Download or read book The Vanishing Neighbor The Transformation of American Community written by Marc J. Dunkelman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-08-04 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping new look at the unheralded transformation that is eroding the foundations of American exceptionalism. Americans today find themselves mired in an era of uncertainty and frustration. The nation's safety net is pulling apart under its own weight; political compromise is viewed as a form of defeat; and our faith in the enduring concept of American exceptionalism appears increasingly outdated. But the American Age may not be ending. In The Vanishing Neighbor, Marc J. Dunkelman identifies an epochal shift in the structure of American life—a shift unnoticed by many. Routines that once put doctors and lawyers in touch with grocers and plumbers—interactions that encouraged debate and cultivated compromise—have changed dramatically since the postwar era. Both technology and the new routines of everyday life connect tight-knit circles and expand the breadth of our social landscapes, but they've sapped the commonplace, incidental interactions that for centuries have built local communities and fostered healthy debate. The disappearance of these once-central relationships—between people who are familiar but not close, or friendly but not intimate—lies at the root of America's economic woes and political gridlock. The institutions that were erected to support what Tocqueville called the "township"—that unique locus of the power of citizens—are failing because they haven't yet been molded to the realities of the new American community. It's time we moved beyond the debate over whether the changes being made to American life are good or bad and focus instead on understanding the tradeoffs. Our cities are less racially segregated than in decades past, but we’ve become less cognizant of what's happening in the lives of people from different economic backgrounds, education levels, or age groups. Familiar divisions have been replaced by cross-cutting networks—with profound effects for the way we resolve conflicts, spur innovation, and care for those in need. The good news is that the very transformation at the heart of our current anxiety holds the promise of more hope and prosperity than would have been possible under the old order. The Vanishing Neighbor argues persuasively that to win the future we need to adapt yesterday’s institutions to the realities of the twenty-first-century American community.

Download or read book All Aunt Hagar s Children written by Edward P. Jones and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2006-08-29 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In fourteen sweeping and sublime stories, five of which have been published in The New Yorker, the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Known World shows that his grasp of the human condition is firmer than ever Returning to the city that inspired his first prizewinning book, Lost in the City, Jones has filled this new collection with people who call Washington, D.C., home. Yet it is not the city's power brokers that most concern him but rather its ordinary citizens. All Aunt Hagar's Children turns an unflinching eye to the men, women, and children caught between the old ways of the South and the temptations that await them further north, people who in Jones's masterful hands, emerge as fully human and morally complex, whether they are country folk used to getting up with the chickens or people with centuries of education behind them. In the title story, in which Jones employs the first-person rhythms of a classic detective story, a Korean War veteran investigates the death of a family friend whose sorry destiny seems inextricable from his mother's own violent Southern childhood. In "In the Blink of God's Eye" and "Tapestry" newly married couples leave behind the familiarity of rural life to pursue lives of urban promise only to be challenged and disappointed. With the legacy of slavery just a stone's throw away and the future uncertain, Jones's cornucopia of characters will haunt readers for years to come.

Download or read book At Peace with All Their Neighbors written by William W. Warner and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 1994-10-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1790, two events marked important points in the development of two young American institutions—Congress decided that the new nation's seat of government would be on the banks of the Potomac, and John Carroll of Maryland was consecrated as America's first Catholic bishop. This coincidence of events signalled the unexpectedly important role that Maryland's Catholics, many of them by then fifth- and sixth-generation Americans, were to play in the growth and early government of the national capital. In this book, William W. Warner explores how Maryland's Catholics drew upon their long-standing traditions—advocacy of separation of church and state, a sense of civic duty, and a determination "to live at peace with all their neighbors," in Bishop Carroll's phrase—to take a leading role in the early government, financing, and building of the new capital. Beginning with brief histories of the area's first Catholic churches and the establishment of Georgetown College, At Peace with All Their Neighbors explains the many reasons behind the Protestant majority's acceptance of Catholicism in the national capital in an age often marked by religious intolerance. Shortly after the capital moved from Philadelphia in 1800, Catholics held the principal positions in the city government and were also major landowners, property investors, and bankers. In the decade before the 1844 riots over religious education erupted in Philadelphia, the municipal government of Georgetown gave public funds for a Catholic school and Congress granted land in Washington for a Catholic orphanage. The book closes with a remarkable account of how the Washington community, Protestants and Catholics alike, withstood the concentrated efforts of the virulently anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic American nativists and the Know-Nothing Party in the last two decades before the Civil War. This chronicle of Washington's Catholic community and its major contributions to the growth of the nations's capital will be of value for everyone interested in the history of Washington, D.C., Catholic history, and the history of religious toleration in America.

