Ethnic Segmentation in the American Metropolis: Increasing Divergence in Economic Incorporation, 1980–1990

Abstract

Based on the industrial sectors in which group members are concentrated, the ethnic economies of various racial and ethnic groups became more distinctive from one another during the 1980s. Non-Hispanic whites continued to dominate key sectors in every metropolitan area studied. Their withdrawal from some others, however, left openings for other groups in apparel manufacturing and in a variety of trade and personal service activities. The void was filled by selected immigrant groups who had already begun to establish enclave economies by 1980: especially Koreans, Chinese, and Cubans. As many as two-thirds of these groups’ members worked in their enclaves in some regions. At the same time, other immigrant and minority groups, especially blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Filipinos remained highly dependent on employment niches in the public sector or working for other groups in the private sector. The model of a dual city (with a mainly white core economy and a minority periphery) is losing its descriptive power due to the divergent paths taken by different nonwhite groups.