Unfortunately,
the days of segregation are not over and the effects of this segregation are
still proving to be detrimental to black communities in America. Though many
people would like to think that the issues of racial segregation and
subjugation are issues of the past, Massey and Denton show us that residential
segregation is still alive and strong as well as deliberate. While it seems
easy for middle and upper class white individuals to turn a blind eye to this
issue because they do not have to confront the harmful effects of social
isolation in a black ghetto, it is imperative to get a better understanding of
the history and implications of residential segregation in America.
To begin, I
thought it was very interesting how the authors demonstrated how there was a
time before 1900 when black and whites lived side by side. During this time,
individuals, regardless of race, interacted in a common social world on a
regular basis. This is important to understand because before residential
segregation came about, black and white social interactions were very
different. With the turn of the century, things began to change drastically
with the rise of manufacturing jobs and flow of immigrants to cities. Massey
and Denton describe “immigrant enclaves” and how they were different from black
ghettos. These areas were not homogenous because they contained a vast array of
nationalities. Also most of the European immigrants did not live in ghettos so
they felt a lesser degree of segregation from the larger American society.
Lastly, and what I find to be most important, is that the immigrant enclaves of
the time were only around for a quick, transitory period. This is crucial
because while immigrants had a much greater opportunity to move up in American
society, we do not see this for those in black ghettos. They often remain
stuck.
What I find to
be appalling is the amount of racial violence employed by whites to get blacks
to leave their community. People used rock-throwing, gunshots, cross burnings,
physical attacks, and even bombing to scare black homeowners. It is absolutely
horrendous to think that grown people used such uncivilized methods like these
just to try to get a family out of a neighborhood. However, the absurdity
certainly does not stop there. White neighborhood associations signed contracts
restricting blacks from owning, occupying, or leasing their property. The
institutionalized discrimination continued through real estate agents. Because
blacks were being forced into confined areas, the prices for living were
extremely high. Furthermore when there was no other option but to allow the
ghetto to move outward, agents employed a tactic known as “blockbusting” where
they would move in black families to white neighborhoods and systematically
scare the whites into leaving so they could occupy the block and overcharge
black families for housing. The ghetto expanded and middle-class blacks trying
to flee the poor conditions of the ghetto were consistently undermined by its
rapid growth.
During the
1940’s the practice of redlining came about which systematically undervalued
property in black areas and labeled the areas as “hazardous” for receiving a
loan. Therefore, federal funds were channeled away from black neighborhoods and
the areas remained in a state of disinvestment. It wasn’t until 1968 when the
Fair Housing Act was passed which banned discrimination in the sale or rental
of housing. I cannot believe it took this long to make this type of outward
discrimination illegal. Furthermore, to house as many blacks as possible and
save money, authorities developed housing projects of extremely high density.
This brings us back to William Julius Wilson’s ideas of social isolation and
concentration effects that remain prevalent in these areas to this day. Issues
such as the rise of female-headed households, out of wedlock births, and
welfare dependency are results that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty,
and as Massey and Denton would proclaim, are the distinct result of a history
and continuation of residential segregation in American society.
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