Blacks in suburbs examines the process of black suburbanization on a national level. Although a book this short (111 pp., plus bibliography and index) necessarily provides a superficial treatment, it does explore some of the complexities of the suburbanization process among blacks. It not only looks at migration patterns of blacks to and from suburbs, but also at how factors such as region, income, education, and occupational and housing markets affect the process of suburbanization

Sherohman, James

English

VCU Scholars Compass

[Review of] Thomas A. Clark. Blacks in Suburbs: A National Perspective

62 Exp'lorations in Ethnic Studies and shows c l ose pa ra l l e l s  to some of that wr i ter ' s wel l -known work­i ngs i n  " savor i ngs f rom p ihones to l o i za"  (45)  and " moreno puertorr i queno (a three-way wa rn i ng poem) 1 I  (46) . Numerous examp l es of soc i a l  cr i t i c i sm and some br ief but qu i te to the po i n t po l i t i ca l  sta tements add to the comp l ex texture of the co l l ec t ion .  Unfortuna tel y ,  the beauty of h i s  cen t ra l  i dea i n  l ithe l ast  song of neruda , 1 I  ( 1 9 )  i s  ma rred by i ts uneven , verbose hand l i ng .  I n  " aga i nst  mun'oz pamphl eteer i ng , ' 1  he wr i tes " i ns i de my ghetto i l earned to understand / you r short range v i s i ons of where you l ed us , / across the oceans where i ta l k  a bout myse l f  I i n  fore ign l anguages . . .  / you r sense of / sta rs l anded me i n  a / north temperate uprooted zone" ( 1 8 ) . The young Nuyor i can ' s  d i s tance towa rds the i s land i s  ev i dent i n  th i s  book. He i n  no way f i gu res Puerto R i co as a utop ian t rop i ­ca l i s l and pa rad i se ;  a n d  no esca p i s t  v i ew o f  a Puerto R ican whol e­ness i s  found el sewhere . I nstead , Lav i era stays as a ru l e  i n  h is  "terr i tory , "  the Lower Ea st S i de ( Lo i sa i da) and l ess frequently P i�ones , Puerto R i co ,  and preserves f rom the i s l and cu l ture those facets wh i ch he needs and ca n re l a te to . An excel l ent example  of a con tempora ry use of fo l k  t rad i t i ons i s  found i n  h i s  "canc i 6n para un pa rrandero" ( 52) , h i s  own ve rs ion of a Chr i s tmas song , wh ich a l ong w i th a t reacherous na i vete , revea l s  a powerful  subvers ive undercu rren t .  The reader i s  spa red a c l ean-cu t i deo log i cal  v i s ion of the future .  I n  La Carreta Made a U-Turn there i s  a c l ear and refresh i ng note of aff i rma t ion ,  humaneness ,  joy and v i gor i n  the face of poverty , a l  i enat i on and oppress ion . Tato Lav i era has produced a remarkabl y va r i ed f i rst book of poems and shou l d  be encou raged to go on . Footnote 1 There ex i sts an Eng l i sh t rans l a t ion by Cha r l es P i l d i tch : The Oxcart. New York : Cha r l es Sc r i bner , 1 969 , 1 55 p p .  --Wo l fgang B i nder Institut fur Ang'listik und Amerikanistik Universitat Er'langen-Nurnberg ErZangen, West Gemany THOMAS A .  CLAR K) BLA CKS IN SUBURBS : A NATIONAL PERSPEC­TIVE . N ew B r u n sw i c k ,  N . J . ; C e n t e r  f o r  U r ba n Po l i c y Re­s ea r c h , R u t g e r s  U n i v e r s i t y ,  1 9 7 9 . 1 2 6 p p . ,  $ 7 . 5 0 p a p e r . BZacks in Suburbs exami nes the process of b l ack subu rban i zation on a nat i ona l  l evel . Al though a book th i s  short ( 1 1 1 pp . ,  p l us b i b­l i ography and i ndex) necessar i l y prov i des a superf i c i a l  treatment ,  i t  does expl ore s�me of  the comp l ex i t i es of  the subu rban i zat ion process among b l acks . I t  not on l y  l ooks at  mi g rat ion patterns of Book Revim..'B 63 b l acks to and from subu rbs but a l so at how factors such as reg i on , income , educa t i on ,  a nd occ�pa t i ona l and hou s i ng ma rkets affec t the process of suburban i za t ion .  