A Peculiar Indifference

The Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America

A Peculiar Indifference
Elliott Currie
RRP:
NZ$ 42.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 32.24
Paperback
h203 x 125mm - 288pg
18 Jan 2022 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781250798497
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In the United States today, a young black man has a sixteen times greater chance of dying from violence than his white counterpart. Violence takes more years of life from black men than cancer, stroke, and diabetes combined. Even black women are more affected by violence than white men, despite its usual gender patterns. These disparities translate into starkly divergent experiences of life and death for whites and blacks in the United States. Yet aside from occasional flare-ups of violence that periodically hit the headlines, the problem has largely receded into the background of public discussion and has nearly disappeared as a target of public policy. The country has been understandably outraged by the recent spate of police shootings of black Americans. But as acclaimed criminologist Elliott Currie points out, the far more widespread problem of "everyday" violent death and injury in black communities has received much less sustained attention or concern. Yet both kinds of violence reflect the same underlying condition: the continuing marginality and structural disadvantage of many black communities in America today. Our unwillingness to confront those conditions helps to perpetuate a level of preventable trauma and needless suffering that has no counterpart anywhere in the developed world. Compelling and accessible, drawing on a rich array of both classic and contemporary research, A Peculiar Indifference describes the dimensions and consequences of this enduring emergency, explores its causes, and offers an urgent plea for long-overdue social action to end it.
"A damning examination of violence in black America and a call for intervention that is long overdue. . . Meticulously researched and densely packed with stats and studies, Currie' s book paints a heartbreaking picture, but it also makes an urgent case for bold measures to turn the tide in black communities. " --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"For too many Americans, reports of lethal violence in black communities evoke momentary concern but then are quickly dismissed as incidents that occur in ' those neighborhoods. ' Elliott Currie boldly confronts this peculiar indifference, conveying tragic stories of unjust suffering and stunning statistics about the high cost of living in fear. Most important, he debunks any excuses for inaction, presenting ambitious but practical ways to make black lives matter. A distinguished scholar long concerned about crime and racial inequality, Currie has written a compelling book that reflects both his brilliant mind and compassionate heart. Simply put, A Peculiar Indifference is a contemporary classic. " --Francis T. Cullen, past president of the American Society of Criminology "Elliott Currie writes like James Baldwin and embraces the public morality of William Barber. A Peculiar Indifference brilliantly reminds America of the many economic, education, public health, and criminal justice reforms needed--and proven--to reduce violence, inequality, poverty, and racial injustice. It enjoins the citizenry to seize the day, reframe the public discourse, rewrite the social contract, and acknowledge that ' normal' is the problem. " --Alan Curtis, president of the Eisenhower Foundation
Elliott Currie is the author of Crime and Punishment in America, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and of numerous other acclaimed works on crime, juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, and social policy. He is a professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine.

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