Download or read book Abandoned in the Heartland written by Jennifer Hamer and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-09 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Politicians today giddily cut taxes and public services without considering the consequences. Read this sensitive portrait of East St. Louis to understand the social costs of government abandonment. Families can and do survive amidst the crumbling infrastructure. But without decent jobs, medical care, and housing, their daily lives are filled with danger and desperation. Hamer makes an urgent case for reinvesting in the American Dream.” —Christine L. Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin “Abandoned in the Heartland presents a unique portrait relative to the common vision of urban poverty in America. In doing so, it allows for broader and healthier thinking about what it means to be poor in a community of people who share that status." --Alford Young, Jr., Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, University of Michigan, and author of The Minds of Marginalized Black Men