ABSTRACT
Distinctively Black neighborhoods began to develop in Northern cities in the early part of the 20th century, as Black families joined the Great Migration from the rural South in search of jobs. A pattern of systematic racial residential segregation arose, supported by laws, social norms, and institutional practices (such as racial steering and school segregation). Today, most of the discriminatory laws have been rescinded, but the patterns of residential and school segregation remain, based on race and independent of income.
Neighborhoods with substantial concentrations of Black population are often deprived of public resources such as good schools, adequate water, and public transit. Private investments, such as the availability of mortgages, are also scarce in most Black areas. However, Black neighborhoods come in a variety of types. In extreme cases, high concentrations of very poor households result in multi-generational poverty and disconnection with social norms, including high rates of crime and violence. In other cases, higher income Black households are reclaiming and renovating historic neighborhoods or moving to suburban areas, including reverse migration to Southern cities.
