In The Promised Land Nicholas Lemann investigates the effects that the great black migration to the northern cities had on American Society. Lemann's purpose in the book is to identify the roots of current problems in urban ghettos, determine why earlier attempts to solve the problems failed, and suggest alternative approaches to America's largest social problem. He believes that any new policies need to be based on a strong grasp of historic social causes, knowledge of past policies' failures and successes, and an understanding of the experiences of the people who took part in the migration and whose lives were part of the development of both the black ghetto and the black middle class after World War II. Lemann's analysis of social policy and the nature of the problem of the black ghettos leads him to the conclusion that the federal government is the only institution large enough to address the problem. Previous attempts, such as the War on Poverty, were never more than partially successful--either because they were not extensive enough, because they did not understand the causes of the social breakdown in the ghettos, or because they depended on the idea of community-based empowerment and self-development, which never works since those who achieve higher economic status always leave the ghettos as soon as possible. It is the complete and always growing isolation of the poor, in ghettos where they have little chance of obtaining jobs or a decent education, that allows the problems of the urban poor to continue to grow. Lemann concludes, therefore, that only extensive federal programs directed at bringing ghetto residents into the mainstream of American society will eliminate the worst problems of poor urban African Americans.
In order to develop a broad view of the situation Lemann combined the family histories of several African American individuals who migrated from Clarksdale, Mississippi to Chicago with the general his...