FOREWORD

IN1896,PAULLAURENCEDUNBARPUBLISHED

APOEM

TITLED

“WeWear theMask”.

Wewearthemaskthatgrinsandlies,

Ithidesourcheeksandshadesoureyes,—

Thisdebtwepaytohumanguile;

Withtornandbleedingheartswesmile,

Andmouthwithmyriadsubtleties,

Whyshouldtheworldbeover-wise,

Incountingall ourtearsandsighs?

Nay,letthemonlyseeus,while

Wewearthemask.

Wesmile,but, 0greatChrist,ourcries

Totheefromtorturedsoulsarise.

Wesing,butohtheclayisvile

Beneathourfeet,andlongthemile;

Butlettheworlddreamotherwise,

Wewearthemask!

Dunbarwritesofblackmenandwomenattheturnofthetwen

tiethcenturyforcedto“wearthemask”becauseofracism.

I’vewornamask,butnotthatone.

I’mwritingthisdraftadayafterIreceivedwordthatmy

househasbeen“saved”,with

“saved”placedinquotesbecause

Iam

stillinthemiddleofBankofAmericahell.

I hadgone

almost threeyearswithoutpaying—

thelastcheckIremember

cuttingtothebankwasinDecemberof2010orJanuary2011.I

rememberthemomentIdecidedtostoplikeitwasyesterday,

xv

Xvi

LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

xvii

justlikeIrememberthemomenttwomen

Cametomyhome

torepossessmyCar.

Letmebackup

amoment.

October2006

Itwasi:3oAMon

alateSaturdaynightandIwasinmyoffice,

working.Thereareprobablythreeaspectsofbeingaprofes

sormostpeopleoutsideoftheAcademyroutinelymisunder

stand.Thefirstaspecttheymisunderstand

istherolewriting

andresearchplayinourjobsandinourlives.Iwasn’tupat

1:30

AMbecauseIwasthinkingaboutalecture,orpreparing

forclass.

Iwasup

“clublate”becauseIwaswriting.Tryingto

scratchoutonemoreparagraph,onemoresentence,onemore

word.Andfailingmiserably.Relatedly,thesecondthingthey

misunderstand

ishowhardwritingcanbe,evenforsomeone

likeme—I’vebeenwritinginonewayoranothersinceIwas

3yearsold.OneofthereasonsIdecidedtopursue

ajobinthe

AcademyinthefirstplaceisbecauseIknewthatifIplayedmy

cardsrightI’dbeabletowriteandcollectacheckdoingit.But

thatdoesn’tmeanit’seasy.Particularlyunderstress.

Whichbringsmetothethirdaspect.TheAcademyislikea

multi-tieredeconomy,withfourtypesofintellectuallaborers.

Atthetoparetenuredprofessors,peoplewhohavetheequiv

alentoflifetimejobs.Underthem

aretenure-trackprofessors,

peoplewhodonothavelifetimejobsbuthavethepotential to

getthem

iftheyworkhard.Andunderthem

areadjunctfac

ulty,whoarenottenuredanddonotevenhavethepotential

tobetenured,andliveincrediblyprecariousliveseventhough

inmanycasestheyhavePhDs.’Andthen,alongsideofthem

1Theindividual storyofMargaretM

aryV

ojtkowhopassedawaySept.1

,2013isparticularlyimportanthere.She’dspentover 25yearsasan

adjunct atDuquesneUniversity,teachingFrench.According

tounion

organizerDanielKovalik

(2013),Ms.Vojtkowasacancerpatient,and

afterDuquesnecuthersalaryto$10,000wasnolongerabletoafford

her m

edicalbillsandherhome.Forcedeffectivelytoliveoutofher

office,Duquesnefiredher.She died

monthsafter.

toacertainextent, aregraduatestudents, peoplewhowant to

becometenure-trackprofessorssotheycanbecometenured

professors, butgiventhepaucityoftenure-trackjobswillhave

tofighthardnot tobecomeadjuncts.

Iwasonthetenuretrack,andknew

Iwashangingby

athread.

SoI worked.Inthiscaseabout s

minutestoolong.

BarelytwominutesafterIleftcampusawhiteJeepCherokee

smashedintomyminivan.

Iwasok, butthecar wasn’t.

Theminivanwastheonlycar wehad.And

itwasjustabout

tobepaid

off.MywifeandIdidn’thavesavingsforadown

paymentfor anothercar.Wedidn’tevenhaveenoughmoney

togetreimbursedfor acarrental. Andwehadfivechildrento

shuttlebackandforth.

Foraweeklocal friendsshuttledusbackandforth. Ibought

abuspass,andtookthebustowork.Because

w&homes

chooledour kidswewerepartofalargeblackhomeschool net

work.Theparentsinthisnetworkbrought groceries,prepared

meals,andhelpedshuttleourkidsaround. W

ewereokfora

coupleofweeks.

Thenmychildrenwereinvolvedinanotheraccident.

EverySaturdaymyfamilymadethetrekup

totheYMCA.

T-ball,soccer, basketball,dance—younameit,ourkidsdidit.

Withouttheminivanwedidn’tknow

howthiswouldcontinue,

butoneofthehomeschool parentscametoouraid. Shewould

drivetoour house, pickupthekidsinher minivanandwould

takethem

totheY.

Nottwoweeksaftermyaccident,ourfriend

picksup

our

kidstotakethem

totheY.Twentyminutesaftersheleaveswe

get aphonecall.

Shewasinacarcrash.Thecar flippedover.

Everyonewasok.Giventhenatureoftheaccidentitwasa

miracle.

Beinghitwith

theseaccidentswithintwoweeks

ofeach

other wasincrediblydraining. W

eneededtogetbackonsound

footing.Thefirststepwasfinding

avehicle.

Oneofmyfraternitybrothersworkedatacardealership. I’d

toldmybrotherswhathadhappened.One

ofthem

emailed

xviii

LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

XIX

meandtoldmethathehadaCarforme.AtfirstIthoughthe

meantthathehadaCarformetobuy—

something

ICouldn’t

dobecauseIdidn’thavethemoney.

No.

HeloanedusabrandnewSUV.Ididn’thavetopayadime.

AllI hadtodowasbringitbacklikeIfound

it.Hewasn’ttheonlyone.Myfather-in-lawhadaworking

vanthathe

nolongerdrove,andhepromised

ittous.Fur

ther,anotherhomeschoolparentgaveusanoldercartodrive.

Withinafewweekswehadthreecarstoreplacetheonewe’d

lost.

Everynowandthen

Iconductresearch

experiments.Let’s

conductonenow.ChangethreedetailsaboutthestoryIjust

toldyou.MakemealowlevelWalmartemployeewith

nocollege

degree.Finally,change

myparents’

financial

circumstance.2

Whathappensafterthatfirstcarcrash?

Inotedthat

Itook

thebustowork(theMTA

22tobeexact—thesamebusIuse

tothisday).AsaprofessorIonlyhavetobeoncampusonthe

days

Iteach.

TheonlyclockIhadwasthetenureclock.Inotherwords,I

have

arelativedegreeofflexibility.

Butwhatif IworkedatWalmart?

IfIworkedatWalmart,mysingletwenty-minutebusride

becomes

40minuteslonger,with

anotherbusandametro

tripthrowninforgoodmeasure.W

hichonthesurfacedoesn’t

appeartobetoobad.However,neitherthetwobusesnorthe

Metrorunsexactlyontime,soevenifI’m

atthebus/metrostop

ontime...thebus/metromightnot be.3Andifevenoneofthe

busesorthemetroisjustabitoffscheduleeverythingelseis

2Ofcourse

thisthoughtexperimentisahittricky,becauseifIworked

atWalmart...ordidn’thave

aPhD...ordidn’thaveparentswith

resources,Iwouldn’thavebeenatHopkinstogetinthecaraccident

inthefirstplace,right?Butbearwithme.

OnmorethanoneoccasionIbeatthebushomebecause,ratherthan

waitforit,Idecidedtowalk.

thrownoutof whack.Thefirstbusmightbeontime,andthe

lastbusmightbeontime,butif themetroisn’tontime..,then

I’moutof luck.

Further,working

atWalmartisn’tthesameasworkingasa

tenure-trackuniversityprofessoratahigh-tieruniversity.If

I’mscheduledtoworkatWalmartfrom

gto,I’vegottobe

thereat9.IfI comeinlate, I’dlosepay...andlikelymyjobifit

happenedmorethanonce,evenifitwasn’t myfault.IfIhadto

relyonpublictransportationitwouldlikelyhavecostmemy

job.Andwouldhaveputmyfamilyatsevererisk.Icanhearthe

managernow.“Youshouldhavetakentheearlierbus.”

Being

aprofessorhasitsowngrindbut itprovidesmewith

flexibility—

Iworkfarmorethan

fortyhoursperweekbutI

workthemajority

ofthosehourswhenandwhere

I want.It

alsoprovidesmewithbenefits.Healthinsurancecoveredmost

ofthecostsassociatedwiththeaccident.EvenifIweresome

howabletokeepmyWalmartjobwith

nocar,Walmart’sidea

of“jobbenefits”istohaveworkerscoveredbyMedicaidrather

thanprovidethem

withhealthcare.Howwouldmystorydif

ferifwetookawaymycollegeeducation?IfIdidn’tattendcol

lege,Iwouldn’thaveaccesstoanyofthenetworks

Ireliedon.

Iwouldn’tbeabletorelyonmyfraternitybrothersbecauseI

wouldn’tbeinthefraternity. Thevastmajorityoftheparentsin

theblackhomeschoolnetworkI wasapart of werealsocollege

educated.So

it’sunlikelyI’dhavepeopleinmylifewith

the

abilitytojustgivemeacar.

Ithoughtabout allofthisas

Iwasinthemiddleofit,as

Iwas

thinkingabouthow

Iwasgoingtoget towork,as

I wasthink

ingabouthow

Iwasgoingtogetanothercar,as

Iwasthink

ingabouthow

I wasgoingtopaywhatever billsleftoverfrom

theaccident. IrealizedhowblessedIwastobeabletoemerge

from

theaccidentrelativelyunscathed,howblessedI wasto

beconnectedwithpeoplewhowouldlookoutforme.And

IrealizedthatifI weredifferent,ifmylifehadgonejustabit

differently, I’dbeinaveryverydifferent place.

