In chapters four and five, Robinson explains further on two specific groups: the mainstream and the abandoned. Chapter four discusses how black Americans were able to shift into American’s middle class; however, they were excluded not due to their economic status, but race. He introduces this idea that the mainstream is truly a great American success story because they have progressed from a time period, where they’ve experienced slavery and oppression to living a life that seemed impossible not too long ago. The mainstream middle class today accounts for a majority of black Americans. In chapter five, Robinson elaborates on the abandoned group; these are the individual who are growing underclass settled in inner cities and the rural south. He uses New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina as a prime example of the abandoned. Hurricane Katrina exposed an ignored residue of black poverty and dysfunction that existed. More than half of the black population in New Orleans lived under the poverty line prior to the catastrophe.