BZaakB in SubuPbB i s  the f i rst  i n  a ser i es of books on b l ac k  m i g ra t ion to b e  pub l i shed by the Cen ter for U rban Po l i cy Resea rch at Rutgers Un i vers i ty . The pu rpose of th i s  vo l ume , accord i ng to the P reface by George Stern l i eb ,  i s  to p rov i de  a f i rm s ta t i s t i ca l  founda t ion on b l ack subu rba n i za t i on . I t  i s  the fa i l u re of BZaaks in Subut'bs to p rov i de a "f i rm stat i s t i ca l  founda t i on" wh i ch l eads  th i s  wr i ter to  conc l ude that t he  book does not  p rov i de a n  i mpor tant  cont r i but i on , desp i te the  fact  tha t i t  dea l s  w i t h  a n  i mpor ta n t  top I c  and con ta i"n s  reasonab l y  up-to-date i n fo rma t i on .  Most of the stat i st i cs c i ted i n  the book come f rom p rev i ous l y  pub l i s hed sou rces . . The most common l y  c i ted sou rce i s  Cuppent Pop­uZation Reports� wh i ch reports  f i nd i ngs  of s u rveys conduct ed by the U . S .  Bureau of the Censu s .  The other major  sou rce of i nforma­t ion i s  the Annua l  Hou s i ng Su rvey conducted by the Bu reau of the Census for the Depa r tmen t of Hous i ng and U r ba n  Devel opmen t .  From th i s survey , C l a rk d raws upon both prev i ous l y  pub l i shed data  ( f rom current Housing Reports ) and unpub l i shed da ta ( f rom the 1 97 5  Nat ional Pub l  i c  Use Tape) . C l ark does a serv i ce for the reader by pu l l i ng together  recen t informat ion of va r i ous  k i nds  t ha t  have a bea r i ng on b l a c k  subu rba n ­izat i on .  As C l a rk wou l d  acknow l edge ,  however , t h e  d a ta do have i nherent l i m i ta t i ons wh i ch  somet i mes ma ke i n te rp reta t i on d i ff i cu l t .  For examp l e ,  i t  i s  d i ff i cu l t  to assess  the s i gn i f i ca nce of  the author ' s  conc l us i on that the rate  of  b l ack  subu rban i za t i on i s  i n­creas i ng ,  because the data  used to support  th i s  conc l u s i on do not take i nto account  the rac i a l  compos i t i on of subu rban ne i ghbo r hood s . Consequent l y ,  i t  i s  i mposs i b l e  to determ i ne f rom these da ta t he extent to wh i ch the i nc rea s i ng rate  of b l a c k  subu rba n i za t i on re­f lects  the rac i a l  i n teg ra t i on of the subu rbs rather  than the expan ­sion of predom i nate l y b l ack  cen t ra l  c i ty n e i ghbo r hoods  i n to t h e  subu rbs . I nherent l i m i ta t i ons  of the d a ta a re not a maj o r  p rob l em ,  however . Th i s  book cou l d  s t i l l  be very usefu l were i t  not fo r t he care l ess construct i on of tab l es by the a u tho r ,  wh i ch t u rn s  u p  a l l to often and makes i n terp reta t i on fo r the a u t ho r ,  l et a l one  the reader . very d i ff i cu l t .  Perha ps the bes t i l l us t ra t ion  of  t h i s  i s  the tabl e  presented i n  " Exh i b i t  1 1 "  ( p p .  64-65 ) . I w i l l  d i scuss  th i s  tabl e  at  some l ength i n  o rder  to  i l l u s t ra t e  the sorts  of  probl ems that p l ague the book . The reader shou l d  keep i n  m i nd ,  �ver . that th i s  i s  the mos t  ext reme examp l e  of  poo r tab l e  con­struct ion in the boo k .  