FIGHTING FOR A FOOTHOLD | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
About this Event
Prince George's County, Maryland, is a suburban jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and is home to the highest concentration of Black middle-class residents in the United States. As such, it is well positioned to overcome White domination and anti-Black racism and their social and economic consequences. Yet Prince George's does not raise tax revenue sufficient to provide consistent high-quality public goods and services. In Fighting for a Foothold, sociologist Angela Simms examines the factors contributing to Prince George's financial troubles.
Simms draws on two years of observations of Prince George's County's budget and policy development processes, interviews with nearly 60 Prince George's leaders and residents, and budget and policy analysis for Prince George's County and its two Whiter, wealthier neighbors, Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia. She argues legacy and ongoing government policies and business practices--such as federal mortgage insurance policy prior to 1968, local government reliance on property taxes, and private investment patterns--have resulted in disparities in wealth accumulation between Black and White Americans, not only for individuals and families but local jurisdictions as well. Prince George's County has a lower cost of living than its Whiter, wealthier neighbors. As the most affordable county bordering D.C., it attracts a disproportionate share of the region's core middle-class, lower middle-class, working class, and low-income residents, resulting in greater budget pressure.
Prince George's uses the same strategies as majority-White jurisdictions to increase revenue, such as taxing at similar rates and vying for development opportunities but does not attain the same financial returns. Ultimately, Simms contends Prince George's endures "relative regional burden" and that the county effectively subsidizes Whiter counties' wealth accumulation. She offers policy recommendations for removing the constraints Prince George's County and other majority-Black jurisdictions navigate, including increased federal and state taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations, which will enhance the capacity for government to distribute and redistribute resources equitably; increased state-level funding of public goods and services, which would decrease local jurisdictions' reliance on locally-generated tax revenue; and the creation of equity funds to remediate harms inflicted upon Black Americans.
Fighting for a Foothold is an in-depth analysis of the fiscal challenges experienced by Prince George's County and by the suburban Black middle-class and majority-Black jurisdictions, more broadly. The book reveals how race, class, and local jurisdiction boundaries in metropolitan areas interact to create different material living conditions for Americans.
Angela Simms is joining us on the Busboys stage to share more about why “as remarkable as PG County is, it could be even better in a world without racism” and encourage readers everywhere to “remove the drags of racism that throttle growth that would otherwise occur” (Andre M. Perry, senior fellow and director, Center for Community Uplift, Brookings Institution). Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Simms will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Doors open to guests at 4:30pm. Our program begins at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of FIGHTING FOR A FOOTHOLD will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Dr. Angela Simms is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Barnard College–Columbia University. She examines the political economy of United States metropolitan areas through the lens of suburban Black middle-class jurisdictions’ capacity to garner sufficient tax revenue for maintaining high-quality public goods and services. Angela’s forthcoming book is titled Fighting for a Foothold: How Government and Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia, which will be published in February of 2026. She has published articles related to local government financial fitness in leading social science journals—among them: “COVID-19, Black Jurisdictions, and Budget Constraints: How Fiscal Footing Shapes Fighting the Virus,” in Racial and Ethnic Studies (2021).
Angela is co-chair of Columbia Population Research Center’s Working Group on Urbanism and Neighborhoods. She is also on the editorial board of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity Journal. During the 2023–2024 academic year, Angela was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar.
Prior to academia, Angela served in the federal government for seven years as a Presidential Management Fellow and legislative analyst at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations. She holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Texas-Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in government from William and Mary.
Angela is from Woodbridge, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. She lives in New York City (Harlem) and is a member of Renaissance Church, where she serves on the prayer ministry. She enjoys running and lifting weights, hiking, and museum exhibits and the performing arts.
BOOK DETAILS
Fighting for a Foothold
How Government Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia
By Angela Simms
February 24, 2026 | Paperback, 334 pages, $39.95
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
