Professional Documents
Culture Documents
American Apartheid: Segregation and The Making of The Underclass'
American Apartheid: Segregation and The Making of The Underclass'
By anymeasure,thecharacterofAmericanpovertychangedsignificantly
duringthe 1970s. The poor became poorerrelativeto therestof society,
and incomeinequalityincreased(Levy 1987). Povertybecamemoreper-
sistentas spells increased in frequencyand durationamong families
(Bane and Ellwood 1986; Corcoranet al. 1985; McLanahan, Garfinkel,
and Watson 1988). Povertyalso became more geographicallyconcen-
tratedwithininner-city neighborhoods(Bane and Jargowsky1988;Mas-
sey and Eggers 1990). These trendswere especiallyacute forblacks and
330
331
b,=4000 b,=4000 b,=4000 b,=4000 b1=8000 b1=8000 b,= 8000 b,= 8000
w1=4000 w1=4000 wi=4000 wi=4000 Iwv=O w= wl=O w1=0
13 14 1 ' 16 13 14 15 16
332
333
334
LevelofClassSegregation
forBlacks: 0.625 forBlacks:
LevelofClassSegregation 0.625
NeighborhoodPoverty
forAve.Black: 0.125 Neighborhood forAve.Black:
Poverty 0.142
Neighborhood forAve.PoorBlack: 0.250
Poverty Neighborhood forAve.PoorBlack: 0.283
Poverty
LevelofClassSegregation
forWhites: 0.555 forWhites:
LevelofClassSegregation 0.555
NeighborhoodPoverty
forAve.White: 0.125 Neighborhood forAve.White:
Poverty 0.119
Neighborhood forAve.PoorWhite: 0.250
Poverty Neighborhood forAve.PoorWhite: 0.250
Poverty
pb=1600 pb=1600 pbl= 0 pbl= 0 pbl= 3200 pbl= 3200 pbl= 0 pbl= 0
pw=1200 pw=1200 pw,=0 pw,=0 pw,=0 pw,=0 pw,=0 pw,=0
13 14 15 16 13 14 15 16
LevelofClassSegregation
forBlacks: 0.625 forBlacks:
LevelofClassSegregation 0.625
Neighborhood forAve.Black:
Poverty 0.175 Neighborhood forAve.Black:
Poverty 0.200
Neighborhood forAve.PoorBlack: 0.350
Poverty Neighborhood forAve.PoorBlack: 0.400
Poverty
LevelofClassSegregation
forWhites: 0.555 forWhites:
LevelofClassSegregation 0.555
Neighborhood forAve.White:
Poverty 0.108 Neighborhood forAve.White:
Poverty 0.100
Neighborhood forAve.PoorWhite:0.250
Poverty Neighborhood forAve.PoorWhite: 0.200
Poverty
in threehypothetical
FIG. 2.-Effect of segregationon povertyconcentration
cities,assumingclass segregationwithinracial groups.
335
336
337
n
S
m~~~~~~C
oC Nt 0 No 0
?
C N e m
~~~~~~~o
1
N
14 ? ?q ?q
zz
44~~3
O O) O O Oo C Ul) _
in) 00 in 0 in n In o
ll 11
. i. .l . . . .
0 0 C)
0~~~~~~ .2 0
0~~ o
b . . . o b.D . . .
.) $ b . l . s.. to .d .
. a a. . .L >
*m4
Cd aQ=S t
cd8:QWB= EMEX
tz ? 3 3 g o; 8 *3 3 3 3 E : > : S
bo 40~~33
340
341
342
X~~~~~~~~U o r- 4O oo
m 4 o6 -Xe 14
-
S~~~~~~~~4
O O oee _NNe .
m H~~~0
m ?
00 N O~~~(
H
; I __
j
Pz~~~~~~~~9
X 9
u eq cl m
, cn
3~
b0 CAt
cn it 00 C. 0 o C
cn 8st
SZ;~~~~~~~~~~~0
z;
~c c
C,; C,
Y _1m 6,_ _.. *
Cs__N,;
? O m v II N e t N _ _ _ N _ _ _ N Q ~~0o
OP o o
ot80'
O PSq = cd
Z Z
$O. . *| w''~~~~~~~~~~~~~1,
, 1 , C4
, in 4
o Q eA g = X 3 i = m S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
e
0
CNO?,Og
in 00 g ;>= b = t
Z13|=- :sSs ,
En .,
thepercentageoffamilieson publicassistance,thepercentageoffamilies
with female heads, and the median familyincome by takingpoverty
concentrations calculatedunderdifferent assumptionsofracial and class
segregation(fromtable 1) and insertingtheminto the predictionequa-
tions,along with the percentageof whitesin black neighborhoods (in-
cluded as a control).
