The Persistence of the Ghetto reading

This week's reading by Massey and Denton covered the third chapter of their book, American Apartheid. The chapter begins by explaining that though there seemed to be much promise in the beginning of the 1970s that desegregation may occur, it did not (Massey and Denton 61). The south saw net gains in black population, black socioeconomic status increased, and racial discrimination was falling, yet somehow the decade ended with "record unemployment, inflation, falling wages, increased income inequality...", as well as the formation of the urban underclass in the ghetto (Massey and Denton 61). Massey and Denton go in to detail in this chapter about segregation within urban areas - they elaborate on the phenomenon of the urban center populated mostly by blacks, with suburbs populated mostly by whites. They track the progress of segregation and racial isolation throughout the decade, noting that while segregation may fall by approximately 4 percentage points or so, by and large most northern and southern urban areas remained heavily segregated, with percentage values for black residents that would need to move to achieve an even racial population mixture in the upper 70s and low 80s (Massey and Denton 63, 64). Furthermore, they note that isolation also tends to be high, with rare exceptions being attributed usually to a smaller total black population in a given area than to an actual move promoting desegregation and inter-racial contact (Massey and Denton 66). They also raise an interesting point: white suburbanization and black suburbanization are not the same. While whites move to the suburbs to escape the problems of the inner city, blacks who come to be considered "suburbanites" either were incorporated into what becomes suburban territory involuntarily - the metropolitan area expands, absorbing nearby counties - or their move to a suburban area does little to alter segregation (Massey and Denton 69). In this case, the suburb essentially expands the already existent ghetto (Massey and Denton 70). My reflection on their findings is this: perhaps, on a very fundamental level, it is our difference in culture, not race, that is to blame. Massey and Denton also note in this chapter that Hispanic and Asian residents experience segregation and isolation in cities, but that it is not nearly as severe (Massey and Denton 67). It seems that the principle of in-groups and out-groups covered way back in the "Intro to Soc." and "Intro to Psych." classes is applicable here: we all tend to hang around that people that are most similar to us, and the lower level of segregation among whites and Hispanics and whites and Asians shows that we may have more in common with them than with blacks. Perhaps our cultures are simply too different, and the extreme segregation and isolation shown in this chapter, and, in fact, throughout Massey and Denton's book thus far, is evidence of this in-group and out-group-type conflict.

90% of people in Chicago would have to move to get a 50/50 ratio

            The main focus of this week’s topic is the missing link. What is the missing link? Residential segregation! In class we talked a lot about racial segregation, and that is a problem. In American Apartheid by Massey and Denton, “Residential segregation has become the forgotten factor of American race relations, a minor footnote in the ongoing debate on the urban underclass”. “United states will remain a deeply divided and very troubled society” (16).  The high levels of racial segregation cannot be reflected on your income because no matter what, blacks are equivalently segregated with all levels of income.  The ideal is that individuals should be able to live wherever they want, if they can afford it but what they all whites have in common is that they would feel uncomfortable in any neighborhood that has more than a few black residents. As the percentage of black residents rises, the number of white residents will refuse to enter or would try to move out. Something that relates to this was the “evidence also suggests that blacks can expect to experience significant discrimination in the allocation of home mortgages as well” (11).  This also relates to what Professor Weffer mentioned in class about redlining, blockbusting, and restrictive covenants. To be honest, I didn’t know much about redlining, blockbusting, and restrictive covenants but these 3 mechanisms were legal when people were trying to gain wealth.

