Book Review: America the beautiful and violent: Black youth and neighborhood trauma in Chicago

• Author: David Ayeni
• Date: 01 September 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016820921449
• Published date: 01 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Voisin, R. D. (2019). America the beautiful and violent: Black youth and neighborhood trauma in Chicago. Columbia

University Press. 312 pp. $30.00, ISBN: 9780231184410.

Reviewed by: David Ayeni, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016820921449

In America the Beautiful and Violent, Voisin gives an informed picture of how Black families in

Chicago deal with neighborhood trauma. Voisin attempts to provide an understanding of public

space violence, often known as neighborhood violence, within marginalized and criminalized soci-

eties in the United States, specif‌ically Black people residing in the South Side of Chicago. According

to the author, Chicago is a code for Black people due to the high level of violence that occurs in parts

of the city. Examples of such are gun violence, robberies, homicide and rape. Voisin highlights the

historical, political, economic, and racial factors that shape the reality of violence in the Black com-

munity and also the after effects that violence produces and how families cope with such traumas.

According to the author, all of these factors play a vital role in the birthing of violence in the

Black neighborhood in Chicago. The main goal of this research is to elevate the voices of families

who are faced with violence daily in their communities and proffer policy recommendations and

support for the families that experience such. The author divides the book into three sections and

nine chapters for an easy f‌low and understanding of the research and narratives of families affected

by violence.

The author uses narratives and survey data from parents and children living in the South Side

neighborhood of Chicago. While the author controls how their stories are being summarized, tran-

scribed, and reported, which poses a threat of bias. The author’s control over what to report can

serve as a disadvantage to the data as there is no form of recording that would be transparent

knowing the author identif‌ies with the race being written about. In the f‌irst section of the book

which is from Chapters 1 to 5, the author compares neighborhood violence in other developed

nations of the world and the historical trends that have led to violence in racially segregated neigh-

borhoods. In Chapter 1, the author states what the research reports in Black neighborhood over the

years and the realities Black individuals encounter in the United States. Chapter 2 brings a tale of two

Americas, which refers to the type of violence that exists ranging from gun violence, domestic vio-

lence, rape, and homicide and the rates when compared to other parts of the world. The author posits

that the level of gun violence and murders in America are now common when compared to other

countries who experience a 22%–30% decrease in violence and murder. Hence, there is need for

the federal policy and state laws on gun control to be restricted. In the third chapter, Voisin brings

an explanation of the various race and place-based violence that occurs. These are termed “loud

and silent”traumas. Loud traumas refer to fatalities that often take the form of homicide, school

shootings, and violence. On the other hand, “silent”traumas are those who witness or are victimized

by robberies, gang-related incidents, and gun violence not resulting in death.

Chapter 4 is coauthored with Jason Bird. They both present the road to concentrated poverty and

neighborhood violence. According to them, racial meaning and stratif‌ication are embedded within

the American societal and organizational structures. They examine the forms of structural violence

with the Black code, Jim Crow Law, residential segregation policies, substandard schools, the war on

drugs, the growth of the prison industry, and the discrimination that existed in child welfare. All these

have played a role in the poverty and neighborhood violence among the Black community where

youths are born into zip codes where violence is high which creates a sense of fear living in the com-

munity. Voisin presents Chapter 5 with the scars faced by the individuals who experience silent

traumas in their neighborhood. Using narratives and survey data from youths who live in the

406 Criminal Justice Review 47(3)