Exh i b i t  1 1  presen ts the mean i ncomes of b l ack  fam i l i es and  un­re1 ated i nd i v idua l s  by  geog raph i c  mob i l  i ty s tatus  ( nonmovers a nd mover� l i v i ng i n  or  mov i ng to cen t ra l  c i t i es , s ubu rbs , e tc . ) for the t i me per iods 1 970- 74 and  1 975-77 . I n  add i t i on to p resen t i ng Incomes, I t  prov i des the number of peop l e  who fa l l  i n to each ce l l of the tabl e . One probl em w i th Exh i b i t  1 1  i s  tha t the s t a t i s t i cs 64 Exp Lorations in Ethnic Studie8 p resen ted for fam i l i es and u n re l a ted i nd i v i dua l s  a re based upon the t i me per i od s  1 970-74 a nd 1 975-77 , wh i l e the s tat i st i cs presented i n  t he " tota l "  co l umn of the  tab l e  a re for the yea rs 1 970-75 and 1 975-77 , desp i te the fact t ha t  the tota l s for t he 1 970-74 per iod a r e  ava i l ab l e  i n  C l a rk ' s  o r i g i na l  sou rce . A much more d i sturbing e r ro r  i s  t ha t ,  wh i l e the number  of nonmove rs i s  presented in  thou­sand s ,  the un i t  used fo r movers , a l t hough neve r sta ted i n  the tab l e ,  i s  a ppa ren t l y  m i  1 1  i on s  of per sons . F i gu res for movers are rounded to the nea rest  ten t h  of a m i l l  i on ,  bu t many of them are rounded i mp rope r l y .  I n  add i t i on ,  the popu l a t i on f i gures for movers a re obv i ous 1 y wrong . I n every case the sum of peop l e  1 i v i ng i n  fam i l i es and  a s  u n re l a ted i nd i v i dua l s  fa r exceeds (usua l ­l y  b y  seve ra l t i mes ) t h e  number of i nd i v i d ua l s  i n  the "tota l "  co l umn . F i na l l y ,  i n  nume rou s  i ns ta nces , d a ta a re not reported ( b l an k  ce l l s  i n  the tab l e ) or a re repo rted as  "not ava i l abl e" when , i n  fac t , the d a ta a re ava i l a b l e  i n  the sou rce from wh i ch C l a r k  obta i ned the other  i n fo rma t i on presen ted i n  Exh i b i t 1 1 .  Al l i n a 1 1 ,  Exh i b i t  1 1  i s  l i ke 1 y to 1 eave the reader ve ry confused .  Unfor tuna te l y ,  t h i s  i s  not the on l y  examp l e  of shoddy tabl e cons t ruc t i on and  da ta ana l ys i s .  I n  a number of cases , mi stakes were made  i n  reco rd i ng da ta f rom t he or i g i na l  sou rce , or errors were made  i n  compu ta t i on s . An examp l e  i s  Exh i b i t  8 ,  wh i ch i s  pa r t i cu l a r l y  i mpor ta n t  because  i t  presen ts the mos t important data bea r i ng on wha t i s  probab l y  the mos t cen t ra l  conc l us i on of the book -- t ha t  the rate of b l ack  subu rba n i za t i on i s  i ncreas i ng . Exh i b i t 8 exam i nes m i g ra t i on rates for bl acks among central  c i t i es ,  suburbs , and nonmet ropo l i tan  a reas for the per iods 1 970-75 and 1 975-78  fo r the Un i ted Sta tes as a who l e  and by reg ion .  C l ark conc l udes t ha t  t he ra te of  subu rba n i za t i on i s  h i gher i n  the l a tter per i od for t he n a t i on as a who l e .  However , correct i ng a subt rac: t i on e r ror  i n  the 1 970- 75  da ta makes t he annua l ra te of suburban l ­za t i on t he same i n  the two t i me per i ods . Fortuna te l y  fo r C l a rk . there i s  a second e r ro r  i n  the oppos i te d i rec t i on that more than compen sa tes for t he f i rs t .  Wh i l e C l a rk ' s  sou rce of i n forma t i on fo r Exh i b i t 8 (Current PopuLation Reports) prov i des i nforma t ion on m i g ra t i on f rom a b road to cen t ra l  c i t i es ,  suburbs and nonm�tro­po l i tan  a reas fo r t he 1 975-78 pe r i od ,  i t  does not prov i de th i S  i n forma t i on for 1 970- 7 5 . I n  i t s p l ace , C l a rk usus f i gu res for the ea r l  i er per i od wh i ch comb i ne m i g ra n t s  from ab road w i th pe rsons whose m i g ra t i on s ta tu s  i s  un known , thus vas t l y  oversta t i ng the ra te of m i g ra t i on f rom a b road d u r i ng th i s  per i od .  Correct i ng for t h i s  e r ror  wou l d  show t ha t the rate of b l ack subu rban i za t i on i s  i ndeed i nc reas i ng ,  as  C l a r k  conc l udes . Wh i l e t h i s  overa l l  eva l ua t i on of  BLacks in Suburbs i s  nega­t i ve ,  some of t he cha pters  do p rov i d e  usefu l i n fo rmat i on . The f i rst t h ree cha p ters  do a good j ob of  i n t roduc i ng the top i c  of b l ack subu rba n i za t i on .  