Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America

The author visited small town America, mostly poor, minority, and often dangerous areas, for five years. His narrative was razor sharp; the photography was compelling. He was open about himself; fortunate, Catholic, liberal, with periods of alcohol and prescription drug abuse. He would ask others, " How do you want to be described?" And he would listen. He overcame mistrust, and he understood that interviewees did not want to be analyzed, humiliated or ignored. Most were without degrees or credentials, living in bleak neighborhoods without legal employment, and with at most limited ways to make money; sell drugs, weapons, protection, or exploited women. They looked for purpose and place in which they felt valued, often turf and bars, and parenthood for which they were often unprepared. Their parents might be absent or addicted. Many were born into rejection, isolation and despair.Many in America's back row find shelter, escape from boredom, and community at McDonalds or other fast-food restaurants, and through evangelical churches in small buildings built for a different purpose. Through church they get hope, inclusion, esteem, guidance and freedom from rejection and judgment related to crime and addiction histories. Their material possessions are limited, but usually include bibles and religious icons. Often, they are advised to move, but limited resources and options, hopelessness and the need to care for extended family can interfere. (For many blacks, moves historically have been forced).The author suggests the need for those in the front row (most Americans are back row) to listen more, to be aware of the less fortunate and to not judge, and to have greater appreciation for dignity and respect based less so on credentials and material things, and more on family, friendships, pride, faith and happiness; dignity and respect for aspects of life that can't be measured. An expanded view of success, for what is valued, is needed. And a greater tolerance for diversity.The front row are the people that will likely read this book, and they tend to value college and academic degree, material things, position and money. But there are other things that matter just as much. What can be dangerous is when the (usually) back row glorifies racial identity; along with pride there is often a capacity for blame and for hate.This book heightened my awareness, respect, and empathy for those less fortunate.The distance between the front and the back row is now widening, and that is never good for long term stability.

Very few books fundamentally change your outlook on life. Dignity, by Chris Arnade, is one of those books. Chris Arnade is a financier-turned-photographer who became disillusioned with his industry after the 2008–09 financial collapse. He turned to photography. After working at in investment bank in lower Manhattan he would walk towards the poor and forgotten parts of New York — taking pictures and talking with its residents.He developed a framework to view modern America: The Front Row and Back Row. The Front Row is the overachievers, the ones who sat in the front row of class, got the right credentials and found themselves upwardly mobile in today’s information economy. They tend to migrate towards cities. The other, the back row, are those who didn’t. They either lacked the skills or didn’t value the credentials our new economy required. They were left behind.Major politicians have spent the last two decades, arguing that our modern economy requires upskilling and movement. It’s an individual’s choice to be left behind. Sure, manufacturing is moving overseas, but so what? We’ll get cheaper socks, and if you’re a factory worker who lost their job, you should learn to code and move to a city. Do “value-added” work.The problem with this mindset, and one Arnade articulates exceptionally well, is that it fails to account for the immeasurable aspects of life. What if you can’t move? Or you don’t want to? Social networks are incredibly hard to build as an adult. What if all you want is to put in 8-solid hours a day, provide for your family and support your community? These decisions aren’t cut and dry, and despite the common perception, they can’t be measured in an employment report.I have a feeling that the last thirty years have been the loneliest thirty years in America’s existence. Churches, unions, and other community groups provided people with a sense of belonging. All are now increasingly irrelevant in American life. They’ve been replaced by a cutthroat competition that devalues the average individual’s contribution.I think part of my appreciation is that, despite being a member of the front-row with multiple degrees, I spent about 10 months of my mid-twenties unemployed. I worked for a small business that went bankrupt. Obviously, being unemployed sucks because you have no idea how you’re going to pay rent. However, it wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the social stigma attached to it. In America, and especially New York City (where I lived at the time), what you did for a living is a fundamentally part of your identity. I would go to parties and dates and mostly have no identity. It wears at you. You become increasingly isolated. During this time I joined Crossfit. Despite being unemployed I still spend $200 a month on exercise. Why? It gave me a sense of belonging. Meaning. Without it, I’m not sure how I would have coped.Arnade shows, through photographs and narrative, that this cycle has destroyed entire communities. We’ve managed to individualize a structural problem, and the result is an onslaught of depression and despair. Thirty years ago, rural communities had keystone manufacturers that provided meaning for an area. Now people make minimum wage at Dollar General. Sure, they could move, but where? Who would they watch football with? Where would they go to church? What about child care?But hey, they can buy cheap socks!Obama famously said that de-industrialization meant that rural people increasingly clinging to guns and religion. He said it in a somewhat disparaging way. At the time, I agreed with him. I thought that if people are struggling, they should get new skills or better their life — not cling to the past.Chris Arnade’s book made me re-think this entire paradigm, which is about the biggest compliment you can give a book.

This is a great book for fans of Chris Arnade. It's also good for gifting because it's an easy read, has decent photos, makes for good conversation and isn't partisan. Unless you want to make it partisan.Unfortunately, Mr. Arnade doesn't have the answers for what plagues the underclass in America, so don't look to him for policy. This book is more descriptive than prescriptive.For fans of the author you can follow him online for free or for a donation.

