Brown Professor: U.S. More Diverse, But Less Integrated
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The latest U.S. Census data shows that the United States is growing in racial and ethnic diversity, but American neighborhoods remain segregated, according to Brown University sociologist John Logan, who is one of the first scholars to analyze the new Census data.
“This is a surprising result,” Logan study. “At worst, it was expected that there would be continued slow progress. The growth of the black middle class, the passage of time since fair housing legislation was enacted, and the evidence from surveys that white Americans are becoming more tolerant of black neighbors all pointed in that direction.”
His study, which was co-authored by Florida State University sociologist Brian Stults, found the following indicators of persistent segregation:
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• The average white person in metropolitan America lives in a neighborhood that is 77 percent white.
• The average black American in metropolitan areas lives in a neighborhood that is mostly black—as does the average Hispanic.
• Blacks remain the most segregated minority, ahead of Hispanics.
• Segregation of Asians from whites is on the rise.
• Residential integration of blacks and whites increased between 1980 and 2000—but in the past 10 years it has remained largely unchanged.
The research project, known as US2010, is funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and Brown University. In the next two years, 14 research teams led by Logan will analyze the Census data, publishing short papers which will be collected into a book and published by the foundation.
“The special feature of US2010 is that it tackles questions of change in American society not from the perspective of one scholar or one topic, but with the expertise of a nationwide team of scholars who were brought together for this purpose,” Logan said.
For more information visit: www.s4.brown.edu/us2010.
