Won't You be My Neighbor: Race, Class, and Residence in Los Angeles

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Many people assisted me in a variety of ways during my journey to this book, and I would be remiss in not acknowledging the role that they have played in my life and career. This is not an exhaustive list, and I apologize to anyone I have inadvertently overlooked—it certainly is not because I am unappreciative, just that I am sleep-deprived! First, I owe a great deal to Professors Lawrence D. Bobo, Melvin L. Oliver, and James H. Johnson, Jr., for seeing my potential and taking me under their wings at UCLA’s Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. This experience was and continues to be invaluable; thanks to each of you for seeing in me what I have only recently begun to see in myself. Thank you Larry, for challenging me to work harder and think more deeply, for consistently providing thorough, honest assessments of my work, and for your continued mentoring and friendship. Melvin, thank you for looking out for me. Your timely “intervention” not only ensured my continuation in the Ph.D. program, but also led to my first academic job as a research assistant on the Multi-City project. And, not incidentally, thank you for arranging the visit to UCLA that clinched my decision to enroll in the first place. Jim, thank you for your enthusiasm and commitment, your creativity , and for teaching us the importance of grant money—it has served me well! Thanks to each of you for your dedication to the training and professional socialization of your students: for your encouragement and support , for lighting a fire under me when necessary, and for your persistence . The work was hard and the hours long, but I learned more about social science research than in any classroom. There are several other MCSUI “teammates” I should formally acknowledge : Mary Jackman (MCSUI Advisory Board member) for the conversation that led to the creation of my “Multi-Ethnic Showcard,” Alice O’Connor for keeping us on track if not always on time, and Reynolds Farley for leading the way in research on neighborhood racial composition preferences. Another perk was the terrific group of graduate stu- dents, post-docs, and early-career folks that I am privileged to call friends and colleagues. Big shout-outs to David “Bud” Grant, Julie Press, Devon Johnson, Beti Gonzales, Tarry Hum, Michael Lichter, Susan Suh, Michael Stoll, Abel Valenzuela, Jr., Maria Krysan, and Tara Jackson. Though we have spread far and wide, I think of you often and fondly as part of what made this such a great project. Most recently, several of my colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania (both past and present) have been a wonderful source of support. In sociology, Douglas S. Massey and Janice Fanning Madden consistently read and commented on my work and helped me work through early drafts and analyses. I am also extremely grateful to my new “family” in the Center for Africana Studies. Tukufu Zuberi provided mentoring and encouragement, as well as a quiet place to write where no one could find me. The Center staff—Carol Davis, Gale Garrison, and Onyx Finney— were a constant calming and supportive presence, while at the same time making sure that I made time to take care of myself. Members of the Africana Studies Faculty Reading Group—Tukufu Zuberi, Barbara Savage , Ken Shropshire, Herman Beavers, and Guthrie Ramsey—went above and beyond the call of collegiality to read and comment on work that was outside the scope of their own research interests, and to finally convince me that I could do this. As the most junior member of this group, I also benefited from their wisdom and advice, and from their willingness to assist me in any way possible. Thank you for creating a space in which I could thrive! I would also like to thank those institutions and foundations that provided financial support for my research. I am grateful to the Ford and Russell Sage Foundations for funding the original MCSUI project and to Russell Sage for awarding me a small grant to continue my research after graduate school. In addition, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s dissertation fellowship provided critical financial support, as did Grinnell College where I spent a year as a scholar-inresidence . The University of Pennsylvania provided internal grant money to support aspects of this research, and I am eternally grateful to D-L Wormley and Vicky Tam at the Cartographic Modeling Lab...