Now

manywouldprobablysayinresponsethat

Iworked

hard

togettowhere

Iam,thatmyparentsandmyin-laws

workedhardtoputmyfamily

inthepositionwheregetting

into

acaraccidentisn’talife-changing

event.Inblack(and

other)churchesaroundthecountry,prosperitygospelpastors

XXLESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

Xxi

routinelyusethephrasefavorisn’tfairtoarguethatGod’s

blessingstend

togotoGod’speople.Mystory,then,canbe

readasthestoryofsomeonewho,becauseofhisfavor(thatis,

becauseofthetypeofjobhehadandthenetworkshehadas

aresultofhiseducationandhisupbringing),wasabletotake

acoupleofminorsetbacksandovercomethem.Myraceand

genderheremakesthestoryevenbetter—blackmanfacesset

back,emergestriumphant!

Butthisnarrative,toldinblackcommunitiesacrossthe

country,ignoresacoupleofimportantthings.Thefirstthingit

ignoresisthatourabilitytobouncebackfrom

life’schallenges

aren’tandshouldnotbesimplydictatedbyfavor..

.bywhether

wewenttotherightschools,orbywhetherorhowwebelieve

inGod

(orthe“right”God),orbywhetherwehavetheright

networks.

Wearefoolingourselvesifwebelievethereissomething

inherentaboutwhatwedo

aspeoplewhopurporttobemid-

dieorupperclassthatcausesustodeservethebenefitswedo

receive,that“workinghard”or“beingfaithful”ordoingone’s

dutyasabrothershouldautomaticallyconfercertainbenefits.

Iffavorisn’tfair,itshouldbe.Everyoneshouldhaveaccessto

theresourcesandnetworks

Ihadaccesstointhatmoment,

regardlessoftheiremployment,regardlessoftheirreligious

background,regardless

oftheirpersonalconnections.But

weroutinelymakecomparisonsbetweenthedeservingand

undeserving.

Theideathat“favorisn’tfair”

producesand

reproduces

crises

that

dosignificant

damageto

black

communities.

Butthesecondthingwemissistheunique

stressesand

strainsthecontemporaryconditioncauseseven

forthesup

posedlyfavoredamongforus.

Whichbringsmebacktothatmask.

October2008

Although

Iemergedfrom

theaccidentwithoutaphysical

scratch

Ididnotemerge

from

theaccidentunharmed.It

wasawhilebeforetheinsuranceclaimcamethrough,sowe

wereforcedtoreplyonmakeshifttransportationoptionsfor

months.Whentheclaimdidcomethroughwehadenough

moneytopayoff the

oldcar,but notenough

tobuyanewcar

outright—wedidn’thavesavings.Everydollar,everypenny

Ibroughtin,immediatelywentout.Ourcarwasonlyseveral

monthsawayfrom

beingpaidoff,andweliterallybanked

onthatextramoneytoprovideuswith

acushion.

Butnow,wehadtopostponethatvision.Insteadofhaving

onlyeightmonthsofcar paymentswehadtonowaddanother

64monthstothat. Andasour kidsweregrowingolderthebills

weaccumulatedgrew. W

espent moreonfood. W

espentmore

onclothing.W

espentmoreonutilities.

Thenextyearwentbyin

ablur.Everymonthwewerejust

alittle

bit short—onemonthonrent,anothermonthonheat,

anothermonthonthecar.Everymonthitseemedasifwe were

relyingonournetworkalittlebit morefor money.

Imentionedthefactthatwehomeschooledourchildren.

Whilewerentedinoneofthebestblackneighborhoodsin

Baltimore,theelementaryschoolwashorrible.Iremember

thedayIlookedovermyoldestdaughter’smathhomework.

Theywereworking

ondecimalpoints,andonherworksheet

shewasassignedtostatewhethervariousmathematicalstate

mentswere“true”or“false”.Forexamplethemathematical

statement2.4>2.0is“true”whilethemathematicalstatement

2.1<1.9is“false”.Shemarkedthemathematicalstatement

1.0>1“false”.Theteachermarkedthestatement wrong, which

meantthati.oandihaddifferentnumericalvalues.So

Itell

mydaughtertheteacheriswrong—thati.o

andihavethe

samevalueeventhoughthetwoarewrittendifferently.Her

response?“Butdaddy,she’smyteacher.”

Afterthis

Ilookatherhomeworkmoreclosely,noticinga

numberofwordsherteachermisspelledonhomeworkassign

ments. Andafterouroldestson’ssecondgradeteachertoldus

shewouldn’tsendherownchild

totheschoolwefiguredthe

problemwasn’t ourchildrenbut rather theschool.

Privateschoolwasn’tan

optionforusbecausewedidn’t

havethemoney.Sohomeschoolwastheonlyoptionwehad

left.Mywifefoundablackhomeschool groupinthecity, and

I

xxii

LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLExxiii

wasabletoprovideourChildrenwith

abettereducationthan

theywouldhavereceivedifthey’dhavestayedinthatelemen

taryschool.Butbillscontinuedtopileup.

Whenourlandlordaskedustopayaportionofourenergy

billbecauseofskyrocicetingenergy

prices,werealized

we

neededanotherincome...whichmeantweneededtomoveto

findabetterpublicschoolsystem.W

hichmeantweneededto

buyahouse.

Wescrapedupthemoneythroughacombinationoffamily

andmyretirementaccount,andgotenough

foramortgage

downpayment.Ourkidscouldgotoschoolrightaroundthe

block.Andmywifecouldbegintolookforwork.

Butthismadeourcircumstanceseventighter,becausenow

IhadtopayeverybillI’dpaidbefore,plusutilitiesandtheloan

I’dtakenforthedownpaymentonthehouse.

(Evenwritingthisdownmakesmewanttotake

adeep

breath.)

Duringallofthis

Iwasstillexpectedtowork.Tobe

agood

teacher.Topublishinscholarlyjournals.Towriteabookgood

enough

tobepublishedbythebestacademicpresses.

Tocollaboratewith

colleagues.

Imentionedabovethatbeinga

tenure-trackuniversityprofessorhasitsowngrind.

Iwentintooverdrive.

Iwouldwakeupat4:30

AM,thenwriteforhours.Thengoto

work.Thentry

towritesomemore.Thencomehomeataround

6:30

PM.Eat,talktomywifeandkidsforaboutanhour,then

gotobed.

WhenIwokeup

Iwouldrepeattheprocess.Write.Work.

Comehomeforabit.Eat.Sleep.Wakeup.W

rite.Work.Come

home.Eat.Sleep.Write.Work.AlwaysfeelingasifIwere

behind,asifthereweremoreworktodo,asifIdidn’thave

enoughhoursintheday,intheweek,inthemonth.

Aftermorethan

ayear,itallcaughtupwithme.

Oneweekend,theweightofeverythingthathadhappened

tousup

tothatpoint,thecarcrash,thebills,thedecision

tomove,thehomeschooling,therobbingPetertopayPaul,the

lackofsavings,themissedmortgagepayments,allthe(in

my

mind,bad)choiceswe’dmade,allofitcamecrashingdown.

And

Icollapsed.And

Ididn’tgetoutofbedforthreedays

straight.

Ihadn’tconsideredmedicationbefore.Igotaprescription

forananti-depressant.Itdidn’ttakeourbills

away,itdidn’t

miraculouslywritemybookfor me.But theyenabledmetobe

abitmorecapableofdoingwhat Ihadtodotosurvive.

By2olo,twoyears afterAmericaelectedthefirstself-identified

blackpresident,thecarweboughtasaresultoftheaccident

hadbeenrepossessed,andI wasfacingforeclosure.

Themask.

Throughouttheentireordeal,Idonned

themask,tothe

extentI could. Ididn’tmissaclass.I didn’t missawritingday.

Itoldveryfewcolleagues.I fulfilledall of myobligationsasifI

didn’thave

acareintheworld.

***

InJune

2011theUniversityofMinnesotaPresspublishedStare

intheDarkness:TheLimitsofHip-hopandBlackPolitics,the

book

Iwasworkingonbefore,during,andaftertheaccident.

Itrepresentedanattempttosubject thevariousclaimsschol

ars,activists,andothershavemadeabout hip-hop

tocritical

scrutiny.But it alsorepresentedanattempttounderstandhow

blackcommunitiesreproduceinequality,sometimesthrough

blackpopularculture.

Eveninthissupposedpost-racialera,arangeofwriters,

activists,andpolicy-makersexamineinter-racialinequality.

Infactagrowingnumberofscholarshavebecomeinterested

inintra-racialpolitics,thepoliticsthatoccurswithinracial

groups. I’vespentmostofmylifeinandaroundthreemajor

ityblackcities,Detroit,

St. Louis,andBaltimore—citieswith

largeblackpopulations.Evenasracism

stillshapesthelives

blacksinthesecitieslead,racism

cannotexplainwhysome

blacksintheseareashave

alot of resourcesandsomehave

afew.Racismcannotexplainwhytherearesomeblackpopula

tionsweasblackmenandwomenareall toowillingtofightfor,

whilethereareotherblackpopulationswearewillingtolet

die.Andracismcannotfullyexplainhowblackpeoplechoose

XxivLESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

XXV

tofight,norcanitfullyexplainthesolutionsblackpeoplegen

eratefor theproblemstheyface.

Whatcan?

Theneoliberalturn, thegradual embraceofthegeneral idea

thatsociety(andeveryinstitutionwithinit)worksbestwhen

itworksaccordingtotheprinciplesofthemarket,cangopart

oftheway.Wenowroutinelyrefertopublicofficialsaspeo

plewehiredratherthan

elected,asCEOsratherthanpoliti

calrepresentatives.Weplacebusinessexecutiveswith

more

managerialexpertisethaneducationalexpertiseincharge

ofpublicschoolsystems.WeusetheBible(andincreasinglythe

Koran)asentrepreneurial self-helpguidesratherthanasspiri

tualtexts.Weincreasinglybelieveanarrayofpublicgoodsand

services(fromeducationtoutilityprovisiontosocialsecu

rity)arebetteroff distributed

byprivateprofit-makingactors.

