Segregation and Violence Reconsidered: Do Whites Benefit from Residential Segregation?

• In Event: Neighborhood Racial and Ethnic Context Historical and Contemporary Issues

Abstract

Segregation plays a central role in perpetuating and maintaining racial inequality, yet little research has examined the criminological impact of the long-term changes in segregation. This is a significant omission because, in conjunction with the fact that the patterns of segregation have changed markedly since 1970, crime is often cited as a major reason why white-black residential segregation persists. Moreover, there is a lack of consensus on the broad-based consequences of segregation. While there is near unanimity in the literature that segregation is detrimental to African Americans, there is considerable debate as to whether whites benefit from it. This paper seeks to fill this gap by using longitudinal US Census and CDC mortality data for 112 major metropolitan areas from 1970-2010 to determine whether residential segregation impacts race-specific homicide rates. Our findings corroborate previous research by demonstrating that residential segregation is detrimental for African Americans, with increased segregation leading to higher rates of African American homicide. However, we find the inverse relationship for whites, where increased segregation is associated with lower white homicide rates. These findings have important implications for understanding both the causes and consequences of contemporary segregation patterns.

Authors

• Michael Light, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Julia Thomas, University of Wisconsin - Madison