Lower middle-class whites who support their police, who paste flags in their car windows, and who comprise a most volatile political constituency are the subject of this book. In particular, Kensington, a blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia, is examined: Irish, Italians, and Poles are found to be as angry and disaffected as their neighboring blacks. In the schools, some of the lowest reading and arithmetic scores are found in lower middle-class neighborhoods. The young people often manifest symptoms of alienation. One chapter, "The Schools of Whitetown--Then and Now," concentrates on the history of white ethnic groups in public schools. The white working class has used the public school system to move upward in American society; these people are now afraid that all resources and energy will be channeled toward the black community and away from them. (Author/JW)