Download or read book In the Neighborhood written by Peter Lovenheim and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-04-06 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a popular New York Times Op-Ed piece, this is the quirky, heartfelt account of one man's quest to meet his neighbors--and find a sense of community. **As seen in Parade, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times, and more. **Winner of the Zocalo Square Book Prize, and recently named a first selection by Action Book Club. "It's impossible to read this book without feeling the urge to knock on neighbors' doors." -Chicago Sun-Times Journalist and author Peter Lovenheim lived on the same street in suburban Rochester, NY, most of his life. But it was only after a brutal murder-suicide rocked the community that he was struck by a fact of modern life in this comfortable enclave: No one knew anyone else. Thus begins Peter's search to meet and get to know his neighbors. An inquisitive person, he does more than just introduce himself. He asks, ever so politely, if he can sleep over. In this smart, engaging, and deeply felt book, Lovenheim takes readers inside the homes, minds, and hearts of his neighbors and asks a thought-provoking question: Do neighborhoods matter--and is something lost when we live among strangers?

Download or read book A Good Neighborhood written by Therese Anne Fowler and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * One of NPR's Best Books of 2020 "A provocative, absorbing read." — People “A feast of a read... I finished A Good Neighborhood in a single sitting. Yes, it’s that good.” —Jodi Picoult, #1New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Thingsand A Spark of Light In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son, Xavier, who’s headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans—a family with new money and a secretly troubled teenage daughter—raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace. With little in common except a property line, these two families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers. A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today—what does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye?—as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.

Download or read book The Lodge of George Washington and His Masonic Neighbors written by Freemasons. Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22 (Alexandria, Va.) and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Just Neighbors written by Edward Telles and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blacks and Latinos have transformed the American city—together these groups now constitute the majority in seven of the ten largest cities. Large-scale immigration from Latin America has been changing U.S. racial dynamics for decades, and Latino migration to new destinations is changing the face of the American south. Yet most of what social science has helped us to understand about these groups has been observed primarily in relation to whites—not each other. Just Neighbors? challenges the traditional black/white paradigm of American race relations by examining African Americans and Latinos as they relate to each other in the labor market, the public sphere, neighborhoods, and schools. The book shows the influence of race, class, and received stereotypes on black-Latino social interactions and offers insight on how finding common ground may benefit both groups. From the labor market and political coalitions to community organizing, street culture, and interpersonal encounters, Just Neighbors? analyzes a spectrum of Latino-African American social relations to understand when and how these groups cooperate or compete. Contributor Frank Bean and his co-authors show how the widely held belief that Mexican immigration weakens job prospects for native-born black workers is largely unfounded—especially as these groups are rarely in direct competition for jobs. Michael Jones-Correa finds that Latino integration beyond the traditional gateway cities promotes seemingly contradictory feelings: a sense of connectedness between the native minority and the newcomers but also perceptions of competition. Mark Sawyer explores the possibilities for social and political cooperation between the two groups in Los Angeles and finds that lingering stereotypes among both groups, as well as negative attitudes among blacks about immigration, remain powerful but potentially surmountable forces in group relations. Regina Freer and Claudia Sandoval examine how racial and ethnic identity impacts coalition building between Latino and black youth and find that racial pride and a sense of linked fate encourages openness to working across racial lines. Black and Latino populations have become a majority in the largest U.S. cities, yet their combined demographic dominance has not abated both groups' social and economic disadvantage in comparison to whites. Just Neighbors? lays a much-needed foundation for studying social relations between minority groups. This trailblazing book shows that, neither natural allies nor natural adversaries, Latinos and African Americans have a profound potential for coalition-building and mutual cooperation. They may well be stronger together rather than apart.

