The social consequences of racial residential *integration.

Abstract

This dissertation uses multilevel analysis to (1) investigate the prevalence and stability of racially/ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States and (2) examine how individuals evaluate residence in these neighborhoods. Chapter 2 assesses the extent, stability, and determinants of racial/ethnic integration from 1980 through 2000 in metropolitan areas. The findings indicate that although the share of racially/ethnically diverse neighborhoods increased from 1980 through 2000, the stability of racially/ethnically integrated neighborhoods did not. Moreover, levels of long-term stability (e.g. over twenty years) were very low. Analyses suggest that white loss from white-black, white-Latino, and white-black-Latino neighborhoods is driven by the proportion of minorities in the neighborhood, prior increases in the proportion of minorities in the neighborhood, and immigration to the metropolitan area. White loss is reduced in neighborhoods where residents have high levels of education and, in some cases, where residents experience greater poverty. Chapter 3 shifts the focus of the dissertation to the city of Chicago and examines the relationship between residence in diverse neighborhoods and local social cohesion. The results indicate that blacks report more cohesion in white-black neighborhoods than they do in predominantly black neighborhoods, which can be only partially attributed to the affluence of white-black neighborhoods. Whites report less cohesion in white-Latino neighborhoods than they do in predominantly white neighborhoods, and Latinos report less cohesion in black-Latino neighborhoods than they do in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. These negative evaluations are linked to neighborhood racial/ethnic change. Chapter 4 explores how residence in racially/ethnically diverse environments shapes individuals' experiences of race-related stress. Exposure to whites is associated with increases in perceptions of discrimination among blacks, especially black men, whereas Latinos report more discrimination when living with blacks. However, for whites, isolation from other whites is associated with increased perceptions of discrimination, irrespective of whether they reside with blacks, Latinos, or both groups. The findings also indicate that whites and Latinos have diminished access to social support in diverse neighborhoods, although blacks have similar levels of social support across diverse contexts. Overall, analyses from the dissertation suggest that blacks, whites, and Latinos experience residence in diverse racial/ethnic contexts in distinct ways.Ph.D.Black studiesDemographyEthnic studiesGeographySocial SciencesSocial structureUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/125517/2/3192792.pd