Racism with a Smile

     Racism in America. It has come a long way from slavery times. The sixties ushered in an era of Civil Rights, some of these rights were aimed at housing and would directly influence how a neighborhood takes form. Massey and Denton continue to examine how racism evolves, despite laws attempting to prevent this evolution. Racism in contemporary time takes a different form than it used to. Today racism is often done with a smile. Racism is a dirty word. Many individuals who are racist do it subliminally and are very hurtful for neighborhoods.

     This week’s reading focused the attention on how recent policy changes have affected segregation in America. Massey and Denton found that in the early sixties some projects were put into effect in order to combat this segregation. At the time Blacks were asked to rank in what type of neighborhood they would most like to live. It was found that Blacks first choice was to live in a mixed neighborhood. Whites on the other hand wanted to live in a predominately white neighborhood. So as a follow up to the initial housing laws in the sixties, there were more laws enacted in the late eighties. These laws tried to open up housing for minorities. Unfortunately laws can only do so much. In the end, people are people and if there is a status quo of racism equal housing is only a dream.

     In principle both White and Black people are opposed to racism. Nearly 90% of Whites in a 1988 study said that individuals should be able to live wherever they want.

However they did not agree that there should be a law enacted for this purpose. It's funny, we talk about having equality and we can even enact laws to try and make everything an equal playing field. Despite this, I don't think a law will "be all end all" to segregation. I think in order for a fair housing level to be achieved. In order for a fair playing field to be achieved individuals attitudes need to be changed. Laws can only effect society so much. Having said that laws similar to the Fair Housing Act probably do help make a difference. There is no perfect solution to ending racism. Whites and Blacks have an interaction rate of roughly 5%. When the Black population goes above roughly 25% Whites usually leave the neighborhood. This system of racism is detrimental to neighborhoods. This form of racism is not based upon economics. It is based upon race. So, according to Massey and Denton Blacks can be millionaires, but if the Black population exceeds a certain percentage the White population will leave. This creates a population that is socially isolated from the community. This form of racism creates neighborhoods that are socially isolated which force the citizens to have limited amounts of social networks. This lack of neighborhoods often leads the neighborhood to becoming disadvantaged. These disadvantaged neighborhoods have, according to Wilson in chapter 4 of, The Truly Disadvantaged, higher rates of male joblessness and more out-of-wedlock births. This social isolation creates a cycle that is very difficult to stop. Preventing this White exodus seems to be very problematic. Laws can only go so far, individuals should and do pick, for the most part, where they want to live.

Unfortunately, race is the most important factor for Whites when deciding if they want to move into a neighborhood. So this also leads into the cycle of social isolation which leads to neighborhoods being disadvantaged.

There is no perfect solution for racism. It seems that time may be the best medicine. It’s difficult to say if Whites and Blacks will ever have a completely level playing field. Perhaps programs aimed at racial desegregation should be implemented.

Attached is Green Day’s American Idiot which reminded me of how we subliminally are effected by factors such as the media.

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