Persistence of Segregation in the United States:A Century of Inequality

John R. LoganBrown University

New York City Before 1900

The Early Phase of the Great Migration

1920 Black Neighborhoods in New York

60%4%

75%362623

All black neighborhoods (>10%)

Central HarlemSan Juan Hill

African American Neighborhoods

Group Members % Black

Fort GreeneBedford

Non-black neighborhoods

71,00014,10010,6006,200

103,90048,600

Segregation in NYC, 1900-1990Blacks

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1900 1920 1940 1960 1990

Black

Italians: Getting By in New York

1920 Italian Neighborhoods in New York

11%

62%

Non-Italian neighborhoods

518,600

282,300

All Italian neighborhoods (>25%)

587261

75%685940

Fort GreeneBelmont

Greenwich VillageEast Harlem

Italian Neighborhoods

Group Members % Italian

Red Hook/GowanusGashouse District

Bensonhurst

114,20074,00061,80044,40028,10022,90022,500

Black and Italian Segregation in NYC

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1900 1920 1940 1960 1990

Black

Italian

The Jewish Lower East Side

1920 Russian Neighborhoods in New York

Non-Russian neighborhoods

192,500

All Russian neighborhoods (>25%)

89,200

705,200

160,300141,900118,000

9%

46

Group Members % Russian162,300

East Harlem

Lower East SideBrownsvilleMorrisania/LongwoodWilliamsburg

59

51%

48%694146

23%

Russian Neighborhoods

6056

63%

% Jewish65%74

Black, Italian, and Russian Segregation in NYC

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1900 1920 1940 1960 1990

Black

Italian

Russian

Animation

US NEIGHBORHOODS TODAY

Under $40,000

Over $75,000

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, 2000

Disparities in the performance of schools that children attend, 2004-2005 test data

50%

50% 80%

Exposure to Poverty: White 4th Graders 2010

50%

50% 80%

Test Scores and Poverty: White 4th Graders 2010

Comparing schools attended by white/black 4th graders, 2010: poverty and test scores.

AffluentWhite Affluent

Black

Central City

Suburbs

$51,794

$42,623

$39,538

$31,493

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

Median income

Median neighborhood income, Chicago 1990,for comparable white and black residents

More affluent neighborhoods in the suburbs, but racial disparity in both locations

Homeowners, college grads, $60-$75,000 income

Affluent WhiteAffluent Black

Suburbs

Central City

1,076

1,767

168406

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

Violent crime

Crime is lower in the suburbs, but higher for blacks in either location

Violent crime in Cleveland, 1990,for comparable white and black residents

Homeowners, college grads, over $75,000 income

Invasion and succession model of racial change

Initial white exodus and black entry

Black population growth, reaching a tipping point

Racial succession: majority black

Predictors of change – the downward slide:

•Low income•Old housing•Aging population•Rental housing•Population flux

Post-1980: Paths to and from diversity

All-whiteWhite/Asian

White/Hispanic

White/Hispanic/and Asian

White/Hispanic/Asian/Black

MinorityCombinations:

Black

Hispanic

Asian

Persistence of old processes and patterns …

and some signs of a change.

More information:www.s4.brown.edu/us2010