Riis How The Other Half Lives Analysis

While Riis treats many of the ethnic groups he dedicates whole chapters to with slurs and numerous stereotypes, he still keeps his general hypothesis that the reason for the poverty in these communities is due to the conditions surrounding them. Riis often does have an "ethnic hierarchy," often its most extreme towards the Chinese. Riis ends How the Other Half Lives with a plan of how to fix the problem. He asserts that the plan is achievable and that the upper classes will not only profit financially from such ventures, but have a moral obligation to tend to them as well. This work done by Riis sparked a major change in the economy because shortly after publish the people started changing the way they felt about the