A simpleexampleillustrateshow thisand all subsequenttables were
created. The firsttwo columnsin the firstline of table 2 containthe
medianhouseholdincomespredictedforpoorblackneighborhoods before
and afterthe incomeshift,assumingno racial or class segregation.The
table shows thatpoor blacks can expectto live in a neighborhoodwitha
medianirncome of $18,826 beforetheshiftand $17,488afterward.These
figureswere generatedby takingneighborhoodpovertyrates fromthe
firsttwo left-handcolumnsof thefirstrow of table 1 (12.5% and 15.0%)
and insertingthem into the equation that predictsmedian household
income(thefirstrow ofAppendixtableAl), togetherwiththepercentage
of whitesin each neighborhood(75%-see City 1, fig. 1). The equation
thuspredictsa loggedmedianneighborhoodincomeof 9.843 (= 10.187
+ 0.00033 x 75 - 0.0295 x 12.5), whose antilogis 18,826; afterthe
shiftit predictsa value of 9.769 (= 10.187 + 0.00033 X 75 - 0.0295 X
15), whose antilogis 17,488.
A majorconsequenceofanydownwardshiftin thedistributional struc-
ture of black income is a reductionof buyingpower in neighborhoods
where poor blacks live. In orderto simplifyexposition,I comparethe
situationof poor black neighborhoods createdunderfourpolar assump-
tions:no segregationby race or class, class segregationalone, complete
racial segregationwith no class segregation,and both class and racial
segregation.In the firstcircumstance,a rise in the black povertyrate
from20% to 30% is associatedwitha significant drop in medianneigh-
borhoodincomefrom$18,826 to $17,488, a declineof $1,338 or 7.1%.
This change impliesa substantialloss of demand in all neighborhoods
containingblacks.
If we assume that the median householdincomeis the same as the
mean (a conservativeassumptionforour purposes)and note thateach
neighborhoodcontainsabout 2,963 households(theneighborhood popu-
lation of 8,000 divided by the average U.S. householdsize, 2.7), then
each neighborhoodis expectedto lose about $3.96 millionin potential
demandas a resultoftheincomeshift(2,963 X 1,338 = 3.96 million).In
the absence of racial or class segregation,however,thisloss of buying
power is spread evenlythroughoutthe city.Retail profits,tax receipts,
and servicerevenuesfallforthecityas a whole,and somebusinessesand
serviceorganizationsclose, but no particularneighborhoodsuffersdis-
344
345
346
347
fi~~~~~~~~~~v
c3u$
Q v 11 e t ? O
X v)00 i
u z
Z~~~~~~ -EWX
11 NN
( _; c O
= N Z Sxs
i OO
? ~~~~~i_
X mo
te
X
4E
Nt t
cn... ..
348
xn 90
ire ot-mtO?oo >3
Q o
4-0
cn zo0~~
. .2
bo
tt
Os 0,0d0O
?-tstIO O 0 5
C41 in 00- 00 C41 -M N et
O 0-O
o 0
i . . . 0 w
_? _4 _ N 1t) _ ! dM
N O
~moO u0 *0
0 'Z c b) X O D 4i Cd bO O4O. Q
4=
_ o 0 te 'Z _d _o U 0 bl ) sd
bo = 4) 0 &. bo ~ (Uwb ~E Y
*U
bo U - -.0
0- U
OW
bO W bO (U -4~~~~~~
E 0
Q-*-
3
(Utn . .
En . . Y D ?
Z >
34 9 0 v b
- t * , t
. e= 4
cd c=U 'O Q 2
Q#,.0 'm w-4 ,= ,_ ?n 'd &Q ?d 'dmt' 8:
cd w 4. .0 cd w O_$vSm &
m m = 3 ~~1
0 ! 0 _w8pJ bo ,
.J? = 6 =v s: =U = : v = .-, ,. d,
bo 3 3Xo.3 3.3 3 b(3 3? u$
.0 = = - 0
U tn
bo34
SUMMARYAND CONCLUSION
Duringthe 1970s, black povertybecame morepersistentand geographi-
cally concentratedin Americancities. Many observersexplainedthese
350
351
352
353
354
APPENDIX
TABLE Al
REGRESSION EQUATIONS USED TO PREDICT NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENTAL
CHARACTERISTICS IN HYPOTHETICAL CITIES
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLES
Equations estimatedacross
20,854 tractsin 60 SMSAs:
Median householdincome(logged):
Coefficient. .00033* -.03* 10.19* .75*
SE .(.00006) (.0002) (.006)
Percentagefamilieson assistance:
Coefficient.- .05* .75* 6.26* .79*
SE .......... (.002) (.004) (.16)
Percentagefemale-headedfamilies:
Coefficient.- .07* .60* 9.58* .75*
SE .(.002) (.004) (.16)
Equations estimatedacross
333 tractsin Philadelphia:
Percentagehouses boarded up:
Coefficient.- .02* .15* 1.58* .47*
SE .(.006) (.02) (.59)
Major crimerate:
Coefficient..02 .79* 36.55* .06*
SE .(.08) (.02) (8.47)
Childhooddeath rate:
Coefficient.- .05 .14* 14.37* .06*
SE .(.03) (.07) (2.74)
Percentagehighschool students
below fifteenthpercentileon CAT:
Coefficient.- .09* .53* 25.78* .61*
SE ...... (.02) (.04) (1.65)
High school dropoutrate:
Coefficient..01 .20* 6.49* .34*
SE .(.007) (.02) (.74)
* P < .05.
