The Effect of Residential Segregation on Black Social and Economic Well-Being

Abstract

This paper investigates some of the consequences of black residential segregation using specially compiled data for Philadelphia in 1980. Blacks, like whites, at- tempt to improve their neighborhood characteristics with rising social status, but unlike whites, they face strong barriers to residential mobility. As a result, high status blacks must live in neighborhoods with fewer resources and amenities than whites of similar background. Specifically, they live in poorer, more dilapidated areas characterized by higher rates of poverty, dependency, crime, and mortality, and they must send their children to public schools populated by low income stu- dents who score badly on standardized tests. These findings suggest that racial segregation remains an important basis for stratification in U.S. society. In December of 1985, four hundred whites stood in the streets of south- west Philadelphia shouting racial epithets and protesting the movement of a black family into the working class neighborhood. The newspaper head- lines provided the city and the nation with a shocking reminder of the constraints that blacks still face in choosing where to live (Cass 1986). However, at the same time, blacks and whites across town lived together peacefully in many other areas, including some of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, where the regular entry and exit of black families elicited no comment at all. This paper explores this apparent paradox and explains why some blacks are allowed to assimilate spatially, while others are not. Using specially prepared data from Philadelphia, we document the detri- mental consequences of racial segregation for blacks in American society.