Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Following on established social science research, it is not surprising
that segregation developed the way it did in virtually every northern
city with a significant presence of African Americans. Nor is it surpris-
ing that in areas where it has taken root, it persists, though it has been
mitigated to some extent. Once areas are designated in certain ways,
only people who have a preference for living in such areas and who can
afford to move freely will move in. Furthermore, many of the realities
of urban renewal and public housing meant that those who did not have
the choice to move where they pleased were relegated to segregated
conditions. Additionally, restrictive covenants to deeds that prevented
African Americans from buying certain homes or moving to specific
areas may no longer be legally enforceable, but they did set a patern.
Conclusion
his irst-ever analysis of the paterns of racial (black-white) segrega-
tion in the United States that examines a very long time horizon using
relatively comparable geographic units resulted in a number of interest-
ing results. Residential segregation in northern cities developed quickly
in the United States as African Americans made the journey from the
former slave South to the urban North. here is a general patern of in-
creased segregation in the U.S. cities examined in this study from 1880
to 1960, and Chicago is the most highly segregated of them all. African
Americans experienced a substantial increase in number and proportion
while also becoming more isolated from whites. In short, the cities were
becoming highly segregated municipalities, and by the mid-twentieth
century blacks were extremely segregated and isolated in most of them.
he areas that had atracted the irst black setlers in the most northern
cities became the most concentrated with these newcomers, and the
growth of the black population centered there and then spread outward,
but in a way that preserved and increased segregation.
W hen one tracks the segregation paterns in the metropolitan re-
gions examined from 1950 through 2010, it is obvious that white isolation
remained very high, at nearly 0.90 on average. Dissimilarity peaked in
1960 and 1970 at nearly 0.80 and then gradually declined to slightly below
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