Segregation of minorities in the metropolis: two decades of change

Abstract

Data from Census 2000 show that black-white segregation declined modestly at the national level after 1980, while Hispanic and Asian segregation rose in most metropolitan areas. Changes that may have produced greater changes for blacks proved to have insignificant effects: there was no net shift of the black population toward less-segregated areas, segregation at the metropolitan level did not decline more in areas where the incomes of blacks came closer to the incomes of whites over time, and the emergence of more multiethnic metropolises had no impact. As in the past, declines were centered in the South and West and in areas with smaller black populations. Increases in Hispanic and Asian segregation in individual metropolitan areas were counterbalanced by a net movement of these two groups toward areas of lower segregation. These increases were associated especially with the more rapid growth in the Hispanic and Asian populations. Hispanic segregation increased more in regions where group members had declining incomes relative to the incomes of whites and included a growing share of immigrants.

Immigration, Segregation and Urban Development in Athens: The Relevance of the La Debate for Southern European Metropolises

“…First, overall segregation has decreased significantly and most of the US metropolises have become more mixed residentially (Glaeser, 2001;Frey, 2001;Logan et al, 2004). This finding has given rise to optimistic arguments about the "decline of the American ghetto" (Glaeser, 2001(Glaeser, , 2003.…”

“…Although immigrants create a buffer between whites and blacks, continuous movements and dislocations have been recorded mostly at the expense of poorer blacks and the deepening of their segregation. Particular forms of sprawling amongst whites tend to increase segregation, whilst the moderate flight of blacks to the suburbs as well as the increase in their incomes has no effect on segregation (Logan et al, 2004). Furthermore, it has been convincingly argued that African Americans increasingly suffer from both "decentralised racism" and concentration in inner city "hyper-ghettos" (Glaeser, 2001;Charles, 2003;Wilkes and Iceland, 2004).…”

The Intergenerational Transmission of Context

“…Part of the impetus for this alternative perspective was the realization that, despite the declines in organized discrimination following the 1960s, America's cities continue to be remarkably segregated by race and ethnicity (Logan, Stults, and Farley 2004;Massey and Denton 1993). Drawing inferences from racial differences in prices paid for housing in different cities, Cutler, Glaeser, and Vigdor (1999) argue that racism became "decentralized" after 1970, meaning whites' personal attitudes toward living with blacks became a more important source of segregation than collective acts of discrimination.…”

Dynamics of Political Polarization

“…This is because social structural changes which give rise to segregation or integration shape interaction dynamics by shaping the probability of encounters. Against this background, recent studies on social inequality and segregation provide a detailed picture of the trends in spatial segregation with respect to class, life course, race and ethnicity that have characterized American society during the second half of the 20th century (Massey 1996, Logan, Stults andParley 2004). From the 1970s on, we observe a rise in residential segregation by income and social class (Abramson and Tobin 1995;Jargowsky 1996) and in some cases the spatial structuring of affluence and poverty has been magnified by race and ethnic differences (Massey, Denton 1989).…”