless of where they live.