Residential Integration in U.S. Cities: A Study of Stability and Change

Jane Cover, University of Washington

Conventional wisdom views racial integration as a temporary phenomenon. Racially integrated neighborhoods ultimately transition to become dominated by a single racial group. According to the Classic Succession Model, the in-migration of African Americans into a neighborhood is accompanied by the out-migration of whites for whom the number of African American neighbors exceeds their tolerance level. While this model was historically accurate, recent research suggests that this process may now be less inevitable than presumed. This project uses census data to investigate the factors that influenced change in the racial configuration of African American communities over the last decade of the 20th century. This study found that the number of stable communities in which African Americans and whites co-reside increased during this period. It addresses the question of why some racially integrated neighborhoods maintain their ethnic diversity while others transition to become racially homogeneous.