American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass

American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass

American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass
Author(s): Douglas S. Massey
Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 96, No. 2 (Sep., 1990), pp. 329-357
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2781105
Accessed: 06-04-2015 19:14 UTC

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American Apartheid: Segregation and the
Making of the Underclass'
Douglas S. Massey
UniversityofChicago

This articlearguesthatracialsegregation
is crucialto explainingthe
emergenceof the urban underclassduringthe 1970s. A stronginteractionbetweenrisingratesofpovertyand highlevelsofresidential segregationexplains where, why, and in which groups the
underclassarose. This argumentis developedwithsimulationsthat
replicate the economic conditionsobserved among blacks and
whitesin metropolitan
areas duringthe 1970sbut assumedifferent
conditionsof racial and class segregation.These data show how a
simpleincreasein the rateof minority
povertyleads to a dramatic
risein theconcentration
ofpovertywhenit occurswithina racially
segregatedcity. Increases in povertyconcentrationare, in turn,
associated with otherchanges in the socioeconomiccharacterof...

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