Racial segregation in a supposed era of desegregation

 I touched on this a couple of weeks ago, but found another interesting visualization of it.

In spite of laws that supposedly ended segregation 4 decades ago, blacks and whites in this country continue to be very much segregated. According to this report, 75% of African Americans (who make up 12% of the US Population), live in only 16% of the US Census Tracks. There is a complete US map available at the link to the report.

Meanwhile, I've pulled out the map of the Kansas City and there are no surprises.  The grey areas represent census tracks that are 50% or more Black, while dark red areas are 0% Black (you can click on the pic for a larger image). This helps us understand how it's become that schools are actually more segregated now than they were 40 years ago.

It's just another reminder of how divided we still are as a nation, and as a city.

H/T: I love charts

Comments

[Mo Rage]

Whitey says:

"But there just isn't anymore racism... There's no problems... I don't know what they have to complain about."

[Hyde Park Joe]

I've long thought that we should tax based on infrastructure, not market value. Taxing by market value means that housing is self sorting by class. It's a system put in place when segregation was still legal. Jim Crow era housing paterns never needed overt racism to survive. They're self perpetuating.

[Tacitkc]

Clear as day, isn't it?

What's really remarkable is until the 1950s, the formally segregated parts of the city were overlayed with the Jewish community. Example: the Jewish temple was at 25th and benton (now Macedonia Baptist Church).

Also, I happened onto a copy of the 1948 green book. I went to the trouble of transcribing the black-owned businesses (auto shops, hotels, bars, restaurants, drug stores, tailors, gas stations, etc) by location and address into google earth. It's amazing how vibrant the black community was once upon a time.

But I digress. Segregation is still here, and clear as day to anyone who does not simply look the other way.