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Fund for an OPEN Society |
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because separate can never be equal. |
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The Price of Segregation |
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Inclusive communities are America's best hope for breaking down inequities experienced by people of color, and offer unique benefits to all citizens, white and of color. People of color have paid a heavy price for policies which have promoted segregation in America. One measure of this price is in lost opportunities for wealth creation. For instance, urban policy consultant David Rusk has found that African Americans pay a "segregation tax" of 18% in lost home value because of where their homes are located - primarily in segregated black communities. The value of one's home typically represents Americans' largest asset and thus the most important component in wealth creation. The home is usually the largest asset that a member of one generation can pass on, through inheritance, to the next. Thus, the segregation tax has a cumulative effect over time, so much so that sociologist Dalton Conley has noted that in 1994 the median white family held assets worth more than seven times those of the median nonwhite family. Income and earning power are also deeply affected by segregation. As documented by john powell, Myron Orfield and others, white suburbanization has moved jobs and economic opportunity far away from the central cities where most people of color have traditionally been segregated. Furthermore, as people of color have moved to the suburbs, economic opportunity has continued to be linked to the white suburbs, creating a spacial divide between where opportunities lie and where minorities are moving. Schools, too, link to this overall pattern of privilege for some and disadvantage for others. White children tend to attend well-funded schools with well-paid teachers and good facilities. Children of color often experience the opposite: degraded facilities and poorly paid teachers. |
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Contact Us
Email: open@opensoc.org NJ Office: 973.821.4198 PA Office: 215.546.0511 |