Okay.

This is a great book identifying the gaps we have in society right here in the U.S. I must say I'm guilty of pursuing education and status, as a way to get to the front row.Hard work and rising a bit more in status does feel like it gives me the right to tell others to work and educate themselves like I did, which is wrong thinking.I am a Christ follower and this is where I believe Chris was struggling with a decision about the Lord. Forget about religion. The Bible says it's easier for a camel to push through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to accept Christ and His Kingdom.I can see this in my own life. I have everything I've ever wanted. Nice career, education, great family, healthy lifestyle, abundance of food. However, God has opened my eyes to the fact that He indeed has provided these things for me and I need to continue to grow in giving it back to him through the power of the Holy Spirit.The poor do reach for the Lord more and when they truly find Him right where they are in their sin, He is there to take them in, have relationship with them and transform their lives beyond any material possessions the world has to offer.

This is a new publication which I was led to by a favourable review in the Economist. It's a slim book padded out with lots of photographs, wide margins and wide spacing of lines. It's printed on super heavy, glossy paper to make it seem like a weighty book (and it is heavy).The book is a study of what life in America is like for the most under-privileged people. It consists of more or less verbatim accounts of conversations with people the author meets on his travels. He summarises the common themes he hears and compares and contrasts their experiences with those of affluent Americans. The author really doesn't have that much to say and he repeats it many times, saying much the same thing about different people in different cities.Nevertheless, since much of what he discovered appeared to be news to him, and therefore presumably to many other people with a similar socio-economic background, the book was well worth publishing. Maybe it should be compulsory reading. He did unearth some counter-intuitive facts, such as the churches are the most effective support organisations because they give people spiritual support - a sense of self worth and belonging - as well as material help.The stories people told him about their lives were heart rending. It is beyond belief that the richest country in the world has abandoned so many people to dire poverty and thinks it has done a good job because the economy is growing. Most of the people interviewed had previously enjoyed a modest but viable lifestyle working in factories before the elites moved all the jobs offshore.Some analysis of what might be done would have been very interesting, but at least the author does provide a statement of the problem, which is good because politicians don't seem to understand it. We could do with a UK version of the book to educate our politicians.

The author tells us about, and photographs, back-row America in lots of places and the text and photos are all interesting. Mainly he tells us about the ways in which people cope with being in the back row - through drugs, religion, or identity - and how their lives are lived (the critical importance of McDonalds). Two discussions of Somali communities paint different pictures - one of relative success (in a Somali/white town) and one with more problems (where the town is Somali/white/Mexican)….The author is strong on narrative and what has happened - jobs have disappeared; and education and mobility have become the keys to success; then bad things happen to the communities that are left behind...But there are no answers here

What this book makes clear is that America’s poor are invisible and misunderstood, and that much well intentioned liberal policy does not give them dignity. It is a fine and harrowing read and should make us all feel a little more direct connection with each other.

Amazing book, rings true

Als Angestellter im New Yorker Wallstreet-Business war Christ Arnade ein Vertreter der "front row": gut verdienend inmitten gut verdienender Nachbarn, selbstverständlich liberal und "inklusiv" in seiner gesellschaftlichen Haltung. Die Toleranz der Mittelschicht hat aber eine Grenze: Wer nicht in der Lage oder nicht willens ist, Bildungsangebote anzunehmen, passt nicht ins Konzept einer Hochproduktivitäts-Wirtschaft. Wer es vorzieht, im Heimatort und bei der Familie zu bleiben, statt der Nachfrage am Arbeitsmarkt nachzureisen, gilt als dumb, verstockt und nicht zu retten.Das ist die - längst auch in Europa - wachsende Schicht der "back row". Menschen, die zurückbleiben und sich isolieren in bröckelnden Stadtteilen oder Mietskasernen. Drogen bringen die Illusion von Lebensqualität und am Ende den toxischen Kreislauf von persönlichem Niedergang, kaputten Familien und Gewalt. Chris Arnade sucht sie auf und spricht mit ihnen. Offen, empathisch, ohne dabei dem einseitigen oder romantisierenden Blick des "Gutmenschen" zu verfallen. Er fängt ihre Lebenswelt sensibel und respektvoll in Fotos ein. Sein Buch wächst mit jeder Seite zu einem mächtigen Appell an die Wohlstandsgesellschaften: Kultivierung, Bildung, Mobilität und Weltoffenheit sind großartige Werte - aber nicht zwangsläufig universell. Einen Teil der Gesellschaft überfordern sie und werden sie auch in Zukunft überfordern. Wenn wir nach dem Untergang von Millionen Arbeitsplätzen in der Industrie nicht neue Wege finden, diesen Menschen als Leistenden wie Konsumierenden Teilhabe und Würde in der Gesellschaft anzubieten, werden eben diese Menschen unseren Wohlstand, unsere Freiheit und unsere Demokratien auf eine schwere Probe stellen.