Download or read book How the Recession Changed Contemporary African American Families written by Dorothy Smith-Ruiz and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2017-06-30 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prince George's County, Maryland, features docking stations for Potomac River yachts and a spectacular view of the nation's capital. It is also the richest county in the United States where African Americans live. To show how the 2007-2009 recession changed the lives of black families who had achieved success, this book examines the home of the nation's largest concentration of affluent African Americans and details how, in just two-to-three short years, their American Dream was shattered. The book draws on sociological theories and methods to answer the question of why the recession did not have the same impact on whites, who were much better able to recover from the lean years. At the same time, it clarifies misconceptions about blacks being "lazy" or "welfare cheats." In making its case, the work covers a wide range of topics, including marriage and family life, household economics, health disparities, incarceration, education, teen childbearing, changes in family structure, and religion. It details how each of those aspects of black life was influenced in varying degrees by the 2007-2009 recession. In addition, the book documents how recession has contributed to wealth disparities between blacks and whites and recommends best practices for solving the myriad social problems that beset both poor and middle-class African Americans.