Cha pter 4 p rov i des  an  overv i ew of reg i ona l d i f­ferences , show i ng that  b l acks i n  the Wes t a re t he most  suburban and t ha t  the ra te of i nc rea se i n  the suburban popu l a t i on i s  great­est  i n  the South  and l ea s t  i n  the Northeas t . Book Revi eWB 65 Chap te r s  5 . a nd 6 a re the weakes t  in the book . Cha pter 5 e x -am i nes subu rban l za t io . 2 · . I d · f  n I n  1 met ropo l i ta n  a rea s . Subs t an t i a  1 -ferences a re  s how� to ex i s t  among met ropo l i tan  a rea s ,  bu t C l a rk ' s attempts to exp l a i n  these d i fferences a re both i neffec t i ve and i n ­conc l us i ve .  Chap ter 6 takes a deta i l ed l ook a t  m i g ra t i on of b l acks to and from subu rbs ,  r�g iona l and tempo ra l  va r i a t ion s i n  m i g ra t i on pa tterns , �nd the re l a t ionsh i p  be tween i ncome and m i g ra t i on . Poten­t i a l l y ,  th i s :ou l d  have been a ve ry va l uab l e  chap te r ,  but f l aws i n  the presenta t i on and  ana l ys i s  of da ta d e t ra c t  g rea t l y  from i t s va l ue .  (Exh i b i ts 8 and 1 1 ,  d i scu ssed ea r l  i e r ,  bot h  appea r i n  t h i s  chapter . )  Chapter 7 i s  p robab l y  the s t ronge s t  i n  the book . I t  exam i nes  the re l at ionsh i ps between b l ack  subu rban i za t i on and poverty ,  educa­t ion ,  occupa t ion ,  and commu t i n g  d i s tance to work . These da ta  s how an i nc reas i ng gap between subu rban  and cen t ra l c i ty b l acks a l ong econom i c ,  educa t i ona l , and occupa t iona l I i nes , but t hey a l so s hm·, tha t rac ia l  d i fferences a re g rea ter  than c i ty/subu rban d i f fe rences for each of these va r i a b l es .  C l a rk conc l udes tha t  I i m i ted occupa­t i ona l opportun i t i es for l ower- s k i l l ed b l ack  wo rker s  i n  the subu rbs  w i l l  probab ly  further dec rea se the  rate of  m i g ra t i on of l ow- i ncome b l acks to the suburbs i n  the fu tu re .  A l though C l ark sta tes  tha t  t he  ma i n  obj ec t i ve of C hapter  8 i s  to exam i ne l i the i n teract ion be tween the ma rkets fo r hou s i ng and  l abor w i th i n  the jo i nt sea rch for space of t he i nd i v i dua l hou seho l d . " (p .  4 )  the data presented i n  Chapter S-focus  a l mos t  exc l u s i v e l y on the hou s i ng ma rket . Compa r i sons a re made between cen t ra l c i ty and  subu rban hous i ng for b l acks i n  terms of cha racte r i s t i cs of dwe l l i ng un i t s ,  ra te of ownersh i p ,  l ength of res i dence , p rope rty  va l ue ,  and  subj ect ive ra t i ngs of  hou s i n g  and ne i ghborhood qua l i ty .  The d i scern i ng  reader may f i nd some u sefu l i n forma t i on i n  B�ks in Suburbs . However ,  the ser i ous  p rob l ems i n  the p resenta­t ion of da ta l ead me to conc l ude that  the  scho l a r  i n  s ea rch of  factua l informat ion on b l ack subu rban i za t i on wou l d  be bet te r  off  consu l t i ng the sou rces of publ i shed i nfo rma t i on u pon wh i ch B lacks in Suburbs i s  l a rge l y  based . I look forwa rd to read i ng the forthcom i ng books i n  the s e r i es on b l ack  m i g ra t i on patterns to be pub l  i s hed by the Cen ter  fo r Urban Pol  i cy Resea rch . I hope tha t the s tanda rd of qua 1 i ty w i  1 1  be h i gher than that  exh i b i ted i n  th i s  f i rs t  vo l ume . --James Sherohman Department of Socio logy St . Clou.d State Un£versi t1{ 

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[Review of] Thomas A. Clark. Blacks in Suburbs: A National Perspective

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