Download or read book The Secret Tree written by Natalie Standiford and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is your secret?Minty's neighborhood is full of mysteries. There's the Witch House, a spooky old farmhouse on the other side of the woods from where Minty and her best friend, Paz, live. There's the Man Bat, a seven-foot-tall half man, half bat who is rumored to fly through the woods. And there are the Mean Boys, David and Troy, who torment Minty for no reason, and her boy-crazy older sister, Thea, who acts weirder and weirder.One day Minty spots a flash in the woods, and when she chases after it, she discovers a new mystery -- a Secret Tree, with a hollow trunk that holds the secrets of everyone in the neighborhood. Secrets like:I put a curse on my enemy. And it's working.I'm betraying my best friend in a terrible way.No one loves me except my goldfish.

Download or read book Rip Van Winkle s Neighbors written by Thomas S. Wermuth and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2001-10-05 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the social and economic transformations of the mid-Hudson River Valley during the key expansionist period in American history.

Download or read book Neighbor Power written by Jim Diers and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing concrete examples for citizens and government officials, Diers describes a successful program to support community self-help projects and a community-driven planning process that involved 30,000 people.

Download or read book Boss of the Grips written by Eric K Washington and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a feat of remarkable research and timely reclamation, Eric K. Washington uncovers the nearly forgotten life of James H. Williams (1878–1948), the chief porter of Grand Central Terminal’s Red Caps—a multitude of Harlem-based black men whom he organized into the essential labor force of America’s most august railroad station. Washington reveals that despite the highly racialized and often exploitative nature of the work, the Red Cap was a highly coveted job for college-bound black men determined to join New York’s bourgeoning middle class. Examining the deeply intertwined subjects of class, labor, and African American history, Washington chronicles Williams’s life, showing how the enterprising son of freed slaves successfully navigated the segregated world of the northern metropolis, and in so doing ultimately achieved financial and social influence. With this biography, Williams must now be considered, along with Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jacqueline Onassis, one of the great heroes of Grand Central’s storied past.

Download or read book The Diaries V 6 Jan 1790 Dec 1799 written by George Washington and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 1979 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Washington was rarely isolated from the world during his eventful life. His diary for 1751-52 relates a voyage to Barbados when he was nineteen. The next two accounts concern the early phases of the French and Indian War, in which Washington commanded a Virginia regiment. By the 1760s when Washington's diaries resume, he considered himself retired from public life, but George III was on the British throne and in the American colonies the process of unrest was beginning that would ultimately place Washington in command of a revolutionary army. Even as he traveled to Philadelphia in 1787 to chair the Constitutional Convention, however, and later as president, Washington's first love remained his plantation, Mount Vernon. In his diary, he religiously recorded the changing methods of farming he employed there and the pleasures of riding and hunting. Rich in material from this private sphere, The Diaries of George Washington offer historians and anyone interested in Washington a closer view of the first president in this bicentennial year of his death.

Download or read book Pastor John Corbly and his neighbors in Greene Township written by Don Corbly and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2010 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a companion book to Pastor John Corbly, his biography. It is about his neighbors in Greene Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. The first recorded surveyed plat of Greene Township was made in 1796. This book includes all information available from official records about each person who bought the first tracts of land in that township during his, and later, his surviving wife, Nancy Ann Lynn Corbly's lifetime. Only factual, recorded information from Pennsylvania and Greene County archives, historical society data, family Bibles, and personal family histories has been used. A detailed index is provided for the genealogically-minded reader.This book is purchased at the lowest cost through Lulu.com.

Download or read book Neighbors Not Friends written by Dilip Hiro and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an essential overview to the conflicts in the Gulf, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the region, its politics and its interactions with the US and UN.

Download or read book In Defense of Our Neighbors written by Mary Woodward and published by Fenwick Publishing Group. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the start of WWII, the Seattle suburb of Bainbridge Island was 10% Japanese-American. Walt and Milly Woodward, publishers of the island's community newspaper, fought the forced internment of their neighbors, and helped the island community grapple with their exile. This brave, principled couple remain heroes to the Japanese-American community and the story of their fight helps us comprehend how precious our civil liberties are, and how easily they can be lost. --from publisher.

Download or read book The New Neighbours written by Sarah McIntyre and published by . This book was released on 2018-03 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When new neighbours move in to the tower block, what will the other residents of Pickle Rye think? Find out in this hilarious and light-hearted book that is bursting with wonderful characters and humour. Giggle away as you hop, trot and totter down the stairs to share news of the new neighbours and learn just how important it is to leave judgements and prejudices far behind.

Download or read book Neighbors at War written by Ward Lucas and published by Ward Lucas. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: