ll trained to attract high-wage, high skill, and high productive jobs.” In February of 1997 the total unemployment rate in the U.S. was 4.7 percent (Harris 10). The government must stimulate national economic growth and create jobs (with the goal of full-employment economy), focusing major investments in the national physical infrastructure (Dreir 111). The lack of educational and occupational opportunities places economic restraints on those who might otherwise succeed financially and become productive members of society.Racial and economic segregation is another important factor affecting inner city poverty. Ghettos are signified by “an older central-city area surrounded by expanding, more affluent suburbs with the central city area disproportionately African American, Hispanic, and Asian, while suburban communities have remained disproportionately white (Kerner). Sub-urbanization, which is the increase of outlying suburban communities, has permitted whites to satisfy liberal ideals revolving around activist government, while keeping to a minimum the number of blacks and the poor who share in government largess (Edsel 107). The populations of today’s ghetto neighborhoods are almost exclusively made up of the most disadvantaged segments of the black urban community (Wilson 19). Not only are ghettos racially predominant, they are underclass communities typified by high rates of family disruption, welfare dependence, crime, mortality, and educational failure (Massey 329). There are less effective institutions such as schools and local government offices, weaker informal networks like community outreach programs, and social milieus that discourage collective supervision and responsibility, as well (Quane et. Al, Ch.4). The residents in the racial ghettos are also significantly less healthy than most other Americans. They suffer from higher mortality rates, higher incidence of major diseases, and lower availability...
