Story at a glance
- More than 80 percent of metropolitan regions in the United States have become more segregated in recent decades, according to a new study.
- The report finds that while much of the country has diversified, it remains segregated.
- Detroit tops the list, followed by Hialeah, Fla., and Newark, N.J., for the most segregated cities in the U.S.
More than 80 percent of metropolitan regions in the United States have become more segregated in recent decades, with Detroit topping the list, according to a new report studying census tract data.
Just 40 out of the more than 200 metropolitan regions analyzed by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have become less segregated. Of these, only Colorado Springs, Colo., and Port St. Lucie, Fla., are considered integrated.
"If you just use the Black-white dissimiliarity index, the US looks like it made significant progress in integration from 1970 to 1980, and relatively modest progress ever since. You have to look at it from a broader perspective," Stephen Menendian, the lead author of the report, told the Guardian, adding, "We’re incredibly diverse, but we’re incredibly balkanized."
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As the Supreme Court famously ruled, separate is not equal, and segregation has serious consequences on the health and wealth of Americans. By comparing differences in income and poverty levels, home values, life expectancy and rent prices, researchers concluded that people of all races fared worse in segregated Black and Brown neighborhoods.
"Segregation is not about separating people on the basis of their skin color: what it’s about is separating people from resources based on their skin color. It’s about putting people of color in neighborhoods that have less resources, fewer public goods – and predatory finance, harmful environmental exposure, and so on. Segregation is the most efficient way to do that. It’s about efficiency. You can spend all the money you want to try to compensate it: you will never fully overcome the disparity," Menendian told the Guardian.
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The findings are also presented in an interactive national segregation map that shows the levels of segregation in hundreds of cities and metropolitan areas across the country over several decades. The 10 most segregated cities with populations of 200,000 were:
- Detroit, Mich.
- Hialeah, Fla.
- Newark, New Jersey
- Chicago, Ill.
- Milwaukee, Wisc.
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Miami, Fla.
- Birmingham, Ala.
- New York City, New York
- St. Louis, Miss.
"Many of these policies were not designed to oppress. They’re a byproduct of self-interest. When we get in the car and drive, our goal is not to release C02 – that’s the effect – our goal is to get somewhere. Racial inequality is a byproduct of self-interested behavior among the most powerful," Menendian told the Guardian.
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