America's Undeclared War: What's Killing Our Cities and How We Can Stop It.(Review) (book review)

America's Undeclared War: What's Killing Our Cities and How We Can Stop It, by Daniel Lazare.

Harcourt, 353 pages, $26.00.

Whites who learned bigotry as children in America's changing urban neighborhoods during the 1950s and 1960s tell unsubtle tales about their flight from the cities. An influx of poor blacks toppled the social balance of the streets, while liberals in power encouraged welfare dependency and failed to challenge rampant criminal behavior. This has gradually become the conventional critique of the decline of cities.

And it couldn't be further off the ...