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.