Segregation

Measuring Segregation

To determine how much residential segregation exists, measurement is required. The most common and most widely used measure of residential segregation is the index of dissimilarity. The index assesses the degree to which two groups, for example, Blacks versus Whites, are unevenly distributed over neighborhoods (e.g., census tracts). The basis on which unevenness is determined is the percentage of all Blacks and the percentage of all Whites living in a city as a whole. If the percentage of all Blacks in the city is 20% and the percentage of all Whites in the city is 80%, then the expected percentages for nonsegregation or evenness would be 20% and 80% respectively in each neighborhood (census tract). As each neighborhood deviates from the percentage compositions of the city as a whole, the index of dissimilarity increases. The index ranges from 0, reflecting no segregation (i.e., evenness of the two groups over neighborhoods) to 100, indicating complete segregation or unevenness. The higher the index, the greater is the degree of residential segregation.

Segregation by Race and Ethnicity

The level of segregation between groups usually varies based on the degree of dissimilarity between the two groups. For example, two groups that are similar in color, income, education, occupation, language, and culture are more likely to be less segregated from each other than two groups that are dissimilar in characteristics. Among these characteristics, color or race has been the most important, especially in the United States.

The importance of color is revealed by the fact that the levels of Black versus White residential segregation have remained higher than the levels for Asians and Latinos in the United States. However, the most recent census data provided by the American Community Survey revealed that Black residential segregation was lower in 2009 than it was in 2000, which suggests a continuing decline, which started in 1970. While Black segregation from Whites is decreasing, there is some evidence that Asian-White segregation is increasing. However, when the living experience of the average Black person is compared with the living experience of the average Asian or Latino person, the Black person is less likely to have had a living experience in a predominantly White neighborhood. Blacks have a higher probability of living in a neighborhood that is majority Black, whereas Whites are more likely to reside in neighborhoods that are at least 80% White. It appears that Whites avoid racial minority neighborhoods generally but avoid Black neighborhoods more often. In addition, Blacks also face a greater degree of racial steering and discrimination in housing. The historical and contemporary evidence suggests that the behavior of the White majority was and remains today to maintain majority White neighborhoods for the purpose of perpetuating racial inequality of neighborhoods. Whites who remain at the top of the social neighborhood status hierarchy are motivated by a desire to maintain that status, which offers advantages and privileges if they are racially segregated from Blacks, in particular. In most cities and suburbs, Blacks live in the lowest status neighborhoods compared with Whites. By the time the Fair Housing Act passed in 1968, residential segregation between Blacks and Whites was deeply entrenched. The mean index of dissimilarity, which is the most common measure of Black and White segregation, was above 70 (indicating a high level of segregation) in most large metropolitan areas in the United States in 1970 only 2 years after the Fair Housing Act became law. Since the Act passed, the motivation of many Whites was to continue segregation. As a result, segregation in the post–civil rights era is maintained primarily by (1) racial steering by White real estate brokers and apartment managers and discrimination by mortgage lenders, despite passage of the Fair Housing law; (2) White [Page 657]avoidance of Black or racially changing neighborhoods; and (3) the continued movement of Whites to all-White or predominantly White neighborhoods in the suburbs.

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