Harlem by Gilbert Osofsky: The Creation of a Ghetto paints a bleak picture of the inevitability of New York's once exclusive Harlem neighborhood. Ososfky's period is between 1890 and 1930 and his study is divided into three parts. His analysis is compelling because it explains the social and economic reasons why Harlem became the slum for which it is widely infamous today, but it fails to highlight many of the positive aspects of this sustainable neighborhood, and the lack of political analysis in the book is troubling. In “Part One: The Negro and the City,” Osofsky describes New York's first black neighborhoods in lower Manhattan: Five Points, San Juan Hill, and Tenderloin. It describes the state of New York's black community before and after the war, and uses the greater region of the United States, including the Deep South, as a backdrop for its microanalysis of black New Yorkers. It paints a bleak picture of little hope for black Americans living in New York and reminds the reader that despite emancipation in the North well before the Civil War, racism and prejudice were still prevalent in a city where black made up a small part of the population. the population. Through his research, Osofksy is able to conclude that there was a decline in the black population before the Civil War. In 1825, 12,559 blacks lived in New York, in 1865, 9,943 blacks lived in New York. But by 1900, due to the great migrations of free blacks from the South, the black population increased and more than fifty-three percent were born outside the state. The tension created by this migration was not only between the new blacks and the white population of New York, but also between the old...... middle of paper ...... beginning and the depressed Great Depression in the nails. his coffin. This book was written in the 1960s, so it is difficult to say what Osofsky's biases, misconceptions, and influences were when writing this book. There are a few passages that seem ignorant or biased towards the black community, but there is no doubt that this in-depth analysis does justice to the history and situation of Harlem, New York. Osofsky does an excellent job framing his study on the social, economic, and philanthropic fronts, but he does little on the political front. His analysis does not include a policy framework that would help answer some questions of political racism, de facto segregation, de jure segregation, welfare, poor schools, etc. At times in the book, it seems like Osofsky is blaming black people. community for its own problems.