Jessica R. Dreistadt

SSP 453 Midterm Paper

Review of Harlem Ain’t Nothin’ But a Third World Country

March 16, 2005

Synopsis of the Book

Harlem Ain’t Nothin’ but a Third World Country is a reporter’s analysis of the

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), one of six empowerment zones that

offered federal grants and tax incentives to stimulate commerce in impoverished

communities throughout the United States in 1996 (Flanagan, 370). In this book,

Mamadou Chinyelu argues that the UMEZ will drain the resources of Harlem by

encouraging residents to become laborers/consumers rather than

owners/producers, undermining the efforts of local vendors, limiting the consumer

choices of residents, and redirecting profits to corporations located outside of the

community.

Application to Urban Sociology

Flanagan describes the empowerment zone labor force as, “competitive with

its overseas counterparts in poor nations” (371). Chinyelu expands this idea by

comparing Harlem, and similar African-American neighborhoods with a high

percentage of poor people, to third world countries in terms of outside political and

economic control, repatriation of profits generated in the community to corporations

located outside the community, and exploitation of natural and human resources.

He discusses this in terms of conflict between racial groups, poverty and crime,

government policy that favors big business, and neocolonialism.

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Racial Conflict

Chinyelu explains the situation in Harlem by describing conflict between

groups. He notes that, “racism (and classism) is the dominant concept used today

to define relations between human beings” (4). Flanagan concurs, “today the

emphasis…has shifted from the issue of growth to that of social division” (98).

Chinyelu provides an historical context for understanding racial conflict and

commercial exploitation of African-Americans in Harlem and the United States

today. He describes the end of slavery and the civil rights movement as

opportunities for capitalists to expand their consumer base (27-29). He attributes

the deterioration of African-American self-sufficiency to these social movements.

“African-American consumers had been miseducated into believing that being

legally permitted to go through the front door of white-owned establishments…was

evidence of advancement” (41). African-American owned businesses suffered as

customers exercised their newfound privileges.

The UMEZ intentionally displaced locally-owned African-American businesses

in Harlem by directing financial incentives to large corporations from outside the

community, attracting new businesses with a competitive advantage, and through

police force. Local street vendors on 125th street were encroached by 400 police

officers and forced to relocate or cease operations. “The traditional African

marketplace that gave Harlem a sense of cultural festivity was destroyed, to make

room for neon signs, Mickey Mouse, and fool’s gold” (77).

Chinyelu projects that 25,000 low-income African American residents will be

displaced as a result of the UMEZ (128). “It is important for Harlem to be cleansed

of its low-income African-American households for one very basic reason: their

meager earnings…are not substantial enough to support the retail and

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entertainment establishments that are currently being developed” (124). This will

be accomplished through the dissolution of low-income public housing projects and

vacant housing as well as the development of new housing for people with

moderate and high incomes (81).

Flanagan notes that, “subtle racism or discrimination involves unfair practices

accompanied by an attempt to hide the intent from the victim” (303). By marketing

the UMEZ as an opportunity for jobs (albeit low-wage) and economic development,

African-American residents of Harlem were misled about the real long-term

consequences to their community.

Poverty and Crime

Chinyelu claims that, “the conditions of poverty, dependency, and

powerlessness to which African people have been and are subjected is genocidal

and has been engineered by the forces of capitalism” (3). Powerful corporations

control how much employees earn, how much consumers pay for products and

services, and the competitive environment under which many small businesses

struggle to survive. They also have a strong influence over federal, state, and local

policies that impact low-income people and their livelihood either directly or

indirectly.

Chinyelu explains that corporations are the major perpetrators of crime and

that all other crime is a result of these transgressions and the resultant poverty

(136). He theorizes that there are three ways for corporations to profit, all of which

are criminal: “stealing raw materials, …exploiting the labor of the masses, …

overcharging for goods and services in the marketplace” (24-5). Some of the

people affected by corporations’ wrongdoing may commit crime in retaliation.

Many other crimes committed by poor people are a means of coping with, or

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reacting to, the conditions of poverty to which they are subjected at the hands of

big business with government cooperation.

Government and Big Business

Empowerment zone policy favors big business over local citizens. The

financial benefits (grants and tax breaks) to the corporations that participate far

outweigh the impact of new job creation on low-income families, particularly in the

long term. Chinyelu notes, “an agenda for employment opportunities, rather than

self-reliance, has limited African-American development” (46).

Corporations that participate in the program will repatriate their profits,

draining the economic resources of the community (Chinyelu, 69). Local

policymakers vied for an opportunity to become an enterprise zone (Flanagan, 370)

despite the fact that this program undermines local economies, displaces local

people and business owners, and redirects a community’s money into the hands of

national corporations, many of which are located in other communities.

Flanagan notes that there are “three dimensions of successful urban policy”:

scale, comprehensiveness, and social justice (378-9). While empowerment zones

are of a large scale and comprehensive, they do not meet the criteria for social

justice for the many aforementioned reasons. This policy demonstrates that

government policies can often be shortsighted and more fully representative of the

needs of special interest groups and private enterprise than the needs of low-

income citizens.

Globalization and Neo-Colonialism

Chinyelu notes that, “in order for capitalism to perpetuate itself, it must

constantly expand” (27). One way for capitalism to expand is to “establish new

markets for the goods and services that it has to sell” (27). Empowerment zones

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present corporations with an opportunity to increase profits by taking over low-

income communities politically and economically. Previously unemployed poor

people exchange their time, pride, and future prospect of self-sufficiency for meager

pay and formidable working conditions.

