Economist: Segregation: The dream is getting closer
A report shows that America’s cities are steadily becoming more integrated
“ALL-WHITE neighbourhoods are effectively extinct,” according to “The End of the Segregated Century”, a recent report by the Manhattan Institute, a New York think-tank. Only 0.5% of America’s 70,000 neighbourhoods are now all-white. In fact, American cities are today more integrated than they have been since 1910. And since 1960 the proportion of black Americans living in “ghetto neighbourhoods” (more than 80% black) has dropped from nearly half to about 20%. …
… Gentrification has also helped: Washington, DC’s Navy Yard for instance, 95% black in 2000, is now less than a third black. America is also no longer a biracial country. Latinos and Asians are moving into so-called white and black neighbourhoods. The typical black American now lives in a neighbourhood that is 14% Hispanic, about the same figure as for whites.
Depopulation of ghettos, rather than integration of them, has also contributed to the decline in segregation. …
… Margery Turner, who compiled the report, hastens to say there are still significant gaps to address. Even in metro areas scoring high marks, the average black American is more likely to live in poorer neighbourhoods, go to weaker schools, less likely to find a job and is less likely to own a home than the average white. …
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