Finally, wenolongerrespect thedignity

oflabor,andincreas

inglyproposehustlingtomakeendsmeet.Theneoliberalturn

helpsexplaintheriseofinequality,theincreasinganxietyand

insecurityweall feel (regardlessofhowmuchmoneywemake

orwhattype

ofjobwehave),howanumberofinstitutions

(includingbutnotlimitedtoblackchurches)we’vereliedon

havebeentransformed,hownarrow

ourpoliticalimagina

tionshavebecome.

ThestoryI beganthiswith

isnotalifeordeathstory.Butit

isastoryabout acertaintypeofsuffering,amaskedsuffering,

thatevenwhenhealed

isdone

soproblematically, “problemat

ically”becausethevariouswayswe(andhere

Inotonlyrefer

toAfricanAmericansbuttoAmericansingeneral)tendtoheal

thissufferingarewoefullyinadequate,inpartbecausewehav

en’tproperlyidentifiedwhatcausesoursufferinginthefirst

place.Thecrisesmyfamilyfacedarethenatural end-products

ofasocietythatincreasinglyshirksitsresponsibilitiestothose

perceivedtobelosersinanincreasinglystarkcompetition

overmaterial,social, andpsychicresources.

Over theseveralchapterstofollowIseektomakeplainthe

sufferingthatblackpopulations,blackinstitutions,andblack

citiesundergointhiscontemporarymoment.Foravarietyof

reasonswe’vebeenforcedtohustleandgrindour wayoutof

thepost-civilrightsera,anditisthishustleandgrindinall

ofitsinstitutional manifestationsthat’sresultedinour current

condition.W

hileinterestinneoliberalismisgrowing,writings

thatexaminehowneoliberalismshapesblacklifearefewand

farbetween.

I rectifythisgapwith

aneyetowardscontribut

ingtothescholarlyliterature,butmoreimportantlywith

aneyetowardscontributingtothebroaderconversationabout

solutions.

1

OVER

FIFTY

YEARS

AGO,JAZZ

CORNETIST

NAT

ADDERLEY

recorded

“WorkSong”.OscarBrownJr.lateraddedlyricsand

includedtherecordonhisalbumSin&Soul..

.andThenSome.

Breakingrocksout hereonthechaingang

Breakingrocksandservingmytime

-

Breakingrocksouthereonthechaingang

Becausetheydoneconvictedmeofcrime

HolditsteadyrighttherewhileI hitit

Well reckonthatought togetit

Beenworkingandworking

ButIstillgot soterriblyfar togo

(AdderleyandBrownJr.1961)

For muchofthetwentiethcenturyblack(andsomepoorwhite)

prisonerswereforcedtolaborfor southernbusinessesinpris

onslikeMississippi’sParchmanFarm(Oshinsky1996).’“Work

Song”tellsthestoryof

apoorhungryworkerconvictedfor

stealingfoodfrom

agrocerystore.

Motownwastwoyearsoldwhen“WorkSong”wasreleased.

Against“WorkSong”IputAceHood’s“HustleHard”.

sameoldshit,justadifferent day

Outheretrynaget it,eachandeveryway

Mamaneed

ahouse,babyneedsomeshoes

Timesaregettinghard, guesswhat I’mado

1Often

imprisoningmen

fortheweakestofinfractions, political offi

cialssubcontracted

prisoolabor

outtobusinessinterests,often

increasingarrestrateswhenbusinessesneededmore laborers.

2LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

3

Hustle, hustle, hustle,hard

Hustle, hustle, hustle,hard

Hustle, hustle,hustle, hard

Closedmouthsdon’tgetfedonthisboulevard

(HoodandLuger2011)

Thehustle.Theconceptofthe“hustler”hasChangedsome

what over thepastthirtyyearsorso.Whereasinthelatesixties

andearlyseventiesthehustler wassomeonewhoconsistently

soughttogetover,thepersonwhotriedtodoaslittleworkas

possibleinorder tomakeendsmeet,withthe“hustled”being

thepeoplewhowerevictimizedbytheseindividuals(“Hehus

tledme”),thehustlerisnowsomeonewhoconsistentlyworks.

Ican’t goaweekonthesubwaywithoutseeingsomeonesell

incenseorglovesinthewinter.

Ican’twait fortheMTA

22bus

atMondawminmallformorethantenminuteswithoutrun

ningintosomeoneselling“looseones”(individualcigarettes)

orbottledwaterduringthesummer.Andthehustle,rather

thanbeingtheactoftrying

togetover,hasnowbeentrans

formedtothepoint whereitmeanstheexact opposite: “hustle”

and“grind”arenowoftenusedinterchangeably.Muchofrap

explicitlyexaltsthedailyrise-and-grindmentalityblackmen

with

noroleintheformaleconomyneed

topossessinorder

tosurviveandthrive.BlackSheep(1994)inhistrack“Auto

biographical”rhymesaboutselling

drugson

thestreetin

sub-zeroweather.InKanye

West’s

“Diamonds

from

Sierra

Leone(remix)”(2005)Jay-Zsays

“I’mnotabusinessman,I’m

abusiness,man!”Theseanddozensofotherraprecordsdepict

MCsasrisk-takingstreetentrepreneursconsistentlyhavingto

makeendsmeet,responsibleforsuccess/failure.AceHoodis

willingtodowhateverheneedstodo(“Mamaneedsahouse.

Babyneedssomeshoes.Timesaregettinghard.Guesswhat

I’mado?”Sellclothes,bootlegCDs,candybars,whateverhe

hasto).Ifweweretoput AceHood’shustlerupagainst Adder

ley’schain-gang

workerwe’dseesomeobviousdifferences.

But what we’dseeinbothcasesareblackmenwhoareforced

toworkincessantly

with

noway

out.Bothsongsrepresent

stylizedattemptstodealwiththenatureofblacklaborintwo

differenttimeperiods.2

IntheforewordI definedneoliberalismasthegeneral ideathat

societyworksbestwhenthepeopleandtheinstitutionswithin

itworkorareshapedtoworkaccordingtomarketprinciples.

Weseethisideainpublicpolicy—

ingovernmentattemptsto

privatizepublicresources(eitherbyexplicitlysellingthem

off

orbytreatingthem

asiftheywereprivatelyratherthanpub

liclyowned).W

eseethisideaincommonsenseaccountsthat

routinelysuggestbusinessesarebetterthangovernmentsat

providingarangeofservices.Weseethisideainseemingly

non-politicaltechniquesdesignedtomakeindividuals,popu

lations,andinstitutionsmoreentrepreneurial.What Ihaven’t

done

isdefinewhat Imeanby“theneoliberalturn”.Therewas

atime,decadesago,whentheideas,policies,andtechniques

associatedwith

neoliberalismwereviewed

asradical.Now?

Domesticallyandinternationallywe’vegot somethingcloseto

aneoliberalconsensuswithpoliticalpartiesthatareoftenon

F

1

2Itwouldbe

a full elevenyearsbeforeMotownwouldreleaseanalbum

thatcontainedsongsasexplicitlypoliticalas“WorkSong”(Marvin

Gaye’sclassic“What’s

Going

On?”,which

Gordy

onlyreluctantly

released).Everythingthelabelproduced

wasarguablyshaped

bythepoliticsandeconomicsoflabor.Ofcoursethename“Motown”

itself,thenicknameblacksthroughoutthecountry

gaveDetroit,was

derivedfrom

theautoindustry(“MOtorTOWN”). ButGordyborrowed

techniquesfrom

theassemblylineinproducingMotown’ssongs.Just

liketheautomotiveplantsdividedtheprocessofcarmanufacturing

into

anumberofdiscreteactivities,Gordycut upmusicproduction

anddistribution,separatingout theprocessesofwriting,singing,and

playingmusic.TheFunkBrothersweresomeofMotown’smost pro

ductiveandprolificsessionmusicians. OftentimesGordywouldhave

them

comeinandplaymusicfor songsthathadn’tevenbeenwritten

yet,muchlesssung. Andjustlikeintheautoindustry,afterthefinal

songwasproduced,ateam

ofqualitycontrolspecialistsmettodeter

minewhetherthefinalsongwasgoodenough

tohereleased. Gordy

evenwent sofarastotailorthesoundqualityofthesongandthesong

lengthtothecar radioaudience(Smith

1999).

4LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

5

25%

20%

15%

10% 5%

Figurei.Top1%IncomeSharesintheUnitedStates.BESedondatEfrom

theWorldTopIncomesDEtEbESe(Alvaredoetal.2015)(http:Ilwww.wid.

world),November27,2015.

theoppositeendsofthespectrum

agreeingonthenecessityof

neoliberalpolicies,ideas,andtechniquesofgovernment.How

didthishappen?Ibeginwith

twographs,onedepictinglev

elsofinequalityfrom

theearlytwentiethcenturytonow(Fig

urei),theotherchartingproductivity

alongsidewagesfrom

1973tonow(Figure2,pageii).

From

thebeginningofthetwentiethcenturytoaround

1929

thewealthiestAmericanscontrolasignificantportionofAmer

ica’swealthcomparedtothepoorest.Thenitdrops,onlytorise

againaround

1970...tothepointthatwehavenowthehigh

estlevelsofinequalityinthelastonehundredyears.Wealth

isnowextremelyconcentratedinthehandsofafew—thenet

worthofthetopi%

is288timesthenetworthoftheaverage

Americanfamily(JacobsandHacker 2008).What happened?

InthewakeoftheGreatDepression,PresidentFranklin

D.Roosevelt,underpressurefrom

activists,proposedandCon

gresspassedwhatwenowknow

astheNew

Deal.TheNew

Deal gavelabor therighttoorganize,itcreatedunemployment

insurance,itputpeopletowork(oninfrastructureprojects, on

datacollectionprojects,onartistic

projects)bycreatingthe

WorkersProgressAdministration,andgavepeoplebaseline

accesstohealthinsurancebycreatingMedicare.Finally,it

supplementedtheincomeofsinglemothersbycreatingAidto

DependentChildren(ADC).TheSecondWorldWar, asmany

deaths

asitcaused,putmillionsofmenandwomen

towork

(includingmymaternalgrandmother).Afterthewarended

CongresspassedtheCI

Bill,subsidizingtheeducationand

homeownershiPofmillionsofveterans. InthesixtiesCongress

passedcivilrightslegislationmakingmanyformsofracialand

genderdiscriminationillegal,andpassedanti-povertylegis

lationdesigned

togiveresourcestocitiesandhealthcareto

thepoor.

