National estimates of racial segregation in rural and small-town America

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide, for the first time, comparative estimates of racial residential segregation of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan places in 1990 and 2000. Analyses are based on block data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. decennial censuses. The results reveal a singularly important and perhaps surprising central conclusion: levels and trends in recent patterns of racial segregation in America's small towns are remarkably similar to patterns observed in larger metropolitan cities. Like their big-city counterparts, nonmetropolitan blacks are America's most highly segregated racial minority--roughly 30% to 40% higher than the indices observed for Hispanics and Native Americans. Finally, baseline ecological models of spatial patterns of rural segregation reveal estimates that largely support the conclusions reached in previous metropolitan studies. Racial residential segregation in rural places increases with growing minority percentage shares and is typically lower in "new" places (as measured by growth in the housing stock), while racially selective annexation and the implied "racial threat" at the periphery exacerbate racial segregation in rural places. Our study reinforces the need to broaden the spatial scale of segregation beyond its traditional focus on metropolitan cities or suburban places, especially as America's population shifts down the urban hierarchy into exurban places and small towns.

Black–White and Hispanic–White Segregation in U.S. Counties

“…The expectation based on the racial threat hypothesis that segregation will be greater where minority proportions are higher was found in one study to be true for black-white segregation but not Hispanic-white segregation (Logan, Stults, and Farley 2004). In two other studies, however, Hispanic-white segregation was significantly and positively related to Hispanic proportions (Lichter et al 2007;DeFina and Hannon 2009).…”

“…Some studies measured segregation in places, including cities, small towns, villages, and census-defined places, in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, both in Texas (Murdock, Hwang, and Hoque 1994) and nationally (Lichter et al 2007). Findings from research on urban places have generally been consistent with those based on metropolitan areas.…”

Prisons as Panacea or Pariah? The Countervailing Consequences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns

“…Using the appropriate scale, we can make sense of prison impact on rural towns by identifying "how and why spatial context contributes to inequality" ( [53], p. 3). Much like neighborhoods in urban areas, rural U.S. Census places refract extreme concentrations of racial and economic disadvantage, evidenced by high rates of concentrated poverty [54] and residential segregation [55]. Given that studies of concentrated disadvantage often focus on urban neighborhoods [56], I instead use U.S. Census places (towns) to better understand how the prison boom has impacted disadvantaged rural communities.…”

Historical Analysis: Tracking, Problematizing, and Reterritorializing Achievement and the Achievement Gap

“…One study reports that a full 75% of White Americans stated that they did not discuss important matters with a single person of color (Cox, Navarro-Rivera, & Jones, 2014). This cultural and discursive segregation has a history that goes back generations and connects to the ongoing geographical segregation along racial lines in the United States (Frey, 2015;Lichter, Parisi, Grice, & Taquino, 2007). Overcoming these challenges to enable the crafting of culturally relevant pedagogy requires White educators (and administrators) to:…”