Who:
Whites, African Americans, Asians, and Latinos
What:
Segregation refers to the physical separation of the races in residential contexts. We have always had a mosaic of residential districts. Which means there is a separation of various groups from the other. It is actually considered as the norm. These separations occurred due to imposed legislation, economic institutions, and housing policies of the federal government.
Where:
The Five Boroughs:
When:
Post 1965
Why:
The separation is the result of a combination of individual and collective decisions and reflects underlying economic forces within a society. There are three other processes which explain why there is a pattern of residential separation:
First being, socio-economic – which produced separation of groups according to occupational, educational, and income criteria.
So let’s say, we classify households according to their incomes, and we map the homes of member of various income groups the results would basically show that the greater the difference between the incomes of two household the smaller the probability that they are living in the same residential district. Likewise, those who posses jobs that are considered white-collar (non-manual occupations), are the ones who are better educated, thus the occupational-income spatial difference separates people according to their educational events.
The second process is ethnic – Member of different ethnic groups tend to live apart from each other, and from the host society. The last distancing process is related to family – life styles. Which relates to age and the number of children in an household. Older people tend to live around other older people. And similarly, people who no children, live near people who also don’t have kids.
Segregation in NYC
White: blue dots
African American: green dots
Asian: red dots
Latino: orange dots
All others: brown dots
Blacks and whites are the most isolated from other races. Vast sections of southeast Queens and central Brooklyn are nearly all black, while parts of Staten Island, the Upper East Side in Manhattan, and Orthodox areas in Brooklyn are nearly all white. Hispanics are most isolated in Corona and Inwood; Asians are most isolated in Chinatown.
Segregation and Educational Opportunity
Residential segregation has led to highly segregated elementary and high schools and is a fundamental cause of racial differences in the quality of education. For most Americans, residence determines which public school students can attend, and the funding of public education is under the control of local government. Thus, community resources importantly determine the quality of neighborhood schools. Public schools with high proportions of blacks and Hispanics are dominated by poor children. Although there are millions of poor whites in the US, poor white families tend to be dispersed throughout communities, with many residing in desirable residential areas. In 96% of predominantly white schools, the majority of students come from middle-class backgrounds. Levels of segregation for black and Latina/o students are currently on the increase. One recent study found that as a growing number of minority families moved to the suburbs from 1987 to 1995, residential segregation there led to increased levels of segregation in suburban schools. Compared to schools in middle-class areas, segregated schools have lower average test scores, fewer students in advanced placement courses, more limited curricula, less qualified teachers, less access to serious academic counseling, fewer connections with colleges and employers, more deteriorated buildings, higher levels of teen pregnancy, and higher dropout rates. These conditions contribute to peer pressure against academic achievement and in support of crime and substance use. Black and Latina/o students are concentrated in urban schools that have different and inferior courses and lower levels of achievement than the schools attended by white students in adjacent suburban school districts. Thus, racial residential segregation leads to racial differences in high school dropout and graduation rates; competencies and knowledge of high school graduates; preparation for higher education; and the probability of enrollment in college.
Click here to learn more about educational inequality
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Sources
(Click to enlarge)
