Walter R. Allen

Welcome to the publication, “Representations.” This is a project designed to bring the perspectives of a wider variety of groups to the forefront of the anthropology classroom. To celebrate Black History Month, we are covering the accomplishments of 28 Black anthropologists across 28 days. Learn more about our project; read on for the amazing accomplishments of Walter R. Allen.

While Walter Allen is not an anthropologist, we are highlighting his achievements in “Representations” because his contributions to the social sciences have influenced the research of anthropologists and anthropology students.

Walter Allen holds both his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Sociology from the University of Chicago, Dr. Walter R. Allen’s work has imperatively examined the intersections in which race, ethnicity, and inequality cross.

Though Allen’s pedagogical background centers around Sociology, his research provides critical frameworks useful for the realm of Anthropology and other fields within the sphere of social sciences. Over the years he has served as a professor of Sociology and African American Studies at both the University of Michigan and UCLA. Today, Allen oversees UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies as a distinguished professor, while simultaneously serving on Spelman College’s Board of Trustees. With over 150 publications under his name.

Allen’s work ranges from understanding diversity within higher education to examining the family life of Black and Brown communities. Having much dexterity in assessing interethnic relations and societal dogmas that constrain specific demographics, Allen has proved himself as a pioneer within the grand pursuit of equity and equality. Research throughout other fields within Social Sciences can aid in illuminating various models useful to anthropologists, proving that individuals and sociologists like Allen are influential within Anthropology.

Selected Work Assessment: African American Family Life in Societal Context: Crisis and Hope

Seeking to uncover the truthful realities of Black American families and individuals, Allen highlights how the notorious stereotyping of Black households reinforces harmful and racist assumptions about the community. The majority of research that has been conducted on Black American families within contemporary contexts comes from biased standpoints that blur the lines between within-group differences. In other words, ignoring such contrasts in class, religion, income, and life-cycle stages that are present within Black communities has led to a monolithic understanding that all Black families are the same (Allen 570).

Providing frameworks in which to model a better understanding of Black American families, Allen underlines how their history has always been marked by change. While slavery eradicated cultural traditions brought from Africa and thus created the othered “African American”, crucial moments in Black history, such as emancipation and desegregation, further stress the disadvantages Black Americans systematically face under the guise of democracy. Furthermore, Black families showcase much diversity in morality, behaviors, goals, and values. This leads Allen to suggest that in order to properly assess the Black American family, we must also examine them in relation to their environments.

Alongside all these considerations, the overall model Allen uses to assess Black families stresses sociological contexts and the dynamic nature of Black family experiences (Allen 573–79). In order to fully understand the Black American family, it is important to regard the junctions in which these groups actively cross with poverty, health and child care, education, and the media, for the intrinsic relations shared between them help divulge a clearer perspective that counters commonly held stereotypes.

Works Cited: Allen, Walter R. “African American Family Life in Societal Context: Crisis and Hope.” Sociological Forum, vol. 10, no. 4, 1995, pp. 569–592. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/684772.