Theselegislativeactswerenotpossiblewithoutpolitical

struggle.Groups(politicalparties,laborers,unions,activists,

businesses,women, AfricanAmericans)foughtoverproposing

andpassingthesepolicies.Oncethesepolicieswerepassed,

groupsfoughtoverhowmuchfundingtheywouldreceiveand

overhowtheywouldbeimplemented.Andtheyfoughtover

thesethingsinpartbecausetheyhaddifferentideasabout

howtothinkabouttheproblemsthenationfaced,andinpart

becausetheyhaddifferentintereststoprotect(businesses

wantedtoprotect theirabilitytomakeaprofit,labor wantedto

protecttheabilityoflaborerstomakealivingoff of theirwork,

blackmenandwomenwantedtobetreatedasfullcitizens).

Partiallythroughtheseacts,inequalityfellsignificantlyto

thelowestlevelsofthemodernera.

However,inthelatesixtieslevelsofinequalitybeganto

increaseagain.

Whiletherearemanydifferent waystodefinepolitics,with

somefocusing

solelyon

electionsandthelike,andothers

focusingon

awiderangeofcultural activities, Idefinepolitics

verysimplyasthegroupcompetitionoverscarceresources,as

wellasthevariousactivitiesthatcomprisethiscompetition.

Everyvotecastforonepoliticalcandidatecannot,bydefini

tion,becastforanotherpoliticalcandidate.Everytaxdollar

3LEter calledtheWorkProjectsAdministration.

4Whichlater becameAidtoFamilieswithDependentChildren(AFDC),

whichlaterbecameTemporaryAidtoNeedyFamilies(TANF).

0%1913

1923

1933

1943

1953

1963

1973

1983

1993

2003

2013

6LESTERK.SPENCE

spenton

defensecannotbespentonwelfare.Everyminute

spentdebatinglegislationthatwouldgivemoreresourcesto

singlemotherscannotbespentonlegislationthatwouldgive

moreresourcestothedairylobby.Everypublicpolicyded

icated

todealingwith

povertycannotbededicatedtodeal

ingwith

someotherissue.Thesetangibleresources—votes,

money,time,publicpolicy—

arebothincrediblyimportantin

structuringsociety5andareeasyenough

towrapone’shead

around.

Butwedonot onlyfightoverscarcetangibleresources.

Wealsofightoverresourcesthataren’tquite

astangible.

Fordecadespoliticalscientistshavestudied“agenda-setting”

asacentralcomponentofpolitics(BaumgartnerandJones

Cohen

1999;Kingdon

1984).Onthesurface,anagenda

isjustalistof itemsagroupneedsaccomplishedandisn’t“tan

gible”inthewaythattime,money,orvotesare.However,

agendascanonlycontainsomanyitems,suggestingagenda

itemstooarescarceresources.Further,totheextentagenda

itemsrepresentproblemsthatneed

tobesolved,ideaspeo

pleusetosolvetheseproblemscanbecomeresourcesgroups

fightover.Also,thewaywefight—therulesofthecompetition

itself—canbecomepoliticalterrain.How

arevotescounted?

who

isallowedtovote?howmanyvotesdoeseachindividual

receive?6Ireferredtopublicpolicyabove,aterm

wetake

for

granted.Wealsofightoverthemeaningandform

of“thepub

lic”—infact,itmaybeoneofthemostimportantresources

wefightover(and

for).

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

7

finally,inmakingdecisionsabouttime,money,votes,poli

cies,agendas,thepublic, weusereasonbut wealsouseemo

tion—

love,hate,disdain,derision.Indecidingwhen,where,

andhowtoactpoliticallyweroutinelyallotcaretosome

groupswhilewithholdingitfrom

others.There’smoretopol

itics,alotmore.ButwhenIwriteabout“politics”,thisiswhat

Ireferto.AndwhenI talkabout“blackpolitics”

I amreferring

tothewaysdifferentblackpopulationscompeteoverscarce

resources,overtime,overmoney, over votes, overpublicpolicy,

overagendaitems,overcare,andotherresourcesthathave

asignificantimpactonhowblackcommunitiesandthepeople

withinthem

arestructured.

Politicsisaboutcompetitionoverscarceresources.Politics

isalso,toan

extent,aboutproblem-solving.Inequalitylev

elsdroppedaround

1930orsobecauseofpolitics—because

formerlylesspowerfulgroupsfoughtagainstmore,powerful

groupsandwon,changing

legislation,changing

publicpol

icy,changingpoliticalinstitutions, changingideasabout labor

andtheeconomy,about race,about citizenship,and,through

theseactions,changingthewaymaterial,social,andpsychic

resourceswereallocated.Now

let’srevisitthosecharts.How

mightweusepoliticstounderstandwhat happened?

Around1972twophenomenaseverelyaffectedAmericaand

therestofthedevelopedworld—highlevelsofunemployment

andhighlevelsofinflation.8ThissentAmericaandtherestof

theindustrializedworldintoaneconomictailspin.Theend

resultofthisparticularcrisiswasnot just increasedeconomic

5Onecounter-responseisthatthereareveryfewdifferencesbetween

politicalcandidates,giventheneoliberalturn.A

sI notelater,the

turnhasbroadbipartisansupport.However,withthatsaid, existing

differencesbetweenpoliticalpartiesarestilllargeenough

onsome

issues—reproductivehealthloomslarge—thatelectingoneslateof

candidatesvs.anothercouldstillresultinveryverydifferentpolitical

outcomes.

6Insomedemocracies,forexample,peoplearegivenanumberof votes

theycanusetodistributebetweenthecandidatesandpartiesoftheir

choice. IntheearlyninetiesLaniGuinier(2002)wasastrongpropo

nentofthisidea.

7By‘thepublic”

Igenerallyrefer tothreedifferentconnectedconcepts.

First, “thepublic”

isacommunity, abody

ofpeoplethatsharemem

bershipina politicalcommunity

(acity,acounty, astate/province,a

nation)orshareacommonidentity.Second,“thepublic”

isaset of

resourcesthat thesepeopleshouldshareandhaveaccesstobydintof

their membershiporidentity.Here“thepublic”

issynonymous with

“thepublicgood”ortheideathatthereisacommunityinterestthat

benefits allofitsindividualmembers,andwith

“thecommons”orthe

ideathattherearesharedcommunityresourceswhichcannotand

shouldnot behoardedormadeprivate.Third, “thepublic”

isspace

designedforthecommunity’sgeneraluse(parks,gardens,public

squares), sometimesfor thespecific purposeofgeneratingdiscussion,

debate, anddecisionsaboutissuesofinterest.Inthislatter instance

thepubliccanbe

areal space—a townhallforexample —

oritcanbe

a virtual space

(apublicradioshow).

8Economiststhoughtinflationwasthefunction

ofhighdemandfor

goodsandservices,highdemandthatcouldonlycomeiftherewere

enoughworkersmakingalivingtowant thegoodsinthefirstplace.

Itwassupposedlyimpossibletosim

ultaneously

have

thistype

ofdemandandhighlevelsofunemployment.Theeventsofthelatesix

ties andearlyseventies provedthem

wrong.

8LESTER

K.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

9

anxietyandsuffering.Itwas

acrisisofideasaswell,inpart

becausethetheoryroutinelyusedtofixtheeconomyproposed

thatwe’dalmost neverhavehighlevelsofinflationandunem

ployment at thesametime.Highpricesareusuallytheresult

ofpeoplespending

alotofdisposableincomeongoods,and

youdon’thavethatwhenpeopleareunemployed.

Inotedthatinequalitybegantodrop

astheresultofpolitical

struggle.Oneofthethingspeoplestruggledoverwasthedis

ciplineofeconomics.Whateconomictheoriesbestexplained

howeconomiesworkedandshouldwork?Somepoliticallead

ersandeconomistssuggestedthatitwasthegovernmeht’srole

toensurethatunemploymentstayedrelativelylowbyprovid

ingemploymentintimesofsevereeconomiccrisis, andtopro

videcitizenswithresources(publiceducation,unemployment,

healthcare,retirementinsurance)whencitizenscouldn’tgar

nerthoseresourcesthroughthemarket.And

somepolitical

leadersandeconomistsfavoredmuchmoreradical solutions.

Lowlevelsofwealthinequalityareverygoodforworkersand

forsocietiesingeneral.Peopletend

tohavemoreoptions, they

tendtobemoremobile,theytendtolivebetterlives. However,

lowlevelsofwealthinequalitydonotworkparticularlywell

forpowerful businessinterests,nordotheyworkparticularly

wellforthewealthy.Ifbusinesseshave

topayworkershigh

wages,if businesseshavetospendvaluableresourcesonmak

ingtheirworkplacefavorabletolabor,theirprofitmarginwill

significantlydecrease.Andthemorelegislativepowerlabor

has,themorelikelythegovernmentcollectsandspendstax

dollarsonthingsthatreducebusinesspowerandthepowerof

thewealthyingeneral.

Foraveryspecificgroupofintellectuals,thisintellectual

crisis—thisinabilitytosolvetheeconomyusingtraditionally

supportedeconomictheory—becameapoliticalopportunity.

Theybelieveddecreasing

levelsofinequalitywouldgivetoo

9“Keynesians”,namedafterBritishEconomistJohnMaynardKeynes.

Keynesianeconomistsarguedthattheactionsofprivateactorsalone

couldnotkeepaneconomystable. Rather,governmenthadtoactively

heengagedintheeconomybysettingpolicyandbyspendingmoney

intimesofrecession.

muchpowertolabor,woulddisruptthegenerationofasup

posed“freemarket”, andasaresultwouldkillcapitalism.