355
REFERENCES
Auletta, Ken. 1982. The Underclass. New York: Vintage.
Bane, Mary Jo, and D. Ellwood. 1986. "Slipping intoand out of Poverty:The Dynam-
ics of Spells." JournalofHumanResources21:1-23.
Bane, Mary Jo, and Paul A. Jargowsky.1988. "Urban PovertyAreas: Basic Questions
concerningPrevalence, Growth,and Dynamics." Paper preparedforthe Committee
on National Urban Policy, National Academy of Sciences, Washington,D.C.
Clark, Kenneth B. 1965. Dark Ghetto:Dilemmas ofSocial Power. New York: Harper
& Row.
Corcoran, Mary, GregJ. Duncan, Gerald Gurin, and Patricia Gurin. 1985. "Mythand
Reality: The Causes and Persistenceof Poverty." Journal of Policy Analysis and
Management 4:516-36.
Denton, Nancy A., and Douglas S. Massey. 1989a. "Residential Segregation of
Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians by Socioeconomic Status and Generation." Social
ScienceQuarterly 69:797-817.
. 1989b. "Racial Identityamong Caribbean Hispanics: The Effectof Double
Minority Status on Residential Segregation." American Sociological Review
54:790-808.
Farley, Reynolds. 1979. "Can Blacks Affordto Live in White Residential Areas? A
Test of the HypothesisThat Subjective Economic Variables AccountforResidential
Segregation." Paper presentedat the annual meetingsof the Population Association
of America, Philadelphia.
Farley, Reynolds, Suzanne Bianchi, and Diane Colasanto. 1979. "Barriers to the
Racial Integrationof Neighborhoods: The Detroit Case." Annals of the American
AcademyofPoliticaland Social Science441:97-113.
Farley, Reynolds, Howard Schuman, Suzanne Bianchi, Diane Colasanto, and S.
Hatchett. 1978. "Chocolate City, Vanilla Suburbs: Will the Trend toward Racially
Separate CommunitiesContinue?" Social Science Research 7:319-44.
Galster, George C. 1986. "More than Skin Deep: The Effectof Housing Discrimina-
tion on the Extent and Pattern of Racial Residential Segregation in the United
States." Pp. 119-40 in HousingDesegregation and FederalPolicy,edited by John
M. Goering. Chapel Hill: Universityof North Carolina Press.
. 1987a. "Residential Segregation and Interracial Economic Disparities: A
Simultaneous Equations Approach." JournalofUrbanEconomics21:22-44.
. 1987b. "The Ecology of Racial Discriminationin Housing: An Exploratory
Model." UrbanAffairs Quarterly23:84-107.
Galster, George C., and W. Mark Keeney. 1988. "Race, Residence, Discrimination,
and Economic Opportunity:Modeling the Nexus of Urban Racial Phenomena."
UrbanAffairs Quarterly 24:87-117.
Glasgow,Douglas G. 1981. TheBlack Underclass:Poverty,Unemployment, and the
Entrapmentof Ghetto Youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jencks,Christopher.1985. "How Poor Are the Poor?" New YorkReview ofBooks 32
(8): 41-49.
Jencks,Christopher,and Susan E. Mayer. 1990. "The Social Consequences of Grow-
ing Up in a Poor Neighborhood: A Review." In Concentrated Urban Poverty in
America, edited by Michael McGeary and Lawrence Lynn. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy. In press.
LaVeist, Thomas A. 1989a. "Linking Residential Segregationand InfantMortalityin
U.S. Cities." Sociologyand Social Research73:90-94.
. 1989b. "The Effectsof Racial Residential Segregationon the Black/White
InfantMortalityDifferential." Paper presentedat the annual meetingsof the Popu-
lation Association of America, Baltimore.
356
357