Beyond Segregation: Multiracial And Multiethnic Neighborhoods

Preface

Preface METHODS OF STUDY I CHOSE TO STUDY neighborhoods because they are the essential place to understand the local processes involved in the maintenance (or demise) of stable racial integration. While numerous studies on residential settlement focus on the impact of economic and demographic conditions and changes on how urban neighborhoods are formed, maintained, and reformulated along racial lines, they do not provide adequate information on microlevel actions that promote or discourage racial separateness . As Richard Taub, Garth Taylor, and Jan Dunham note in their book Paths of Neighborhood Change: “If ecological factors are overwhelming [to local residents], it is because of the effect of these facts on the perceptions and actions” of local residents (1984: 186). In other words, this statement has two related implications. First, integration and segregation are experienced by individuals in local communities. Second, while larger social forces (e.g., biased real estate and banking practices) influence local communities , individual action (or inaction) make these outcomes real. Beyond Segregation is the story of the emergence, existence, and maintenance of three racially integrated communities. Using qualitative methods , I examine the vital role leaders and community groups play in neighborhood outcomes. Exploring the microlevel decisions by local leaders, as well as the conflict and negotiations of community groups working to stabilize racially changing neighborhoods, provides insight into the historical context of neighborhoods, the fluidity of neighborhood life, and the role of individual agency. By highlighting the broader lessons that can be learned and the limitations that become apparent as leaders and community groups intervene to stabilize racial change, I seek to advance our understanding of the complexity of racial integration in the increasingly multicultural world of the post–civil rights era and of the relationship between local decisions, collective action, and structural forces. I set out to identify multiracial and multiethnic communities in New York, Chicago, and Oakland. While the cities differ in terms of region, population size, and political culture, they are all multiracial and PREFACE vii multiethnic, given their racial and ethnic compositions and role as portof -entry cities for immigrants. Employing a quantitative measure of neighborhood diversity (discussed in Chapter Two), I located neighborhoods that had maintained a multiethnic and multiracial mix for more than a decade and selected three communities for analysis: Uptown in Chicago, Jackson Heights in the borough of Queens, and San Antonio and Fruitvale, adjacent areas of Oakland. These communities make for some interesting comparisons and contrasts. They were all once predominantly non-Hispanic white, experienced racial change over the course of four decades, and yet were able to slow racial transition and stabilize racial integration. The unique history, racial mix, and economic character of each community allowed me to analyze efforts to maintain integration in disparate contexts. I conducted field research between 1996 and 1999. To paint a complete picture of each community, I collected data from as many sources as possible . First, I conducted more than seventy-five open-ended interviews with leaders in the three neighborhoods to obtain the fullest picture of community life.1 Community leaders were selected as appropriate informants based on the size of each community and their roles as representatives of organizations and interests that significantly impact community life. They also maintain positions of authority, act as intermediaries when conflict occurs, and can shape and determine the flow of resources available in a community. Although the leaders were not selected at random, care was given to interview leaders from a range of groups—elected officials, political organizations, schools, lending institutions , housing providers, real estate agents and developers, youth-oriented groups, social service agencies, religious organizations, and local advocacy organizations. Second, I made use of whatever printed data were available. News media accounts, community group reports and newsletters, flyers, and published accounts by scholars and journalists proved excellent sources of community history and reinforced the interview data. Finally, I conducted participant observation by attending community meetings and events, and by exploring the culture of each community.2 To increase the validity of the study, I tested the information from each source of data against that provided by the others. Each contributed to the overall goal of understanding local responses to multiethnic and multiracial integration , as well as the complex motivations of groups working toward stabilizing racially changing neighborhoods. The use of these methods offers significant insight into the responses of individuals and groups to the influence of larger social forces. PLAN OF THE...