It is important to remember these points because neither the exodus of jobs from cities nor the departure of the black middle class from the ghetto happened in a political and social vacuum. He assumes that political decisions made by government officials had no impact on economic decisions by firms on where to locate and who to hire. Second, he assumes that race did not affect these fundamental political decisions. Both assumptions are invalid. The federal government's decision not to ensure full employment in response to black demands, or not to put limits on firm's mobility despite devastating regional impacts on the rustbelt, were political decisions.
Race has everything to do with the politics.
It does not mean the military, or social security, or tax deductions for suburban homeowners. Tax cuts and spending limits brought about through the revolution against big government have severely undermined the capacity of city governments to do much about poverty. African American and Latino youth are being incarcerated en masse. Even though illegal drug usage is roughly evenly distributed across race and ethnic groups in the United States, close to 90 percent of those jailed for drug offenses are black and Latino. In some cities, more than a third of all young black men are in jail, awaiting trial, or on probation.