Assesses fictional representations of racial conflict, cooperation, and complicity amid the urban crisis of the 1980s

In the 1980s, America witnessed an explosion in the production, popularity, and influence of literary works by people of color and a decade long economic downturn that severely affected America's inner cities and the already disadvantaged communities of color that lived there. Marked by soaring levels of unemployment, homelessness, violence, drug abuse, and despair, this urban crisis gave the lie to the American dream, particularly when contrasted with the success enjoyed by the era's iconic stockbrokers and other privileged groups, whose fortunes increased dramatically under ... Read moreReaganomics.