THE RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION BY
RACE IN AMERICA IS STARK.
AND IT HAS IMPORTANT ECONOMIC
CONSEQUENCES, EDUCATIONAL
CONSEQUENCES, FAMILY
CONSEQUENCES.
WHERE DID IT START?
WELL, THAT'S HARD TO SAY.
BACK IN THE PRE-CIVIL WAR SOUTH,
BLACKS AND WHITES WERE
TOTALLY INTEGRATED, ALBEIT
IT COMPLETELY UNEQUAL.
AND WE'VE GROWN APART SINCE
THEN, IN TERMS OF HOW WE LIVE,
WHERE WE LIVE.
THE UNEQUAL APPLICATION OF LOW
INTEREST HOME MORTGAGES
SPONSORED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN
THE 20TH CENTURY AND THE
PROCESS OF REDLINING AND
STEERING AND ALL SORTS OF VERY
EXPLICIT INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS TO EXCLUDE BLACKS
FROM THE SUBURBS, NO DOUBT,
CONTRIBUTED TO THIS.
BUT REALLY, AT THIS POINT, EVEN
IF WE TOOK AWAY ALL THOSE
FACTORS, IT'S BECOME A
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY OR A
VICIOUS CIRCLE--
THE RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, AS A WHITE
HOMEOWNER, IF I WERE
COMPLETELY JUST INTERESTED IN MY
OWN ECONOMIC INTEREST, AS I
SAW MY NEIGHBORHOOD INTEGRATING,
LET'S SAY, IT
WOULD BE IN MY ECONOMIC INTEREST
TO GUESS THAT MY
NEIGHBORS, GIVEN PAST HISTORY,
ARE GOING TO START SELLING
THEIR HOUSES.
AND THEY'RE GOING TO DEPRESS
THE PROPERTY VALUES IN MY
NEIGHBORHOOD BY HAVING A RASH OF
SELLING, FOR, MAYBE, THEIR
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AVERSION
TO MINORITIES, OR MAYBE
BECAUSE THEY'RE MAKING THE
SAME CALCULATION I AM AND
EVERYONE WANTS TO BEAT THE
OTHERS TO THE MARKET, TO GET
OUT BEFORE THE PROPERTY
VALUES DETERIORATE.
AND THEREFORE, IT BECOMES A
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.
SO ONCE A NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO
INTEGRATE, IT USUALLY TIPS
AND BECOMES COMPLETELY AND
PREDOMINATELY MINORITY.
AND YOU HAVE THE REVERSE PATTERN
OF GENTRIFICATION.
ONE WHITE FAMILY COMING IN OR A
COUPLE WHITE FAMILIES COMING
INTO A PREDOMINANTLY LATINO
OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
NEIGHBORHOOD--
THAT'S GREAT.
THAT'S INTEGRATION.
BUT THE MOMENT THAT STARTS
HAPPENING, USUALLY IT ACTS AS
A BEACHHEAD FOR A COMPLETE
TURNOVER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD,
WHERE THE BLACK RESIDENTS OR THE
LATINO RESIDENTS WHO HAVE
BEEN THERE FOR PERHAPS
GENERATIONS ARE DISPLACED.
AND WHITE ENTREPRENEURS MAKE A
LOT OF MONEY BY DRIVING UP
PROPERTY VALUES.
SO IT BOILS DOWN TO THE FACT
THAT THERE IS A PREMIUM FOR
BEING A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD
IN THIS COUNTRY.
AND AS LONG AS THERE IS, AND
AS LONG AS WHITES ARE THE
MAJORITY GROUP AND CONTROL MOST
OF THE ASSETS, THAT'S
GOING TO BE SELF-PERPETUATED.