Sotheytooktheopportunitypresentedbythecrisistoroll

outadifferenteconomictheory, onethatproposeda verydiffer

entrelationshipbetweenthegovernmentandthemarket and

betweensupplyanddemand.WhereasKeynesianeconomics

suggestedconsumersweremoreimportantthan

producers

andentrepreneurs(becauseentrepreneursandbusinesses

couldn’tprofitwithoutconsumers),andradicaleconomists

suggestedthatlaborersweremoreimportantthan

business

owners(small andotherwise), thenewtheoryemphasizedthe

importance

ofentrepreneursandbusinessowners(because

iftheydidn’tinnovate,consumerswouldn’thavejobs,and

theirsocietywouldn’tprogress).Whereas

Keynesianeco

nomicssuggestedthatgovernmentsshouldguidetheecon

omyinwaysthatwouldtend

toleadtohighlevelsofemploy-

mentandproductivity,andradicaleconomicssuggeststhat

governmentsshouldguidetheeconomyinwaysthatwould

tend

toimprovethecourseofhumandevelopment,thenew

theorysuggestedtheseapproacheswouldenduphavingthe

oppositeeffect.’°Theideaofhumancapital”theorizedbythe

lateChicagoeconomistGaryBeckerplaysacriticalrolehere

becauseittransformslaborfrom

asimpleunityoupluginto

aneconomicequation(somanyunits

oflabortranslateinto

somuchprofitforthecompanywhencombinedwith

somany

unitsofequipment)intosomethinghumanbeingscanthem

selvestransformthroughskilldevelopment,education,cre

ativity,and,perhapsmostimportantof all,choice.Anyattempt

tousegovernmenttoreducetheabilityofbusinessinterests

tomakeaprofit,anyattempttousegovernment toreducethe

abilityofentrepreneurstoinnovateandcreate, anyattemptto

usegovernment toartificiallyinflateordeflatetheabilityofan

10Iflaborers,forexample,knewthattheycouldn’tbefired,theywould

bemoreirresponsible.Theirirresponsibilityinturnwouldreduce

their productivity,whichwouldinturnmakesocietiesworseoffrather

thanbetteroff.Ifgovernmentsattempted

toplaneveryaspectofthe

economytheywouldeventuallyfailanddevolveintototalitarianism,

11Theideathathumanbeingshave

asetofskills,values,andhabits

thattheycandeveloptoproduceassets,justasclassicaleconomists

believebusinessesusecapital toproducegoodsandservices,

1

,“1 p. 0’ 2 “, > ‘0 E L)

10LESTERK.SPENCE

11

individualtoprofitoff ofhisorherlabor,wereattemptstostifle

freedom.’2

Insteadofreducing

inequalitybyincreasing

government

spendingoninfrastructureduringdownturns(hencestabiliz

ingandperhapsincreasingemploymentlevels)orbyprovid

ingpublichousing,unemploymentinsurance,alivingwage,

orotherentitlementstocitizens,peoplesupportingthesenew

ideasproposed

thatgovernmentdismantle

suchprograms

evenifdoingsoincreasedinequality.Givingpoorpeopleand

theunemployedresourcesactuallymakesthem

morepoor

andmorereliantonthestateratherthanless(andhenceless

free),soweshouldcuttheresourceswegivetothem.Rather

thanprovidepoorsinglemotherswith

benefitstotakecare

oftheirchildren,theneweconomictheorysupportedforcing

singlemotherstofindworkoutsideofthehome.Becausethe

newtheoryviewedthemarketasincrediblyfragile,govern

mentshouldbeused

tobolstermarketswheretheyalready

existedandtocreatemarketswheretheydidn’texist.Infact,

theyargued

governmentitselfshouldbegoverned

andcri

tiquedbymarketstandards—byhow“efficient”itwas,byhow

wellitservedits“customers”,byhow“entrepreneurial”various

governmentactorsbehaved.

Theseideasandthepoliciesandtechniques

associated

withthem

tend

toincreaselevelsofinequality.Further,they

tend

to“naturalize”inequality.Thatis,theytend

toattribute

inequalitytopersonal,populational,orinstitutionalflaws

ratherthanstructuralones.Evenwhenpoliticiansandpolicy

makersdobelieveinequalityisproducedbystructuralfactors,

asaresultoftheneoliberalturntheyaremorelikelytoturnto

themarket forsolutionsthantheyareelsewhere.Indeed,andI

writeaboutthislater,theveryideaof“socialentrepreneurship”

revolvesaroundthenotionthatwecansomehowharnessthe

wondersofthemarket todealwithsocialillslikepoverty,hun

ger,andhomelessness.

Iwanttogoback

toAceHoodandtheidea

ofthehustle

above.Theterm’smeaningchangesi8odegreesbecauseofthe

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

90%i

2011:

60%

70%

1

50%

/Aeho

30%

ompern.tion

1973

1977

1981

1985

1989

1993

1997

2001

2005

2009

figure2.Productivity

vs. AverageHourlyIncome(EconomicPolicyInsti

tute2012)

growinguseofandacceptanceoftheconcept of humancapital.

Indeed,undertheneoliberalturnarguablythemostimport

antfigureisthefigurewhoconsistentlyworks. Andthemarket

becomesthemost important venuewithwhichtheindividual

canfigureoutwhento, whereto,andhowtodevelophis/her

human

capital,becauseonlythemarketcangiverealtime,

dynamic,andaccurateinformationabout thecontext inwhich

he/shecanmakehumancapitalchoices(whentogobackto

school,forexample).Inordertoconsistentlyprovideforhis

mother,hischild,aswellashimself,AceHoodhastobecon

sistentlyworking. Hastobeconsistentlyproductive.

Theabovechart (Figure2)tracesincreasesovertimeinpro

ductivity, andthenincreasesovertimeinwages. Aswecansee

overthepastseveraldecadeswe’veseen

asteadyriseinpro

ductivity.Comparedtoig7,2011productivityhadincreased

approximately80%.Butwearebeingpaidfarlessincom

parison. Infact, whenwechart increasesinproductivityand

wagestogethergoingbacktothefortieswefindthattheyrise

atabout thesamerateuntilaroundthesametimeinequality

beginstospikeagain.Afterthatpoint wagesflat-line(Mishel

2012).Themedianaveragehouseholdincomeis$51,00o.Ifthis

incomeroseatthesamerateproductivitydid,itwouldnowbe

12forafullerexplanationofthisstoryreadMarkBlyth’swork(2002,

2013).

12LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

13

approximately$gi,ooo(Gilson

2014).Thatistosay,ifwetook

everyAmerican

family

andrankedthem

accordingtohow

muchmoneytheybroughtin,thefamily

smackdabinthe

middleofthatgroupwouldhavealmosttwiceasmuchmoney

nowifthemoney

itbroughtinincreasedatthesamerateits

productivitydid.

Onewaytoexplaintheriseinproductivity

alongwithflat

tenedwageratesisthroughglobalization,throughincreased

connectionsbetweencountrieslikeChinaandIndiaandthe

UnitedStates.Comparedtothe1950S,veryfewofourautomo

bilesareproduced

byAmericanworkers.Rather,theseand

consumergoodslikesmartphonesareincreasinglyproduced

outsideoftheUnitedStatesandthenimportedback,inpart

becausedoingsoenablesAmerican

companies

toproduce

thesegoodscheaperthaniftheywereproducedintheUnited

States.

Imentionsmartphones.Anotherwaytoexplainboththe

riseininequalityandtherisinggapbetweenproductivityand

wagesistoexplainitthroughincreasesintechnology.Think

ingabouttheautomotiveindustrythatmadeMotownpossi

ble,thissectorisfarmoreproductivethan

itoncewasbecause

theautomationprocessmadeitpossibletoproducemore

carsmoreefficientlyandlessexpensively.Wecanseethisin

anynumberofworkplacesoutsideoftheautomotiveplant.

Increasesintransportationtechnologiesmakeitpossibleto

creategoodsusingoverseaslabor—itcostsfarlesstoship

goodsinbulktotheUSthan

itoncedid.

Theseincreasesintechnologyarealso

apartialfunctionof

globalization.Becauseoftechnologicalinnovationintrans

portationitispossibletoshipgoodsbackandforth

cheaper.

furthermore,becauseoftheInternetitisnowpossibletoout-

sourcesoftwaredevelopment andengineeringtonationslike

Indiaforlessthans;o/hourthroughwebsiteslikevirtualem

ployee.com

(motto:“thefutureofwork”).

Buttechnology

didn’tnecessarily

havetogeneratethegap

betweenproductivityandwages. W

ecouldhavehadasociety

inwhichwagesandproductivityincreasedataboutthesame

rate. Andglobalizationdidn’tnecessarilyhavetogeneratethis

gapeither. W

ecouldconceivablystillhavethetype

ofglobal

connectivity

wenowhavewhileincreasing

wagesdomesti

callyandglobally.

Theneoliberalturn

explains

this.Even

aspeople

are

expectedtobemoreandmoreproductive,andlikeAceHood

jcreasiflglyplacemoreandmoreexpectationsuponthem

selvestobeproductive,themoneytheymakeasaresultofthat

productivityflatlines,largelybecauseofthewaygovernment

(localsstate,federal/national)abilitytoregulatebusinesses

havebeencut.

Whataretheeffectsofthetwographs?Again,wecanget a

senseofitbylookingatthedegree

towhichthehustlerhas

becomesOimportant inhip-hopandinAmericanpopularcul

tureingeneral.However, wecanprobablygetabettersense

ofitbylookingatlabor.Inthecurrentmomentfourlabor

dividesloom

large:thedividebetween“good”and“bad”jobs;

thedividebetweenunionizedandnon-unionizedjobs;the

dividebetweentheemployedandunemployed; andthedivide

betweentheinstitutionalizedandthenon-institutionalized.

Ibeginwiththe“goodjob”/”badjob”divide. Goodjdbsoffer

benefits,goodsalaries,stablehours,jobsecurity,dignity, and

safeworkingconditions.Unionizedjobsintheautoorsteel

industryaregoodjobs.Manycorporatemanagerialjobsare

goodjobs.MostprogrammingjobsatplaceslikeGoogleare

goodjobs.M

ytenuredjobataresearchuniversityisagoodjob.

Peoplewiththesejobscanusuallyprovidefor themselvesand

theirfamilies,cangetdecenthealthcarewhentheyrequire

it,haveatleast somedueprocessincaseofjobdisputes,and

aregivenadegreeofrespectbecauseoftheirjob.Thesejobs

require

agreatdeal of humancapital.

