CHARLES ABRAMS. Forbidden Neighbors: A Study of Prejudice in Housing. Pp. xi, 404. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1955. $5.00

• Author: Frank S. Loescher
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625530000147
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Date: 01 July 1955
• Subject Matter: Articles

154

within

this

framework

of

expectations

are

being

conditioned

for

the

individualistic

life

they

will

lead

as

urban

adults.

Farm

children,

in

contrast,

are

prepared

for

adult

expectations

in

precisely

the

op-

posite

manner.

Rural

family

solidarity

in-

creases

the

child’s

foreknowledge

of

the

manner

in

which

he

will

be

expected

to

behave

as

an

adult.

This

period

serves

as

a

sort

of

apprenticeship,

or

as

the

authors

phrase

it

&dquo;anticipatory

socialization-a

preparation

for

participation

in

adult

life

as

a

farmer

or

as

a

farmer’s

wife.&dquo;

There

is

a

great

deal of

useful

informa-

tion

to

be

had

from

these

studies,

but

one

might

wish

for

more

editorial

cohesion

than

is

here

displayed.

The

volumes

are

the

work

of

a

staff

of

researchers

and

dif-

ference

in

style

and

focus

is

frequently

apparent.

THOMAS

O.

WILKINSON

University

of

Massachusetts

CHARLES

ABRAMS.

Forbidden

Neighbors:

A

Study

of

Prejudice

in

Housing.

Pp.

xi,

404.

New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers,

1955.

$5.00.

&dquo;Apartheid

in

America&dquo;

would

be

an

ap-

propriate

title

for

this

vivid

description

of

residential

segregation

of

racial,

religious,

and

nationality

groups.

Charles

Abrams

is

a

lawyer,

author,

uni-

versity

lecturer,

journalist

and,

presently,

New

York

State

rent

administrator.

The

book

is

interesting,

readable-and

disturb-

ing.

Forbidden

Neighbors

is

the

most

com-

prehensive

treatment

available of

housing

segregation

and

discrimination

as

practiced

against

Americans

of

Chinese,

Japanese,

Puerto

Rican,

Mexican,

and

Negro

descent.

The

chapters

on

the

roles

of

realtors,

finan-

cial

institutions,

property

owners’

associa-

tions,

and

government

agencies

reveal

plainly

the

discrepancy

between

the

Amer-

ican

creed

and

the

American

deed.

The

accounts

of

mob

violence

in

Chicago

and

Miami

are

shocking.

Abrams’

review

of

promising

experiments

with

interracial

housing,

and

his

recommendations

for

edu-

cation

and

action

show

that

something

is

being

done

and

much

more

can

be

done.

Abrams

weakens

his

case

by

attributing

evil

motives

to

the

public

and

private

ele-

ments

in

the

power

structure

of

the

housing

industry.

These

people

are

no

more

prejudiced

than

are

the

people

who

buy

houses

in

the

Levittowns

and

thousands

of

other

all-white

suburban

communities.

Questions

about

property

values

puzzle

banks

and

insurance

companies

that

are

responsible

for

investing

other

people’s

money.

Abrams

breaks

down

the

problem

and

shows

that

there

are

many

possible

responses

to

the

movement

of

Negroes

into

a

white

area.

But

because

enough

re-

search

has

not

been

done,

he

cannot

state

what

actually

happens

to

property

values

under

various

conditions.

Abrams

shows

how

prejudice

makes

housing

the

chief

commodity

in

America

not

available

on

the

same

terms

to

whites

and

Negroes.

Residential

segregation

makes

for

school

segregation.

It

con-

tributes

to

physical

separation

in

recreation

and

worship

and,

above

all,

to

separation

in

our

thinking

and

feeling.

This

is

wrong,

and

we

need

to

find

ways

to

spur

more

Americans

to

work

on

this

complex

problem. The

cessation

of

build-

ing

during

depression

and

war,

our

growing

population,

the

urban

migration,

the

rising

level

of

incomes,

and

the

competition

for

the

limited

supply

of

housing

aggravate

urban

racial

tensions.

Most

important,

social

controls

with

respect

to

numerical

proportions

are

lacking

in

the

field

of

pri-

vate

housing.

In

employment,

manage-

ment

can

integrate

on

a

gradual

basis.

In

housing,

the

white

group

feels

unable

to

extend

a

neighborly

hand

because

of

its

fears

of

being

inundated.

It

is

significant

that

in

interracial

public

housing

and

co-

operative

housing,

quotas

are

usually

set

on

the

number

of

Negroes.

As

long

as

so

many

whites

feel

the

way

they

do

about

colored

people,

exhortation

is

no

answer

to

the

question

of

numbers.

Abrams

has

broken

new

ground

in

the

crusade

for

equal

opportunity

and

equal

treatment

of

all

Americans.

The

number

of

people

working

for

integration

is

increas-

ing.

Abrams’

book

will

enlighten

and

strengthen

them.

FRANK

S.

LOESCHER

Philadelphia,

Pa.