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1 The End of an Era Divided We Fall W hen we published Separate Societies in 1992,American cities were troubled by failing economies, severe racial segregation, and desperate neighborhood conditions. These problems had preoccupied politicians, social activists, and scholars since the 1960s. We contended that if left unattended, city problems would impair national social and economic life. We looked to the federal government to enable solutions ranging from inner-city revitalization to dramatic changes in welfare and workforce development. Although proposals like ours found their way in whole or in part, by accident or design, into aspects of welfare reform, job training, and urban renovation in the 1990s, for the most part the government ignored the cities. Starting in 2000, the Bush administration acted toward cities with profound hostility. Because city-regions form the base of the new global economy , the whole nation today pays a high price for these anti-city policies. Through the first decade of the twenty-first century, so-called urban problems affected not only the poor but everyone, and not only cities but suburbs, too. Inequality worsened along with isolation and separation. Better-off people built a Fortress America, insulating themselves in suburban districts and city enclaves.1 Tax breaks, subsidies, and unregulated greed enhanced the market gains of the wealthiest households, fantastically increasing their social exclusiveness and threatening to destroy any sense of national unity that might lead to improved access and extended opportunity . After a spree of unprecedented financial failures of the world’s largest firms, the Wall Street collapse required the federal government to intervene. Leading up to the collapse, standing as testament to the earlier lack of 2 / Chapter 1 accountability, formal rules favored neglect over inclusion. Beneficiaries of the political arrangements tolerated failed health care for millions, collapsed schools for minorities, poor neighborhood maintenance in cities and inner suburbs, and exacerbated racial inequality. Balkanized patterns of metropolitan growth not only harmed the underprivileged but held back the nation, spreading competitive weakness, environmental irresponsibility, and broad social discontent. Whether the Obama election signals a sufficient turnaround seems doubtful. A slightly improved Department of Housing and Urban Development and a new but weak Office of Urban Affairs in the White House enhance the government’s abilities, but they will not suffice to tackle the long accumulation of city and metropolitan problems. In spite of suburbanization of Black and Hispanic populations in recent years, extremely large groups of people, who typically have very low incomes, still reside in what may properly be called ghettos or barrios—restricted areas where households are confined, where neighborhood conditions are poor and services are inadequate, and where children are likely to attend dismal, failing schools. The numbers astound: in each of 25 large central cities, half of them in the West, at least 100,000 Latinos live. Together they add up to more than 10 million residents. At the same time, in each of 33 cities at least 100,000 African Americans live, who add up to another 10 million. The big-city districts in which these Black and Latino people live are mainly in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the South. Combined, we get 63 cities and more than 23 million people. Many more Latinos and Blacks live segregated in other large cities as well, those with populations under 100,000.2 Among big-city minority residents, some are perfectly well off, as part of the middle class with good incomes, sending their kids either to magnet schools or to private schools and enjoying the benefits of city life. But the vast majority struggle with low incomes, bad services, dangerous neighborhoods, and discriminatory behavior from public officials, rental agents, real estate agents, mortgage bankers, and Whites in general. Things are not as bad as they used to be. Opportunities for advancement that used to be closed are now open to Blacks, Latinos, Asians, immigrants, and others. Many dangers have abated. But huge numbers of people remain excluded from opportunity, relegated to bleak futures, feeling trapped in Black ghettos, Latino barrios, and even poor Asian enclaves despite legislation requiring fair housing in every state. This set of persisting, perhaps even worsening, urban problems is what motivated us to write a second edition. In the first edition, we sensed that progress might come. During the economic boom of the 1990s, our hope held, as some progress was made, now mostly evaporated. Yes, the United States has now elected a Black president, and top-ranked Black, Latino, and...

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