Badjobs,ontheotherhand,offerverylowwages,unstable

hours,littletonojobsecurity,littletonodignity,noduepro

cess,unsafeworkingconditions,andlittle

tonobenefits.Jobs

atWalmartandplaceslikeittend

tobebadjobs.Mosttem

poraryjobsarebadjobs,astheymayofferdecentwagesbut

oftenoffernobenefitsandnojobsecurity.Unpaidinternships,

evenonesthatcouldleadtopaidjobs,arealsobadjobs(Lurie

2013).MyfirstjobatWendy’s, flippingburgersfor $3.35/houras

a15-year-old, wasabadjob.Someadjunctfacultyjobsareso

badtheyhavetogoonwelfare,eventhoughtheyhavePhDs

(Patton2012).Peopleworkinginthesejobsareoftenjustahair

abovepoverty,unabletofullyprovideforthemselvesortheir

families,unabletoprotectthemselvesorprotestiftheyare

fired, andunabletomovetofindbetter jobopportunities.

Theseconddivide

isthedividebetweenunionworkersand

non-unionworkers.

Unionsused

tobe

afixtureoftheAmericanpoliticaland

sociallandscape.

Thecollege

educations

mysisterand

Ireceivedwerepaidinpartbymyfather’s(union-supported)

wages.Beforemanufacturingemploymentbegantodecrease,

35%ofallAmericanworkerswerepartofaunion.Neartheend

ofPresidentRonaldReagan’sfirstpresidentialterm

in1984,

approximately20%ofallwageandsalaryworkers

16yearsand

olderwereunionized,comparedto2014whenonlyii.i%of

allwageandsalaryworkerswereunionized(BureauofLabor

Statistics).Thisdroplargelycomesfrom

adrop

inprivatesec

torunionmembership.In

1983

16.8%

ofprivatesectorwork

ersweremembersofaunion,butin2014only6.6%

were.’3In

contrast,35.7%ofallpublicsectorworkersweremembersof

unionsin2014,comparedtoapproximately37%inl983.’Asof

2014mostunionworkersarenowpublicsectoremployeeswho

workforfederal,state,andlocalgovernmentratherthanpri

vatesectoremployeeswhoworkforaprivatecorporationlike

FordorGM

(Greenhouse2011).

Thegood/bad

andunion/non-uniondistinctions

arestill

aboutjobs.Thethirdlaborgapdealswith

unemployment.

Oneofthemostimportantandmostanalyzedaspectsofthe

secondgreatdepression

istheunemploymentrate.Butwhile

high

(ashigh

asio%in2009),theconversationaboutunem

ploymentdoesnotbegintotrulycapturehowdirethisgap

is,becausethegovernmentdoesn’tdefineunemploymentas

thestateofnothaving

ajob.Rather,thegovernmentdefines

unemploymentasthestateofnothavingajobwhileactively

lookingforemployment.’5Thisdefinitiondoesnotincludepeo

plewhohavestoppedlookingforwork.

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

15

Further,theunemploymentcategorydoesn’tbegintocap

turehowthelong-term

unemployedaretreatedinthelabor

market.Inamarketwherethenumberofpeoplelookingfor

jobsfaroutstripsthenumber of jobsavailable,employers have

asignificantdegreeofpowertochooseexactlywhotheywant

(oftenatlowerwagesthanifthejobmarket werebetterorif

unionSwerestronger).Takingadvantageoftheirpowerhere,

employershavebegundiscriminatingagainstthelong-term

jobless(Krugman

2014).Indeed,thisproblemissobadthata

numberofstateshaveintroducedlegislationmakingitillegal

foremployerstodiscriminateagainstpeoplebasedontheir

employmentstatus.

Thefirsttwolaborgapsdistinguishedbetweenpeoplewith

jobs.Thethirdlaborgapdistinguishesbetweenpeoplewith

jobsandpeoplewithoutthem.Thefourthlaborgapdistin

guishesbetweenpeoplecountedinjobdataandpeoplewho

aren’tcountedinjobdataatall.

Approximately6.9

millionAmericansareeitheronparole,

inprison,injail,oronprobation(GlazeandKaeble2014).The

UnitedStatesincarceratesmoreofitscitizensthananyother

developednationintheworld,andmanymorethan

most

underdevelopednations

aswell.TheUnitedStateshasover

twiceasmanyprisonersservinglifesentences(over159,000),

thanJapanhasinprison

(60,486asof2014)(Institutefor Crim

inalPolicyResearch,2015;Nellis

2013).

Wethinkabout laborandworkasbeing“productive”, while

wethinkoftheunemployedasbeing“non-productive”. Tothe

extentwethinkabouttheincarceratedpopulation,wethinkof

them

asbeingcounter-productiveratherthanproductive,that

is,weviewthem

asproducingsomething(crime,disorder, vio

lence)thathurtsratherthanbenefitssociety.But thereareat

least twowaysthisaccount iscomplicated.

“WorkSong”puttomusicanexperiencetensofthousands

ofblack(and

somewhite)prisonersdealtwith

throughout

thefirstseveraldecadesofthetwentiethcentury.Particu

larlyintheDeepSouth,stateofficialswoulduseprisonlabor

toworkonpublicandprivateprojectscheaply,oftentiming

arrestsandimprisonmentstocoincidewith

corporatelabor

needs(Oshinsky1996).Thisprocesshasbecomemodernized.

14LESTER

K.SPENCE

I

13Alongtheselinestheunionjobmybrotherhascamefrom

mytather

aswell.

14Idealwitheducationlater,butoneofthereasonswhyconservatives

attackteachers’unions

isbecausetheyconstitutealargeportionof

publicsectorunionworkers.

iTechnicallyitisabitmoreprecisethanthat.Peoplearedefinedas

being“unemployed”iftheyareoutofalobandhavelookedforwork

atleastoneoftheprecedingfourweeks.

I

Corporationsroutinelyuseprisonlaborasameansofcheaply

producinggoodsandservicesforconsumersandforstategov

ernment.California’sPrisonIndustryAuthorityhasanonline

catalogthatsells

avarietyofprison-createdproductstostate

institutions,from

aceremonialindoorAmerican

flagwith

fringe(productnumber495400.0000)for $60,toanassembled

executivedeslc(productnumber608500)for$90,toCalifornia

prisonuniforms(productnumber406201.2080)for$32(Cali

forniaPrisonIndustryAuthority2014).Statelawrequiresthe

prisonersbepaidatleastaminimum

wage,butupto80%of

thatwagegoestoroom

andboardandotherbills.’6

Secondly,inmanystatesruralpoliticaldistrictscount pris

onersasresidentsofthosedistrictsforpoliticalrepresentation

purposes,eventhoughtheseprisonerscannotvoteinrural

elections.Notehowurbanareaslosehere.Severalcensus

blocksinurbanareasare“million-dollarblocks”,sendingmil

lionsofdollarstothestateandtoruraldistrictsintheform

ofprison

labor,laborthencountedinruraldistrictsforthepur

posesofpoliticalrepresentation.’7Urbanareassendthousands

ofbodiestoruraldistrictsforpoliticalrepresentation.Upon

freedomprisonersareoftenreluctant toengageinmost forms

ofpoliticalparticipationanditisoftenincrediblydifficult for

formerprisonerstofindemployment(Burch2013;Weaverand

Lerman

2010).

All oftheselabordividesareracialized.

Asadirectresultofhousingsegregation,blacksareconcen

tratedinpoorneighborhoods,cities,andeducationalsystems.

Unemploymentisparticularlyconcentrated

inwhatwenow

thinkofastheRustBelt,theformermanufacturinghubofthe

country.Cleveland,Gary,Flint,Detroit,Baltimore,St.Louis,

Milwaukee,allhaveincrediblyhigh

ratesofunemployment

andbadjobs(andhighblackpopulations).Whilecitieslike

SeattleandNew

YorkCityappeartothrive,inrealitytheyare

16Iftheprisonerisafather, forexample,he

isresponsibleforpaying

childsupport (Mink1998).

17TheworkoftheJusticeMappingCenter(www.justicemapping.org) is

criticallyimportanthereastheynot onlycameupwiththeconcept

ofthe“million-dollarblock”; theycameupwithanonlinetoolthat

enables

individualstoseeforthemselveshowtheirneighborhood

maybeaffectedbythemillion-dollar blockphenomenon.

KNOCKINGTHEHuSTLE

17

goodandbadjobhubs.’8Withinmetropolitanareasingeneral,

00employment isevenmoreconcentratedinpoornon-white

suburbsandneighborhoods.

Duringthenineties,whitemaleandfemalejobgrowth

Camealmostsolelyfrom

thegrowth

ingood

jobs,’9

while

approximately75%ofbadjobswenttoAfricanAmericans

andLatinOs(WrightandDwyer2000).Infact,3outofevery

jobsthatwereaddedamongblackandLatinopopulations

werebadjobs.Currentlythereisaslightracialgapinunion

membership.UnionizationratesforblacksandAsianAmeri

cansarehighcomparedtotheiroverallpopulationpercent

age.UnionizationratesforwhitesandLatinos,ontheother

hand,arelow—andfor whites,extremelylow. Andtherehas

alwaysbeen

alargegapinemploymentrates,withtheblack

unemploymentconsistentlytwiceashigh

aswhiteunemploy

ment.Finally,overhalfofthe(growing)incarceratechpopula

tionisAfricanAmerican. Sendingblackstojailbythetensof

thousands,takingawaytheir votingrights,andthencounting

them

ascitizensforthepurposeofwhite,rural,andconser

vativepoliticalrepresentation,representsaform

ofeconomic

andpoliticalexploitation.Manyifnotmostofournation’s

“million-dollarblocks”areblackblocks.20

Thecontemporarynatureofthesedividesislargelytheprod

uctoftheneoliberalturn.

Thedividebetweengoodjobsandbadjobscomesfromdein

dustrialization,whichitself comesfrom

publicpolicydesigned

tofirstenticemanufacturerstomoveout of industrialcenters

18New

YorkCity’sfinancialmanagers,lawyers,doctors,entertainers,

andentertainment executivesneedbikemessengers,taxicabdrivers,

drycleaners,waiters,conciergeservice,janitors,landscapers,jobs

thatpayveryverylittleandoffer evenfewerbenefits.

19Whitewomenwereespeciallyabletotakeadvantageofthemarket.

Notonlydidtheyoutpacetheir whitemalecounterpartsintheirabil

itytofindjobs, theyoutpacedtheirwhitemalecounterpartsintheir

abilitytofindgoodjobs.

20Illspossibletooverstatethisdynamic. Oneofthemythsblackpeople

routinelyspreadabout theplightofblackmen

isthattherearemore

blackmeninprisonthanthereareincollege. Now, evengiventhefact

thatundergraduatecollegestudentstend

tobebetween18-22while

incarceratedmenrangeinagefrom

18(andlessinsomecases)to80,

therearestillfewerblackmeninprisonthanthereareincollege.