            With residential segregation, I wasn’t sure what I was going to talk about. I thought about my neighborhood, there’s a high population of Jewish people there, and one black person in my graduating class, Chinatown, but I’ve decided to talk about Englewood, and a little bit about Derrick Rose. Why? Because he suffered enough from his injuries and most importantly, he’s from Englewood, Chicago. In all honesty, I really did try to contact him about Englewood, but unfortunately, I couldn’t. What I found so interesting was what Professor Weffer said was that 90% of people in Chicago would have to move to get a 50/50 ratio since it’s so segregated. Englewood is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago. There’s a lot of violence, segregation and race all in one neighborhood. I found an article from WBEZ91.5 about Englewood and the stories the residents have told. A resident named Davinia Davis has lived in the neighborhood for 4 years; she explained what goes on in the neighborhood, whether if there’s gunshots firing, homes caught on fire, fights, and the lists goes on. She mentions the neighborhoods in Chicago and said her daughter and her 2 boys would want to leave Englewood and move out to Lincoln Park. Davis said “Believe me, I will be a focus if I live in a predominantly white building or neighborhood, but as long as I keep to myself and my boys are okay, and we let them know that we're not out to harm anybody I don't think anything would happen, I think everybody could all get along”. This clearly has to do with race. In American Apartheid, Massey and Denton says, “the effects of white prejudice are typically reinforced by direct discrimination against black homeseekers” (11). Her daughter knows that if she moves into a predominately white neighborhood, like in Lincoln Park, she will get the attention based on her race. Another great example of residential segregation was what Davis experienced in an area by Midway Airport. She came to the area to go bowling with her friends and “it was maybe about three or four cars of us going bowling and it was some guys over there, get out our neighborhood and things like that or whatever, and I'm like, well y'all, we need to go. You know I didn't like it. We need to go, because I didn't want anything to happen”. Areas by Midway Airport and Englewood are obviously two different neighborhoods. With residential segregation in mind, and relating this to Massey and Denton, they talk about individuals being attacked because of their skin color and “those living away from recognized black neighborhoods has their houses ransacked or burned” (30). As we clearly see violence rose when blacks would try to live in a different area in a predominately white neighborhood.

            Englewood is a tough community to live and grow up in, derrick rose is not only playing for Chicago, but he’s playing for Englewood. Rose was born and raised there. An article I found from Bleacher Report discussed what went on in Englewood and what life was like for Rose. Rose says “when I was younger, I used to cry about how rough it was, I just wanted to be old enough to get me and my family out of there”, and he did. Overall these examples show the problems of residential segregation. Not only residential segregation is a problem, poverty, violence, and crime rates are high within certain neighborhoods.

Massey, Douglas S. & Denton, Nancy A. (1993). American Apartheid. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1336636-why-derrick-roses-tears-assuage-chicago-bulls-fans-worst-fears

http://www.wbez.org/series/race-out-loud/race-segregation-and-violence-views-one-block-englewood-100238

Reproduction of Ghetto

I thought it was interesting to actually see how divided we are among races in the cities. I knew that Chicago was among the top cities that were divided by race. The map that we looked at in class put that into a perspective that left me somewhat speechless. So then I began to wonder if the public assistance that is provided to those of lower class something to keep the races further segregated. I know a couple weeks ago we watch a movie and the guy talked about how he didn't believe that public assistance was to help blacks but to hurt them. At that moment I account really understand what he meant by that, but things like section 8 seem like they keep black in certain areas. We talked about this idea of concentration which is when certain groups; in this particular case blacks are predominantly in one space of a metropolitan area. The book talked about this scale -100-100; where -100 is the concentration of mostly whites, and limited blacks in that area, and 100 is when blacks occupy the smallest neighborhoods. Within these neighborhoods we talked about how there are higher crime rates, limited resources, and we know that of course the force of police are higher in these areas. So if something like section 8 keeps blacks in these particular areas it’s interesting to think that it’s to help, because section 8 isn't available in the upper middle class or high class areas. This also brings us to the point where isolation begins; this is where blacks rarely share a neighborhood with blacks. These things lead to the further stereotypes and discrimination. When you haven’t been around a person the only thing you can go off is what you've heard and the portrayals of a certain group by the media. These things all lead to why the police have it out for blacks in these areas, and why blacks have such mistrust for the police. There are so many controlling images that guide the thinking of people in society. It’s interesting to think that no matter how far blacks get ahead even if they are fortunate to make it out of these ghettos the mindset is already such a big factor in the way they act and feel within society. Then we talked about the term hyper segregation this is where not only is the segregation uneven setting patterns and racial isolation within specific neighborhood it also matters where black neighborhoods are located. It important that we understand and recognize these terms because they help us to understand some things that happen in these ghettos that may be ultimately out of the control on the disadvantaged. I we continue to segregate and make a difference where some people have more access to things than others there will always be higher crime levels among certain groups. We saw the clip of “Do the Right thing” in class, and although that movie is funny. It touches on a lot of social issues that really are prevalent in black communities. In the clip we saw how black people were very protective of who was in their neighborhood. In many black communities it’s almost a crime for others outside of that race to be seen in certain neighborhoods they have this “us against them” mentality; and who’s to say that there is no reason for them to feel like that. Blacks in these communities often times are also in completion with each other as well. That’s why we so many killings in these neighborhoods, because in a sense it comes down to survival of the fittest. We put blacks into these neighbor hoods with scarce resources and expect everything to be okay; in a sense I do see how this could be a setup, another way that blacks are and will continue to be socially disadvantaged.

