Alfred White, a London park keeper, rules his home with a mixture of rigidity and tenderness that has estranged his three children. For years, Alfred's daughter Shirley and her black partner Elroy have avoided her comically ignorant younger brother Dirk, who admires his father and hates people of colour. But family ties are strong: when Alfred collapses on duty one day, all the children rush to be with him. The scene is set for bloodshed, forcing Alfred to make a climactic choice between justice and kinship. Exploring the roots of racism in British society, The White Family traces what happens when a family reaches breaking point after years of love and hate, violence and polite silence. This twentieth-anniversary edition includes an introduction by Bernardine Evaristo and a note from the author revealing the story behind this contemporary classic. SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION AND THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 'In this ground-breaking new novel, Maggie Gee bravely and uniquely explores the nuances of racism from the perspective of the perpetrators, within the context of family relationships. The resulting work is a brilliant depiction of British society at the end of the twentieth century.'-- Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other 'Outstanding ... tender, sexy and alarming.' -- Jim Crace 'Courageous, honest, powerfully real'-- The Times 'Gee is unflinching in her exploration of the causes and consequences of racism.'-- The Observer 'The White Family points to new directions in British writing. Full of power and passion as well as some timely warnings ... it deserves the widest possible readership.'-- Literary Review 'A transcendent work.'-- Daily Telegraph 'A triumph of hope over despair, reconciliation over bitterness ... an unashamedly contemporary novel that embraces the ideological and emotional chaos of our time.'-- The Independent 'An audacious, ground-breaking condition-of-England novel that delves for the roots of xenophobic hatred and violence in the English hearth ... The White Family is finely judged and compulsively readable. Its head-on scrutiny of the uglier face of fair Albion is the more impressive for its rarity in British fiction.'-- The Guardian

In spite of the existence of statistics and numerical data on various aspects of African American life, including housing, earnings, assets, unemployment, household violence, teen pregnancy and encounters with the criminal justice system, social science literature on how racism affects the everyday interactions of African American families is limited. How does racism come home to and affect African American families? If a father in an African American family is denied employment on the basis of his race or a wife is demeaned at work by racist slurs, how is their family life affected? Given the lack of social science literature responding to these questions, this volume turns to an alternative source in order to address them: literature. Engaging with novels written by African American authors, it explores their rich depictions of African American family life, showing how these can contribute to our sociological knowledge and making the case for the novel as an object and source of social research. As such, it will appeal to scholars and students of the sociology of the family, race and ethnicity, cultural studies and literature.

The Second Edition of Social Policy and Social Change is a timely examination of the field, unique in its inclusion of both a historical analysis of problems and policy and an exploration of how capitalism and the market economy have contributed to them. The New Edition of this seminal text examines issues of discrimination, health care, housing, income, and child welfare and considers the policies that strive to improve them. With a focus on how domestic social policies can be transformed to promote social justice for all groups, Jimenez et al. consider the impact of globalization in the United States while addressing developing concerns now emerging in the global village.

The ups and downs about adoption and having a black and white family. It took two years to adopt my boys one minute the foster mom wanted them and the next she didn't. The tribulation our family went through when we tried to adopt two girls. And there is some racial issues we have already endured with people that call themselves religious.

What marks, principles, and values from our study of Jesus can guide our reflections about the church and its witness in a world of economic injustice? What kinds of principles ought to be part of an ecclesiology in a world where family violence is epidemic? So asks author James Poling in his exploration of the role of faith and religious practice as a resource for those who are economically vulnerable to domestic violence. In this groundbreaking work, Poling focuses his research on women and children in working-class and poor communities of three cultures, analyzing the forces that define and sustain economic vulnerability and detailing how such vulnerability affects the daily lives of people within these communities. He looks at how the church can function as a source of healing and empowerment for persons who are trapped by domestic violence and economic vulnerability and develops models for prevention of violence and of practical ministry for pastoral care of the victims and perpetrators.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Black Sociology provides the most up to date exploration and analysis of research focused on Blacks in America. Beginning with an examination of the project of Black Sociology, it offers studies of recent events, including the ‘Stand Your Ground’ killing of Trayvon Martin, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on emerging adults, and efforts to change voting requirements that overwhelmingly affect Blacks, whilst engaging with questions of sexuality and family life, incarceration, health, educational outcomes and racial wage disparities. Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’s charge of engaging in objective research that has a positive impact on society, and organised around the themes of Social Inequities, Blacks and Education, Blacks and Health and Future Directions, this timely volume brings together the latest interdisciplinary research to offer a broad overview of the issues currently faced by Blacks in United States. A timely, significant research guide that informs readers on the social, economic and physical condition of Blacks in America, and proposes directions for important future research. The Ashgate Research Companion will appeal to policy makers and scholars of Africana Studies, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Anthropology and Politics, with interests in questions of race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, social inequalities, health and education.