16LESTERK.5PENCE

18LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

19

(withhighlaborCosts)andthensecondlytoreduceinterna

tional tradebarriersinwaysthat reducelabor costsevenmore.t

Butthisdivideisalsoincreasinglysupportedbyourowngrow

ingacceptanceoftheideaofhumancapital.Ifhumancapital

issomethingweworkonandmakechoicestodevelop,just

likebusinesses, thenthebenefitswereceiveordonotreceive

aretheresultofourchoices.Inotherwords, peoplewhowork

atWalmart“deserve”toworkatWalmart,and“deserve”the

lowwagestheyaregiven.PeoplewhoworkatGoogle,onthe

otherhand,not tomentionthepeoplewhocreatedGooglein

thefirstplace,“deserve”thehighwages(andstockdividends)

theyreceive.Why, usingthislogic,wouldwepaysomeonethe

equivalentofamiddle-classsalaryandbenefitstoengagein

nothingmorethanroutinephysicallabor?

Thedividebetweenunionandnon-unionjobscanbeviewed

throughasimilarlens.Idistinguishedgoodjobsfrom

bad

jobsbywages, jobsecurity,benefits,dignity,anddueprocess.

Thesecamefrom

unionactivism. Throughcollectivebargain

ing,unionsmadeitpossibleformostblueandwhite-collar

employeestomakegoodwages, betreatedwith

dignity, have

concretewaystodealwithconflictandworkplaceharassment,

andtoworkunder safeconditions.Evennow, peopleinunions

getpaidon

averagemuchbetterwagesthan

peoplenotin

unions,acrossallsectors(USBureauofLaborStatistics2010).

Inpartbecauseunionsaresoweak,undereducatedworkers

(and,increasingly,workersingeneral)findithard

topro

vide

adecentlivingfortheirfamilies.Reducingthestrength

ofunions

didnoteradicategood

jobsentirely.Google,for

21Thebeginningofthetrendactuallyoccurredinthefiftiesasthefed

eralgovernment subsidizedrelocatingmanufacturersawayfrom

the

MithvestandtheNorth-centralregionsofthecountryinresponseto

what theyperceivedtobethegrowingCommunist threat,but itreally

begantotakeholdintheseventiesas

adirectresultofthelatesix

ties/earlyseventieseconomiccrisis.Beforethismoment,evengiven

theshrinkingjobsinthemanufacturesector, itwasstillpossiblefor

menwith

lessthan

ahigh

schooldegree

tofindemploymentwith

goodsalaries,benefits,anddignity. W

hitemenwereabletogetmore

ofthesejobsthanotherracialgroups,butbecauseofcivil rightsera

gainsblackswereabletofindjobsthiswayaswell,particularlyin

placeslikeDetroit.Bythemidtolateseventiesthisprettymuchdried

up—unemploymentlevelsandrelativelyuneducatedmeninthese

regionsincreasedandtheirsalariesdecreased(BoundandHolzer

1993).

example,tendstopayworkerswell,tendstooffer goodbenefits,

andcreatesthetypeofworkspacemanyofuswoulddreamof,

ythoughGoogle’semployeesarenot unionized.However,as

unionsdecreasedthenumberofmid-rangejobsdecreased

also.Further,thenumberof“badjobs”increased,with

“bad”

ec0miflg“worse”.

Humancapitalisanindividualtrait,notnecessarily

acol

lectiveone.Neoliberallogicsuggestsunionsdistorttheabil

ityofmarketstofunctionperfectly

bytaking

awaytheability

ofindividualstonegotiatetheirwagesbasedontheirown

humancapital.Further, unionsdistort theirabilitytofunction

onthejobbecausethebenefitsunionsprovidecanmakepeo

pielesslikelytoworkhard(oratall).Thislogicisreflectedin

decisionsatboththenationalandstatelevel thatreducethe

abilityofunionstoform

ornegotiate. HereI’dalsoincludethe

legislationthatreducesinternational tradebarriers.

Thedividebetweentheemployedandtheunemployed

isalsoconnectedtotheconceptofhuman

capital,ashuman

capitalcanbothbeused

toexplainwhy

somepeopleare

employedandsomepeoplearenot,andtoargueforcertain

typesofsolutionsasopposedtoothers.Ifthereasonpeople

areunemployed

isnotbecauseofstructuraldeficits

ordis

criminationbutbecausetheyhaven’tdonewhatittakesto

beemployed, thenthesolutionisfor themtosomehowattain

theneeded

skillstobecomecompetitiveonthejobmarket.

Heretheascensionofneoliberaleconomicsisparticularly

acute.Thereasonunemployment ishighduringrecessions

isbecausecompaniesdonot havetheprofitbaserequiredtosus

tainafull suiteofemployees.Theonlyentitywiththeabilityto

hireandput moneyintotheeconomywhenprivatebusinesses

don’t (ormoreaccurately, won’t)isthegovernment.

Theselabordividesreducetheabilityofindividualswithin

thevarioussegmentstofightfor singular political alternatives

becausetheyeachhavedifferentinterests.Theyalsotend

toconcentratewhatpoliticalsuccessesoccurwithinthehigher

endofthelaborspectrum

becausethoseatthetopofthevar

iousdividestend

tohaverelativelymorepoliticalresources

thanthoseatthebottom.

Theneoliberalturnbeganin

1972duringRichardNixon’s

presidency. However, theAmericanpoliticalfiguremost asso

ciatedwith

theturn

isRonaldReagan.Givenhowlong

ago

Reaganwasinoffice,itisworthdealingwith

howtransfor

mativeafigurehewas.BeforeReagan’selection,government

spending

onpublichousinghadincreasedsignificantly.After

hiselection,he

stoppedconstructionofnewpublichous

ingunits.Hecutfull-timeHousingandUrbanDevelopment

(HUD)staffby21%andrestructured

itbymakingitavoucher

program,andbythemiddleofhissecondtermhadreduced

publichousingby

8o%comparedto

1982.Reaganreduced

unemploymentbenefitsby

$4.6billion

in1983atone.Reagan

weakenedlaborbykillingtheairtrafficcontrollersstrikeof

1981(Shostak2006),andthenbyappointingmenandwomen

withstronganti-laborpositionstotheNationalLaborRelations

Board(NLRB), whothenreversedseveralpreviouspro-labor

decisions.Reagansignificantlyreducedtheabilityofthegov

ernmenttoraisetaxesbymakingdeficits

apoliticalissue,by

generatingbroadsupport fortaxcuts(eventhoughtheprime

beneficiariesofthosetaxcutswerewealthierAmericans),and

byreducingtheabilityofstateandlocalgovernmentstocol

lecttaxes—thisevenashebothcutaidtolocalgovernments

andcutresourcestoorganizationscreatedforthepurposeof

promotinglocalgovernmentinterests(Conlan1998;Pierson

1994;Waidref2008).Finally,inadditiontothepolicychanges

heinstitutedandthelegislationhesupported,heconsistently

promotedtheideathatgovernmentwastheproblemrather

thanthesolutiontotheillssocietyfaced.

RonaldReagantransformedthewaywethinkaboutgov

ernment,andthisnotonlyaffectedtheRepublicanParty,it

affectedtheDemocratic

Party.EveryDemocratic

president

we’veelectedsinceReaganhaspromoted

neoliberalideas

andpolicies.Itwasn’taRepublicanwhoendedwelfare:it was

BillClinton.23AsIshowinchapter4,GeorgeW. Bushhelped

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

21

neolibemlizepubliceducation(with

NoChildLeftBehind),

andBarackObamacontinuedratherthan

stoppedthis

attempt(withRacetotheTop).Andanarrayofpolicyexperts,

localpoliticalofficials,andeveninsomecasespoliticalactiv

istshavepromotedneoliberalideasandpolicies.Over thepast

fewyearsanumberofpeoplewith

progressivepoliticshave

beguntotoutGoFundMeandKickstarteraswaystosidestep

thesignificantlack

ofresourcesactivistsoftenhave

topur

sueprogressivepoliticalends.Theseapplicationsandothers

likethem

requireindividualstotreattheircauseasifitwere

aneconomicproduct,andtheirpersonalnetworkasapoten

tial“market”.

Itmakessensethat

agroupofpeopleandinstitutions

interested

inhoarding

andaccumulatingwealth

wouldpro

motepoliciesthatalsopromotedtheirself-interest.But what

doesn’tmakesenseisthesupportthesepoliciesreceivefrom

regulareverydaycitizens.Whywerethevariouspoliciesand

ideasproposedpredominantly

bybusinessinterestsandby

conservativestakenasgospelfrom

peoplewhowerehurtby

them?Someknewthattheeffectsofthesepolicieswouldbe

disastrousontheworkingclass.Andsurelyoncepeoplelike

Reaganbegantoactuallyimplement thesestrategiesitshould

havebeenclearthatthesepolicieswouldhavehorrificcon

sequences.YettheAmericanpopulacestillsupportedthem.

WhathappenedtogettheAmericanpopulacetosupport them

insuchlargenumbers?

Racialpolitics.

Asinequalityincreases,thenumberofsocietal“losers”—

individualswho

can’tmakeendsmeet,who

simplycannot

20LESTERK.SPENCE

I ‘I

22Vouchersareakeyaspectofneoliberalpolicytransformationasthey

marketizepublicgoods.

23WenowlookbackwardstotheClintonerawithfondnessbe!ausewe

thinkitwasaparticularlygoodtimefortheeconomy.Unemployment

rateswereaslowas4%, incrediblylowbycurrentstandards.

However, thisbackwardsglanceisrose-colored.

Most of thejobscreatedduringthisperiodwereeitherverygood

orverybad.Approximately40%ofthejobgrowthduringthenineties

camefrom

eitherverygood

(20%)orverybadjobs

(17%)(Wrightand

Dwyer2000).Bycomparison,lessthan

2%ofthegrowthinoverall

jobscamefrom

thegrowthinverybadjobsinthesixties.Thispattern

hasgottenevenworsesincetheClintonera,Traditionally,temporary

agenciesareresponsibleforaverylowpercentage

ofjobs.Butasof

summer2013,temporaryagencieswereresponsiblefor themost jobs

(Wright2013).Theendresultofthisdivideisthatwe’reswiftlybecom

inganationwhere,ifyouhave

ajob,youeitherhave

aWalmart job

welcomingcustomersastheywalkin(andarelikelyparticipatingin

a multi-levelmarketingprogramlikeMaryKayorAvontomakeextra

money),oryouworkatGoogle,withlittle

tonoroom

inbetween.