In Chinyelu’s view, the UMEZ “represents the classic ploy to economically

exploit a third world country; that is, rapid growth stimulated by foreign

investment” (49). The UMEZ channels federal dollars into Harlem, an exploited low-

income community, by paying large national corporations to expand their

operations there. Flanagan explains corporations’ motive for hiring poor laborers in

new territories: “today’s underpaid workers will eventually become tomorrow’s

consumers, whose demand for processed and manufactured goods spurs further

development” (200).

Critique of the Book

Bias

The author makes several generalizations about Americans of European

descent. In the beginning of the book, he attempts to substantiate this by

explaining that their homogeneity is a protection against the threat of social and

economic regression at the hands of corporate giants (6-8). He offers little

evidence, and much opinion, when discussing the social status of poor white people

in Europe and the United States.

One example of the author’s bias relates to values. Chinyelu states that, “the

European value system is…to have a hatred for and be at war with the divine and

natural order, to give predominant importance to the individual over community,

disrespect elders…, cause strife between the sexes, miseducate the children, make

careers more important than family and community” (57). He ascribes this value

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system to all Europeans, not just to the corporations targeted as perpetrators. This

projection limits the author’s ability to objectively describe the power structure and

its effects on poor people of all races.

A second example of the Chinyelu’s bias is his assumption that oppressed

white people are ignorant of their situation and/or complacent. He notes, “they

[poor white people] are the only oppressed people who have not recognized their

own state of oppression” (6). He further explains, “the working-class European has

accepted, with glee, the miseducation offered them by their overlords, simple

because they share a common ancestry” (7). History and current events offer

multiple examples of poor white people confronting, and sometimes changing,

dominating governments and corporations.

Chinyelu bases much of his work on these unsubstantiated assumptions

rather than empirical evidence. He could have made a considerable point about the

situation in Harlem and other poverty-stricken African-American neighborhoods

based on the facts, without personalizing the conversation and saturating it with his

opinion. Attacking a group of people based on their skin color using selected

historical events tainted by his opinion doesn’t add to the author’s argument, it

detracts from his credibility.

Methodology

Though some anecdotal testimony is presented, systematic evaluation of the

residents’ and small business owners’ attitudes and opinions toward the UMEZ is

absent. Chinyelu also describes the reasoning behind the behavior of city

employees, government officials, and companies without interviewing them or their

inner circle to uncover their point of view and intentions (or at least the public

version).

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The author does not explain whether the critical unit of interest is individuals,

groups of individuals, or organizations when analyzing the capitalist power

structure. After reading this book, it is not clear if he proposes that corporations

are acting as distinct entities or if shareholders and corporate officers are somewhat

autonomous. Where does the responsibility fall? Similarly, Chinyelu does not

describe the historical origin and development of power structures beyond his

frame of reference.

Chinyelu only presents information that supports his thesis and fails to

recognize the plausibility of alternative hypotheses. He does not state or explore

any avenues to truth and understanding other than those with which he agrees.

Omitted Information

For many years, corporations have co-opted and manipulated African-

American culture as a means to assert control and to expand the marketplace.

Chinyelu does not mention the effects of the commercialization of African-American

culture nor its impact on consumers and communities. His one and only allusion to

this significant practice is when he states that, “the masters of capitalism have led

African-American leaders to believe that the only life Harlem has remaining is life as

a museum and as an emporium for exploitation” (148). This specific reference to

Harlem does not begin to explain the impact that commercializing African-American

culture has had throughout the world, how this reflects on places like Harlem, and

how it changes the attitudes and actions of its residents and the corporations that

are attempting to control the neighborhood.

Chinyelu does not explain why laborers/consumers are paid low wages. If

the masters of capitalism are encouraging the development of consumers who will

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purchase their products, wouldn’t higher wages stimulate spending in this

community? This key question was not explored in the text.

The author gives several examples of local, state, and federal government

partnering with corporations to plan and develop projects in Harlem. He does not

explore the reasons why such relationships are beneficial to, and thus coveted by,

governments and politicians.

Limited examples of how the city itself influences the dynamics of the

empowerment zone are presented. Chinyelu offers just two examples – the sheer

number of people that will be affected (128) and the presence of a pre-existing

infrastructure, which makes the city attractive to investors (as opposed to third

world countries) (63). It would be interesting to explore how city life and urban

ecology might further influence the empowerment zones.

Presentation and Organization

Near the beginning of the book, Chinyelu lists 12 “distinctive features of third

world countries” (10-14). These key points explain the title of his book and,

presumably, his purpose for writing it. However, he does not specifically explain

how each point relates to the situation in Harlem. Organizing the book into 12

subsequent chapters that each address a component of this list or using one

complete chapter to connect the list to Harlem would have reinforced the author’s

main point.

In the final chapter, Chinyelu offers a manifesto; suggestions for how African-

American people can become more self-sufficient. This should be a separate book

(one that would make a most interesting read, indeed). If these suggestions were

to be incorporated into this text, specific examples of what Harlemites ought to do

should be included.

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Conclusion

This book offers an informative, though-provoking, and insightful account of

the implications of empowerment zone policy. Although there is apparent bias and

an over reliance on the author’s intuitive assumptions, Chinyelu discusses the

situation from the worldview of those who will most detrimentally be effected by the

policy. The book takes a holistic approach to understanding the complex power

structures that have oppressed people of color in the United States and around the

world, explaining the many complications of a capitalistic society. This book adds to

the pre-existing body of knowledge in urban studies by exploring a particular

contemporary social issue and analyzing it within an historical, political, and

economic context.

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Works Cited

Chinyelu, Mamadou. Harlem Ain’t Nothin’ But a Third World Country. New York: Mustard Seed Press, 1999.

Flanagan, William G. Urban Sociology, 4 th Edition . Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2002.

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