Segregation In Present Day

They say segregation is a thing of the past, but is it really?  While segregation may not be as prevalent as it once was, it still exists in present day but in a different manner.  Up until around the 1950’s segregation was extremely prevalent in the United States with the separation of whites and blacks.  Whites would not mix with blacks and therefore had to have separate bathrooms as well as sit in different sections of the bus among other things.  While segregation to this extreme no longer exists, segregation of a different manner does.  The segregation of neighborhoods and social classes that is established by the people themselves. 

The book states that there are certain mechanisms that lead to segregation.  One of the prime mechanisms contributing to segregation is a restrictive covenant.  A restrictive covenant is a legal document prohibiting certain acts in order to preserve the values of the land.  One prime example of a restrictive covenant contributing to segregation is in Chinatown.  Many of the buildings in Chinatown have legal documents that prohibit the sale of the land or buildings to those not of the Chinese race.  Those who were not Chinese such as blacks, Hispanics, foreigners, and Caucasians or anyone who was non-Chinese for that matter had an extremely hard time buying in to the neighborhood.  Due to the fact that these restrictive covenants exist people of a certain race, in this example Chinese, tend to segregate themselves from others. 

Another mechanism contributing to segregation is blockbusting. Blockbusting, is the act of convincing individuals to sell their properties at a low price by instilling the fear of individuals of another social class or race moving into the neighborhood in order to resell the property at a higher value.  A prime example of this would be an individual living in an all white neighborhood when a person of color suddenly moves in.  Another individual would take advantage of the situation and start spreading stereotypes in order to provoke people in the neighborhoods to sell their properties.  These individuals sell their properties because they fear that more people of color are going to come in and take over their neighborhood.  They feel that a racial change in their neighborhood is an unethical act.  A good example of this occurred in my neighborhood.  When I was growing up, my high school was predominantly white.  My junior year, returning to school there were many more African Americans that had moved into certain areas where many whites previously lived.  That area suddenly had multiple houses for sale.  I did not realize that blockbusting is what was going on until this class.

Lastly, another mechanism contributing to segregation is the act of red lining.  The act of red lining occurs when banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions make it extremely difficult for residents of certain neighborhoods to obtain any financial services because of the default rates of their areas. Often times, this is a way for these financial institutions to target African Americans.  A black doctor living in an inner city neighborhood making 100 thousand dollars a year may not qualify for a mortgage because of his residence.  This is often used as a mechanism for keeping certain neighborhoods primarily white or even to contain those of a certain race. Often times, races were denied loans even if they had the financial credibility in order to keep them contained in these neighborhoods.  All of this ‘red lining’ occurs in an effort to keep neighborhoods segregated and primarily white neighborhoods white.

Many people associate the stereotype of laziness, welfare, and violence with minorities.  When often times, these stereotypes are complete lies and the furthest things they could possibly be from the truth.  What tends to stick when people dislike certain groups of individuals is the negatives even when it is only a select group of individuals committing these acts.   The use of welfare, for example, has often been attributed to minorities when it has been statistically proven that white females are the ones that occupy the most welfare.  These stereotypes are what is used when trying to segregate themselves from others because people are unwilling to accept the fact that they may be wrong.  These mechanisms contribute to the stereotypes because they are not allowing these groups to improve their quality of life and expand their cultural knowledge.  Due to this, residential segregation is extremely prevalent.  The racial maps shown in class are a clear depiction of where these hard lines exist.  Segregation is still extremely prevalent in today’s society.  It is just depicted in a completely different light than it once was many years ago.

Segregation in My High School

Racial Tensions in My High School

            Every week is a very interesting topic that we cover in class. These weeks’ topics they have been based on the book American Apartheid by Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton. Segregation is a very tricky subject to discuss it is something that every one is aware of, but nobody wants to acknowledge it. Chicago is known as one of the most segregated cities in the United States. In this section of the blog I will mention how I have experienced and lived segregation in my high school.

