370 - Thematic Session. Cities in Hard Times: The End of Persistence of the Segregated Century?

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

“The End of the Segregated Century” was proclaimed in a 2012 Manhattan Institute report under that title, while “The Persistence of Segregation in the Metropolis” was the title of a Russell Sage Foundation sponsored report in that same year. By most measures levels of black-white segregation have declined since 1970. But Hispanic-white and Asian-white measures have remained about the same or increased slightly. And in 2010 the typical African American lived in a neighborhood that was 35% white, a figure that is basically unchanged since 1940. It has long been an article of faith that segregation is a central feature of the ecology of the nation’s cities and suburbs, and that such uneven development fuels a wide range of social costs for all communities but particularly for those of color. That faith is being challenged. All observers agree that the world has changed since the Kerner Commission warned in 1968 of the creation of largely poor and black inner cities surrounded by prosperous and white suburbs. The melting pot has not been created while the urban and metropolitan mosaic has become more complex. But in recent years debate has heated considerably over just how much has been achieved. How far have we come in desegregating our nation’s metropolitan regions and in nurturing integration? How, if at all, have the costs of segregation been ameliorated? What are the primary policy issues that elected officials and enforcement agencies should address? What role has research played in these debates and what role can it play in the future?
These are the questions that will be addressed in this session. Longstanding leading scholars of race, housing, and metropolitan develop will engage in a discussion of where we have been and where we are going. Each will make a brief presentation (5-10 minutes) followed by short answers to questions posed by the moderator. Panelists will be encouraged to respond to each other and engage in a discussion rather than simply present and then answer questions. At least half the time will then be devoted to questions from, and conversations with, the audience.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Gregory D. Squires, George Washington University

Presider

• Gregory D. Squires, George Washington University

Panelists

• John R. Logan, Brown University

• Camille Zubrinsky Charles, University of Pennsylvania

• Brian James Stults, Florida State University

• George Lipsitz, University of California-Santa Barbara