The Political Incorporation of Newcomers to Racially Changing Neighborhoods

Abstract

Gentrification and black suburbanization represent relatively recent population shifts that are at variance with long-standing demographic trends. The political implications of these shifts are considered by exploring the factors that influence the extent to which racial newcomers become politically active. Blacks who bought homes in a suburb of Washington, DC, were considerably less politically active than whites who gentrified the central city, in spite of the fact that both groups were well educated and essentially middle class in character. Personal characteristics such as age, marital status, education, and income proved to be less predictive of participation than dissatisfaction with neighborhood conditions, perception of racial relations, and previous place of residence.