            I attended Little Village High School. A high school that was formed after a hunger strike that had lasted 19 days. This high school was promised beforehand but was on hold due to monetary issues. Four years later Little Village High School was opened in 2005. I entered my freshman year of high school in 2006, and it was a cultural change for everyone. Students from North Lawndale who were predominantly black travel into South Lawndale (Little Village) to go to school. It was a change that no one was prepared for. Now that we discuss these types of issues it makes me understand how ignorant we are.  In the first few couple of months their existed a big racial tensions between Black’s and Mexicans. There were many scenarios that went in play, which I hoped I had intervened or at least had spoken up. My high school felt a lot like the city of Chicago when it came down to eating lunch. The biggest segregation was at lunchtime when one side of the cafeteria was black and the other side was Mexican. It was rare to see any interaction between the two races in the cafeteria. Tensions grew in my high school to the point that there was a race war. It all started when a couple of kids jumped a black kid outside of high school. That obviously brought retribution and it started a chain of events in the high school. Couple of my friends became victims of this race violence. This violence created a sense of unification with your race. It was basically you either stayed with your race, or you where looked frowned upon on if you socialize with the other race. These tensions rose so quickly and dangerous that it got to the point where the whole administration of the school and Chicago Police Department had to get involved.

            It was sad to see the incline of violence and tension between both races. It got to the point that you felt unsafe to walk to your house due to the fear of getting jumped by either a different race or gang. Something that I now ask myself, why did we let this tension grow? Instead of trying to repair it we worsened it by our actions. A lot of the reasons of why these tensions grew was because the environment that we were in. Now that I think about it and look back the school administration took the easy way out and blamed this tension on gang related issues instead of finding the root of the problem.

            They would just suspend or expelled the students that were causing problems. But no action was taken; it wasn’t after the end of the school year when the school administration got involved with the problem. We stopped classes for at least 3 days and had nothing but workshops and assembly presentations or talk about racial tension. They broke us down into small groups to talk and try to explain how did all of this initiated. Now that I think about it half of the people weren’t aware why was their tension to begin with. They just followed what the rest was doing. When we had these discussions it was interesting on what the students answers would be why wouldn’t they try and intervene. The most shocking answer to me was because it was, “revenge” when their close friends had been jumped.  The answered of these students would be that their friends were victims. So when they saw someone being picked on or being jumped by another race they wouldn’t say anything. They would just walk away, as if nothing had happened. They would have the mentality as “they deserve” for what happen to my friend.

            For me high school was a learning period where I was first presented to interact with other people other than my own race. In this past Thursday discussion we talked about how people tended to stay within their own race. Most of the people stick within their own race because it is where some they feel comfortable and at times we hate the change of our environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmrtJD9kT4I

Blockbusting: The Scumbag's Game of Dominos.

Blockbusting isn't something that I actually knew about before stepping in to this class of ours. After learning how the mighty fine people of the various cities of the world use this to change the makeup of a neighborhood, well that just renews my faith in humanity and the real estate market. But really, people are pretty sketchy at best.

Blockbusting is the act of a person, usually one that likes to make a quick buck and probably sets up pyramid scheme presentations, purchasing a home at a lower cost, and selling higher. Now you're probably thinking, "But Nick, I can do that! Real Estate might be my thing!". It might be your thing! If you're definitely in to racism, that is. Blockbusters approach people and prey on the fear that the homeowner might have of their precious Pleasantville neighborhood turning in to a black neighborhood because ONE family moved in to the neighborhood that happens to be black. (or any minority, really) This family could be someone that had a Yale education, but that doesn't matter because they aren't white. One person preys on the fear of a homeowner and offers them a way out, and if they take it, and sell to another black family, the domino effect usually starts a rolling.

Lets talk about how disgusting this practice actually is. The fact that people are willing to sell their home well under market value just to escape a neighborhood with two black folks is a little absurd. What else is absurd, is the fact that redlining actually required a law to be placed against it. Redlining, the act of setting up an area in a city that is going to be color free by way of discrimination at the bank, is just disgusting as well. People in our society have such an innate fear of people that don't look like they do, and its unreal. I can name at least ten times more white folks that are more likely to go to prison than any black person. The last thing that actually just blows my mind is that people were willing to sign off on restrictive contracts in places in Chicago, primarily Chinatown. I can understand them wanting to keep the place essentially, "Chinatown", but come on. Places that do this in general are just kind of awful. It blow my mind every day that people are so ignorant of other people that they would just blatantly say that "I don't want a black person renting this home that I no longer live in and will have no impact on my life whatsoever." Society, man.