22LESTERK.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

23

succeedonsociety’sterms,try

astheymight—alsoincreases.

Thepublicpolicydevelopedtodealwith

thesepopulations

becomesincreasinglypunitive,increasinglycordoningoff

thesepopulationsfrom

therestofsociety,increasinglyreduc

ingtheresourcestheyhaveaccessto,increasinglyforcingthem

toundergogovernmentsurveillanceandcontrolinexchange

forthosefewresourcesthey

receive,andincreasinglyleav

ingthem

todiewhentheyareunabletobehave“responsibly”.

Increasinglyexposingpopulations

topainandsufferingthe

wayneoliberalismdoescanonlyoccurunderveryspecific

circumstances.Somehow,membersofsocietymustbecon

vincedthatlosersdeservewhatthey

get,thattheylosenot

becausethedeck

isstackedagainstthem

butratherbecause

theyhavesomethingwrongwiththem

thatcanonlybedealt

withpunitively.Andtheymustseethemselvesinthewinners.

Similarly,theymustbegintothinkthatthe“publicgood”,par

ticularlyintheform

ofincreasedtaxesandserviceprovision,

istheequivalentoftheft.

Racialpoliticsperformworkhere,aswhiteattitudesabout

labor,work,crime,andtaxesarefusedtoattitudesaboutblack

menandwomenand,throughthem,toothernon-whitepop

ulations.Asaresult,awidevarietyofpublicinstitutionsand

publicgoodscomeunderattack.Itisn’tthatpeoplebeginto

hate“biggovernment”,as thisistechnicallyinaccurate.It’sthat

peoplebegintosimultaneouslyhategovernmentprograms

thatofferprogressiveassistance

topopulationsperceivedto

beundeservinganddesiregovernmentprogramsthatpunish

thesepopulations.Underneoliberalismpeopleincreasingly

supportspending

resourceson

imprisoning(black)crimi

nals, onborderprotectionagainst(Latino/a)immigrants,and

onprotectingourinfrastructure

from

(MiddleEastern)

terrorists.

Theracialdifferenceswithineach

oftheseimportantlabor

divideshurtAmericanpopulationsingeneral.Theyincrease

housingsegregationthatinturnexacerbatesinequality.They

increasenegativeattitudesaboutpoorandworkingclasspop

ulations—ifpeoplein“goodjobs”tend

toliveindistinctly

differentneighborhoodsthanotherpopulations,theyarenot

likelytobeexposedtothem,causingthem

todevelopattitudes

aboutthispopulationthroughthemediaorthroughrandom

(negative)personalencounters.Racedoes

atremendous

amountofworkingeneratingpublicSupportforpunitivepoli

ciesEvenfortheunemployed.

Takethefollowingcomment madein2012byRepresentative

Blakefarenthold(R-TX)at acommunitymeeting:

Drugtestingforrecipientsofvariouswelfareprograms,

Ireallythinkthat’ssomethingthatneedstobeconsid

ered.We’vegotta,youknow,nobodywantstostarve

anybody.Everybodywantstohelpfolksout.Butwe’ve

gotasystem

whereyoucanstayonunemploymentfor

anawfullylongtime.And

Ithinkweneed

tocreatea

system

ofdecreasingbenefitsovertimetoencourage

youtogetajob.

Ithinkanybodywho’shadanalcoholic

intheirlifeorsomebodywith

adrugproblem,realizes

thatuntilthingsget badenoughthere’snoincentiveto

change.Ithinkthatwe’resogenerousinsomeofour

socialproblemsthatpeopleareunwillingtogetajob

outsideintheheat. Ratherthangeti

dollarstogoget[a

roofingjob]..they’drathergetgoriodollarsinbenefits.

Ithinkdrugtestingisnotanunreasonablerequirement

togetbenefits. (lilani 2014)

Firstnotehiscomment aboutunemployment.“Youcanstayon

unemploymentforanawfullylongtime.”Comparedtowhat?

DuringthecurrentrecessionCongresspassedlegislationto

allowunemployedmenandwomentocollectbenefitsforupto

weelcs(depending

onthestate),butthenormalmaximum

(whichstateshavenowgoneback

to)is26weeks.Thisishalf

themaximum

Germanyallowsfor youngerunemployedwork

ers,andonlyonequarterwhatFranceallowsforunemployed

workers. Second,notehowheconnectsunemploymenttodrug

addiction.Forhimtheunemployedneedtohitrockbottomby

beingforcedtowork.

Arguingthatunemploymentbenefits(whichonlypayafrac

tionoftheworker’soriginalsalary)lasttoolongandthatthe

unemployedneedtobetreatedlikedrugaddictsandforcedto

workiseasiertodowhenthepeoplelisteningalreadybelieve

24LESTER

K.SPENCE

KNOCKINGTHEHUSTLE

25thattheunemployedarestereotypicallylazyandshiftless.2

Ireferred

tothewaysvarious

Democratic

presidentsrepro

ducedneoliberalideas.Althoughtheriseinthenumberof

theincarceratedbeginsintheearlyseventies,wereallyseean

increaseafter BillClintonsignstheViolentCrimeControl and

LawEnforcement Act(Feldmanetal. 2001).Noneoftheselabor

gapswouldbeassignificantastheyareifthefederalgovern

mentpaidforcollegeeducation,forexample,therebyeasing

parentalanxietyaboutpaying

fortheirchildren’seducation,

orpaidaminimum

incomeorprovideduniversal healthcare.

But notonlydowenot havearobustwelfarestate,Clintoncut

backwhatwehadwhenherepealedwelfarebysigningthe

PersonalResponsibilityWorkOpportunityReconciliationAct,

whichtransformed

alifetimerighttoatemporaryprivilege

(withsignificantstringsattached).”5Andhewasabletomake

thecutbacksbecausepeopleassociatewelfarewith

black

women(Gilens‘999).Indeed,Clintonsignedthebillwith

two

singleblackmothersonfederal assistancestandingbyhisside.

Comparedtowhites,blackshavelessincome,lesswealth, less

education.Theytendtoliveinpoorerneighborhoodsandtend

tobesickerthantheirwhitecounterparts. And,comparedto

whites,blackstend

tobenefitfarlessfrom

avarietyof“sub

mergedstate”taxexpenditures thantheir whitecounterparts.26

24Aneconomistrecentlyrananexperimentcreatingresumesfor4800

fictitiousjobcandidates.Theresumesonlydiffered

bytheamount

oftimethefictitiouscandidateshadbeenunemployed.Theresults

weretelling.Thefictitiouscandidatesunemployedformorethan

six

monthsreceivedveryfewcalibackscomparedtothefictitiouscan

didateswho’dbeenunemployed

forlesstime(O’Brien2013).Even

thoughmorelong-termunemployedarewhiteratherthannon-white

(Mitchell2013),thelanguage

ofraceextendstothelong-termunem

ployedtothepoint wheresomecouldarguethattheunemployedare

now“black”.

25Insomestates, forexample,womenhadtotakepaternitytestsinorder

toqualifyfor thetemporaryaid.Inmoststateswomenhadtoactively

lookforwork.JoeSoss,Richardfording,andSanfordSchram

(2olt)

definitivelyshow

thattheseandotherpunitivemeasureswerecon

nected

torace—statesandcountieswith

largerblackpopulations

werefarmorelikelytohavepunitivewelfarepoliciesthanotherstates.

26SuzanneMettler’s(2orlb)workisimportant here.Thehome-mortgage

interestdeductionaloneisworthoversioobilliondollars.Butwhilea

programlikefoodStamps(whichin2010dollarscostslessthanhalf

thehome-mortgageinterestdeduction)

iscondemnedatbest,the

home-mortgagedeductioncontinueswithoutcritique.

While99%ofallcitizensneedprogressivegovernmentand

needgovernmentprogramsthatactivelyprovideincomeand

otherresourcestopoorandworkingclasspopulations,black

citizensarguablyneedthem

moreandarewounded

more

whentheydon’texist.

‘ibisbringsustoblackpolitics.

Ifweweretocomparelevelsof“whiteinequality”overtime

with

levelsof“blackinequality”

(that

is,inequalitywithin

blackcommunities),whatwefindisthereisactuallymore

jnequaity

withinblackcommunitiesthantherearewithin

whiteones.W

ell-offblackfamiliestend

tohave

alargershare

oftheresourcesthannot-so-well-offblackfamilieshave..

.and

thisshareislargerthanthesharewell-offwhitefamilieshave

inrelationshiptonot-so-well-offwhitefamilies. Ibynomeans

wanttosuggestthatintra-racialandinter-racialinequality

arethesame;theyarenot.Whiteshavemuchmore-wealth

thanblacks(Conley1999;OliverandShapiro

1995).However,

focusingsolelyoninter-racialinequalitycausesustoerasethe

inequalitythatexistswithinblackcommunities.

Andthiscausesus

toglossoverthefactthatneoliberal

ideasandpoliciesarenot simplyproducedandreproducedby

whitestowithholdresourcesfrom

blacks.Blackinstitutions

andideashavethemselvesbeentransformed.Blackelected

officialsandcivilrightsleadersreproducetheseideas,par

ticipatingin

aremobilizationprojectofsorts,onethatcon

sistentlypositsthatthereasonblackpeoplearen’tassuccess

fulastheirwhitecounterpartsisbecauseofalackofhustle,

isbecausetheydon’tquitehavetheworkethicnecessaryto

succeedinthemodernmoment.Aremobilizationproject that

consistentlypositsthatthegreatestdangerblackpeopleface

isoneposedbyotherblaclcpeople,blackpeoplewhoarenot

onlynotproductivebutareinfactcounter-productive.This

remobilizationproject positsthattherearetwotypesofblack

people—blackpeoplewhohavethepotential tobesuccessful

iftheytakeadvantageoftheir humancapital,andblackpeople

whohavenosuchpotential.

Thisisoneofthebiggest hurdleswehavetofaceintheearly

decadesofthetwenty-first century.