Growing Up in America
People's experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. Growing Up in America provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world.
As the book reveals, teens' unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.
"Growing Up in America masterfully shines an incisive light on how experiences in the four most influential contexts of adolescence—family, peers, school, and religion—can vary immensely based on one's racial or ethnic background. By revealing the unique 'capital portfolios' with which African American, white, Latino, and Asian American youth are equipped for adulthood, this book elucidates how uneven the playing field is when it comes to achieving social, emotional, economic, and spiritual success in adulthood. It's a must read for anyone interested in the sources of stratification and inequality in the U.S. or how race truly matters in the lives of American youth."—Lisa D. Pearce, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