Black and White

      I find myself in an odd sort of position that I cannot really say started at any one time in my life. For some reason, I dislike and often oppose the majority simply because it is the majority. A sort of analogy would be that of a video game where your team is either losing, or crushing, the enemy team. I wouldn't want to be on either side because it isn't a “good game (or round)” at that point, however, I would prefer to be on the team that is losing to try to even the table. It is for this reason that when I come across what I feel to be the majority view, I feel the desire, and often act upon it, to rebel against the majority; and so I will play the devil's advocate despite the danger it might cause.
      Now, if we were to look at a poll of Americans and how they felt about this race or that, it would likely largely say that we are for equal rights, however, some of my opinions are also based upon the world relative to myself. Take, for example, our classroom. The vast majority agrees that racism is a massive issue, and while I agree and am sure it is to some extent, I feel the need to tip the scale. Not because I necessarily agree or disagree, but to see the other side. All too often we find ourselves in a situation such as this, and the people who shout about equality, open mindedness, and critical thinking, will, ironically, look at it in a black and white scenario and not even consider possibilities.
      For example, if I jump off skyscraper and land on the cement below, will I die? The majority would probably say “yes” and a few people would say “no,” but only the smartest would say “probably.” Every prior instant, and all of our current knowledge point to a splatter on the cement, but we cannot actually know what happens until it happens, even if all prior knowledge points to this conclusion. In this hypothetical scenario, unless somebody out there can see the future, there is an objectively correct answer, and it is the “probably” category.
      Data, on the other hand, is not objective. It is subjective to the person interpreting the data. Look at this map. Here we have the percentage of black people (African Americans can be white; I'm pretty sure they mean black people by this graph) in the Chicagoland area, and look at how segregated it is. But what is the underlying assumption here in saying that... “all of these places should have a completely equal representation of every racial group...” Why should they? Well, because it would be a more diverse community, or perhaps for monetary concerns such as taxes. But is a mixed community really better? Again, why? Does anybody even bother asking?

      The example of China town as being the most segregated place in Chicago came up and most people were probably thinking, “wow, look how racist that is... (though perhaps with kinder wording).” But there is another underlying truth that isn't stated, that should be so obvious to everybody that it should not need to be stated out loud, but in reality, wasn't even considered. People probably, more often than not, prefer their own race! And that isn't in any way wrong. Why should it be? We are born from parents of our race and may well be raised around people of our own race, or perhaps a slight mix, medium mix, or high mix. What does it matter?

      It's no different from patriotism; who from another country would say, yeah, but I really like America more than my own country – who doesn't think their country is best (looking at first world countries). Further still, if they do, given the funds, ability, etc. they can move there. Why isn't race the same? Who cares if the people in China town prefer their own race? The only real response somebody could give is that they are “missing out” on the other races, but who are we to say such a thing, and so what if they are provided they are happy.
      But sometimes forces do stop people from moving to the place they want, and sometimes they are, undoubtedly, racist forces. However, the primary force that does or does not determine most of this is money. We brought up the example of Oakland, Chicago, in class and how a literal (probably useless – I haven't seen it) border ran across it demarcating the zones of white and black. And we had a good laugh at this, but if we didn't know which neighborhood had which race, would we laugh? No, it wouldn't be funny, if it was just a richer and a poorer neighborhood we would look at and maybe have a laugh at how they separate them, but the separation would be entirely monetary. And in this case, the fence is no longer a racial border, but a (again, probably ineffectively) placed border to stop criminals from coming over, because poor people commit more crime!
    We can find a part of the answer through America's history. We used black people as slaves so we didn't pay them, and we destroyed their links to family. Though they may have been freed those people didn't have money, nor the advantage of a prior family with money as others did. It isn't surprising that this flowed over until the present day, especially since segregation lasted so long after this.
      When I (a white, male) was about nineteen I had just lost a person whom is very important to me. After losing her I let my hair grow without care and it soon reached my shoulders at it's longest points, and it had no style aside from drooping downwards. I was asked to pick up my then eight year old brother from a school party. I arrived at that person's house and when I asked for my brother, the woman asked if I was his brother, I said yes, and she responded with, “I'm going to check.” And I remember clearly thinking, “Ah, that's good, she's being safe...” And it didn't occur to me until I had left the house and driven about ten minutes away with my brother that I realized, she was checking based on my look... and it hurt. It was a mixture of anger and sadness, but the prevailing emotion was definitely anger.
      I don't use it as an example to claim that I, too, have experienced some kind of discrimination, but rather, I take that event as a learning experience so that I might empathize with all other people whom are discriminated against. What I experienced was probably only a fraction of what other people experience when they face discrimination. I cannot imagine the weight that some people carry on their shoulders because of this, and what I will never forget were the feelings associated with it. I'm not saying that racism isn't a thing, but rather, that we should be mindful of other factors before we declare something as an (undeniable) issue of race.

