OUP - Abstract

I Have Always Wanted to Have a Neighbor, Just Like You: Race and Residential Segregation in the City of Angels

Dissertation School: University of California, Los Angeles

Pages: 325

Publication Date: January 1996

Availability:
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Access Number: 10725

Descriptors:
Segregation. Housing markets. Racial discrimination.

Abstract:
This doctoral dissertation uses a multiracial sample of adults (N=4025) and detailed data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample (5% file) to examine the importance of (1) objective socioeconomic disparities; (2) housing market perceptions and information; (3) mutual preferences for same race neighbors; and (4) prejudice and negative stereotypes in understanding of persisting residential segregation. An innovative component of this analysis is a replication and expansion of the Farley-Schuman showcard methodology used in the 1976 and 1993 Detroit Area studies. The author finds no support for the role of objective socioeconomic differences, or actual or perceived cost of housing as barriers to integration. All groups exhibit some degree of ethnocentric preference for same race neighbors; however this tendency is strongest among whites and plays only a small role in perpetuating segregation. Blacks are the least preferred out-group neighbors, face the greatest hostility in the search for housing, and are consensually recognized as most likely to face discrimination in the housing market. Racial minorities are more open to sharing residential space with whites than with other minorities. Finally, the author finds strong support for Massey and Denton's argument that persisting prejudice and negative stereotypes among whites drive their neighborhood racial preferences. [AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED]

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