Residential Segregation

Residential Segregation and its Consequences: American Apartheid & The Hero’s Fight Massey and Denton (1993) describe the systematic segregation and isolation of black Americans—at a level not experienced by any other racial group—as the cause of persistent poverty, and the key to the creation of racial inequality and the underclass. This residential segregation leads to heterogeneous communities, the black ghetto. These black ghettos have substandard resources, and living conditions far below any other group in America. The conditions and characteristics of these ghettos lock residents into a cycle of poverty and subordination for generations. Theoretical explanations emerged in the debate on black persistent poverty, and the inability

People traveled by walking, and lived in relatively close proximity to where they worked. Blacks and whites lived side by side, and communities identified as where blacks lived, will still not predominantly black. Blacks were not isolated; they were more likely to come in contact with whites than with other blacks. An example from the American Apartheid text that puts this into perspective is the isolation index, which measures the extent to which blacks live in predominantly black neighborhoods. The city with the highest level of black isolation in 1890 was Indianapolis, at 13%. Post 1900, industrialization led to dense housing built near manufacturing hubs. Blacks moved from the south because the demand for farm labor decreased, as the need for unskilled workers in the north increased. The advent of structural steel and mechanical elevators allowed cities to expand upward, and alternative transportation options (e.g. rail systems) allowed cities to expand outward. Black laborers flooded the cities, and the new class of affluent managers and service workers were able to expand out into the suburbs. The isolation index shows that by 1930, the city with the highest level of black isolation was Chicago, with an increase to over 70% black isolation. White Americans became increasingly intolerant of blacks as neighbors, and feared a black invasion. Violence broke out in northern cities; blacks were forced to move into

At the time of Fernandez-Kelly’s research, the city was experiencing the debilitating effects of deindustrialization. D.B. Wilson’s story shows the fortunes of blacks that migrated north from the south for a better life. With time, Wilson was able to find a job with a manufacturing firm, propelling his family to middle-class life. Although Wilson lost his job when the firm closed due to deindustrialization shifts, he was one of the fortunate who was able to successfully raise children, and continue on to a comfortable career that he started with his abundant savings (amassed during his years at the firm). Others who followed were not so