Is celebrating diversity a good thing?

Segregation happens for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it happens naturally. Other times it is forced. Redlining as well as blockbusting have severally hampered where minorities may live. Redlining as well as blockbusting has truly had a powerful effect on how neighborhoods form. Segregation has lead to groups to become isolated, clustered and concentrated. Wilson would argue this happens because of economic structures. Massey and Denton argue it results from whites intentionally seeking to keep minorities out. Likely both perspectives explain the stark differences between neighborhoods. For now I will focus on Massey and Denton’s argument regarding racism seen through segregation. This can be seen when Massey and Denton state that "White apprehensions about racial mixing are associated with the belief that having black neighbors undermines property values and reduces neighborhood safety. According to Newsday poll, 58% of Long Island's whites believe that property values fall once blacks enter a neighborhood" (Massey and Denton 94). The source of these beliefs though is difficult to pinpoint.

American history seems to have something to say about this. Previously, it seems that every new ethnicity was looked down on. From the Irish to Chinese to African-Americans. Perhaps today it is Latinos. After all many Latino is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. But the reason behind this racism still seems elusive. Perhaps it is because this influx of immigrants allows many companies to lower wages since there is a larger pool of workers. Perhaps it is because some immigrants enter the U.S. illegally and use government services which raise the overall cost of those services. Maybe it's as simple as many U.S. citizens are unfamiliar with the cultural influences that many immigrants carry.

Northern Illinois University has a Black graduation ceremony.

This ceremony is for graduating Black students, White students are not invited to participate. But do practices such as this help or harm race relations? The YouTube clip regarding race relations help demonstrate this relationship. It almost seems that by celebrating one's individual ethnicity it may wind up alienating himself from others who do not share the same ethnicity. So, perhaps African-Americans want to live in African-American communities. After all the book states that “blacks seem to prefer those with a relatively higher black percentage, other things equal… nearly 90% ranked all-white neighborhoods as their fourth or fifth preference… 63% chose a neighborhood that was half-black and half-white as most desirable” (Massey and Denton 89). So it seems that African-Americans overall do not wish to live in an all white neighborhood. Rather a mixed neighborhood seems to be the most desirable. This raises many potential answers.
            As the book covered, there are many reasons for these statistics. Perhaps African-Americans, as well as other minorities, are fearful of moving into an all-white neighborhood because of potential stereotypes. These stereotypes may arise out of merely being unfamiliar with outsiders. One example of this could be China. For a very long time China’s government had highly restricted citizens from traveling outside the country. The Chinese communist party had and still feared that if citizens would experience other cultures the party’s authority would potentially be questioned. This resulted in many Chinese people never meeting anyone who wasn’t Asian. Once the government allowed citizens to travel outside the country many individuals jumped at the chance. They jumped because they wanted to learn about other cultures out of curiosity. This is important because of isolation they were unfamiliar with other ethnicity’s cultures.

I propose this unfamiliarity is the key component of racism which manifests itself into redlining and blockbusting. This, unintentional racism sadly leads to neighborhoods becoming vastly different. Segregated neighborhoods form, with certain ethnicity's seemingly doomed to live in certain neighborhoods that reflect how their ethnicity is valued in the overarching community. Is the solution to get away from doing events similar to the NIU Black graduation? Probably not, what might lead to decreased segregation could be events celebrating traditional ethnic holidays intended for anyone, regardless of his or her background. Perhaps holding a fun traditional Latino fiesta, in an all African-American neighborhood, would let the community have a taste of a culture that they don’t usually experience. Of course, there are likely better solutions, however it’s a start. 

 http://www.niu.edu/pubaffairs/RELEASES/2003/april/recognition.shtml

 http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/the-racist-housing-policy-that-made-your-neighborhood/371439/