Do you live in a one of the 10 most racially segregated cities in the United States, and if so, how do you feel about finding your city on the list?
Results from the 2010 census are in and they reveal how little in residential, economic, and social advancement for Black Americans has occurred in the last 43 years since the enaction of the Fair Housing Act.
The findings on residential racial patterns show that the U.S. remains overwhelmingly segregated.
To understand how and why some metro areas and neighborhoods are the way they are, we need to understand the 5 Dimensions of Segregation: evenness (index of dissimilarity), concentration (delta index), exposure (isolation index), centralization (absolute centralization index) and clustering (spatial proximity). Each of these five measures a different type of segregation, where some metro areas do well on one or two aspects, some metro areas do bad on three or more, and some metro areas due poorly on all five dimensions. Looking at segregation in just one aspect, such as schools, would give a limited view and understanding. Now, add in neighborhoods, then a more wider picture can occur: more diversity in the neighborhood, more diversity in the schools, more diversity in the churches/houses of worship, more diversity in the neighborhood park and neighborhood amenities, etc.
Using a measurement called the Index of Dissimilarity you can quantify segregation in many of the cities on the list. Based on a scale of 1-100 — from perfect integration to complete separation — the index compares neighborhoods by race. Those cities with the highest levels of segregation, hover around a score of 80, meaning 80 percent of an individual race would have to move so that each neighborhood reflects the racial composition of the city as a whole. As of the U.S. 2010 Census, the nationwide Index of Dissimilarity between blacks and whites is 62.7 percent.
But, the biggest need for racial diversity is stable economic and racial diversity. Nothing can destroy a community more than white flight, lowering of tax bases, the destruction of blue collar/entry level jobs that help people up, closing of jobs/plants/factories in that community, as well as no new companies built to bring living wage employment into the community. The quality of life has to be acknowledged as well as the need for racial diversity.
Due to the history of restrictive covenants, zoning ordinances, white flight, realtors who worked hand-in-hand with the federal government in redlining and loan denials, and housing discrimination and job losses in inner cities, many American citizens still live racially segregated lives in the United States.
People living in the Mid West are more likely than any other regional group in the U.S. to live in racially divided cities. Six cities with populations of at least 500,000, are on the list of America’s most segregated city list, as compiled by CensusScope.org and the University of Michigan’s Social Science Data Analysis Network.
U.S. 2010 CENSUS: THE 10 MOST SEGREGATED CITIES IN AMERICA
BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS
http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/u-s-2010-census-the-10-most-segregated-cities-in-america/
Do you live in a one of the 10 most racially segregated cities in the United States, and if so, how do you feel about finding your city on the list?
Results from the 2010 census are in and they reveal how little in residential, economic, and social advancement for Black Americans has occurred in the last 43 years since the enaction of the Fair Housing Act.
The findings on residential racial patterns show that the U.S. remains overwhelmingly segregated.
To understand how and why some metro areas and neighborhoods are the way they are, we need to understand the 5 Dimensions of Segregation: evenness (index of dissimilarity), concentration (delta index), exposure (isolation index), centralization (absolute centralization index) and clustering (spatial proximity). Each of these five measures a different type of segregation, where some metro areas do well on one or two aspects, some metro areas do bad on three or more, and some metro areas due poorly on all five dimensions. Looking at segregation in just one aspect, such as schools, would give a limited view and understanding. Now, add in neighborhoods, then a more wider picture can occur: more diversity in the neighborhood, more diversity in the schools, more diversity in the churches/houses of worship, more diversity in the neighborhood park and neighborhood amenities, etc.
Using a measurement called the Index of Dissimilarity you can quantify segregation in many of the cities on the list. Based on a scale of 1-100 — from perfect integration to complete separation — the index compares neighborhoods by race. Those cities with the highest levels of segregation, hover around a score of 80, meaning 80 percent of an individual race would have to move so that each neighborhood reflects the racial composition of the city as a whole. As of the U.S. 2010 Census, the nationwide Index of Dissimilarity between blacks and whites is 62.7 percent.
But, the biggest need for racial diversity is stable economic and racial diversity. Nothing can destroy a community more than white flight, lowering of tax bases, the destruction of blue collar/entry level jobs that help people up, closing of jobs/plants/factories in that community, as well as no new companies built to bring living wage employment into the community. The quality of life has to be acknowledged as well as the need for racial diversity.
Due to the history of restrictive covenants, zoning ordinances, white flight, realtors who worked hand-in-hand with the federal government in redlining and loan denials, and housing discrimination and job losses in inner cities, many American citizens still live racially segregated lives in the United States.
People living in the Mid West are more likely than any other regional group in the U.S. to live in racially divided cities. Six cities with populations of at least 500,000, are on the list of America’s most segregated city list, as compiled by CensusScope.org and the University of Michigan’s Social Science Data Analysis Network.