Greg Freeman - St. Louis Is Among Most-Segregated Cities - And Most Of Us Are Comfortable With That. 12/1/2002

Headline: ST. LOUIS IS AMONG MOST-SEGREGATED CITIES - AND MOST OF US ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THAT
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Sun., Dec. 1, 2002
Section: METRO, Page: C3, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

So St. Louis is one of the nation's most-segregated metropolitan areas? The U.S. Census Bureau didn't have to tell us that.
The bureau has released a new study showing that St. Louis ranks fourth among the nation's cities as most segregated. Only Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland are ahead of us. We're even ahead of Cincinnati, which endured three days of race riots last year. In the St. Louis area, all you have to do is look around. Look at schools that never were involved in official desegregation efforts. Look at the neighborhoods where we live. Look at where we socialize.
We don't need the signs that say "white" and "colored" that used to populate places in the Jim Crow South. We segregate ourselves, without anyone telling us. So where blacks once lived in north St. Louis and whites in south St. Louis, blacks have now moved to north St. Louis County and are moving to St. Charles County. And whites are migrating to South County, West County and beyond.

Some here may see the study results and just shrug. Big deal, some will say. But an interesting aspect of the results is what it may tell about us in other areas.
For instance, a study by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley examined the link between residential segregation and mortality in cities of 100,000 or more, where blacks made up at least 10 percent of the population. Their results showed that residential segregation is linked with higher rates of mortality for both whites and blacks, and that the more segregated the city, the stronger the association.
The study doesn't suggest that living next to someone of your own race is hazardous to your health. But it does indicate the problem of the concentration of poverty and disadvantage associated with high levels of segregation. And while racial segregation in housing has long been considered something that adversely affected the quality of life for blacks, the Michigan-Berkeley study suggests that high levels of segregation are costly for the entire society.

Some Northerners used to chuckle with scorn at the South because of the racial difficulties that part of the country once endured. The South was the scene of bitter racial struggles in the 1950s and 1960s.
But it's interesting that none of the top 10 most-segregated cities is in the South. Perhaps because the South was forced to confront its segregation head-on, it's been more successful than some other areas in making improvements. Studies like this pour cold water on the old ster eotypes of a benighted South and an enlightened North. In fact, Malcolm X once remarked that there was no difference in the prejudices of the North and those of the South. He said there was only "down South" and "up South."

Some cities have made progress. Thirty-five years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. declared Chicago was the nation's most-segregated city. It's now No. 9 on the list. Who said St. Louis could never beat Chicago?
The West has done well, too, when it comes to segregation. The Census Bureau study suggests that you're generally much better off in terms of integrated housing if you live in the South or West.

But not so here in St. Louis.
It's not like this is the first time we've heard this news, either. Various studies have called St. Louis on its segregation, but little has happened to change it. Few efforts have been made to do anything about housing segregation here. It's the elephant in the room that no one talks about. Politicians are eager to get on a soapbox and talk about anything else. But when the conversation turns to residential segregation, they all lose their voices.
As unfortunate as it is, don't expect anyone to speak up in effort to improve the situation, at least not anyone in officialdom. Don't look for politicians to come forward. Don't look for real estate brokers to do anything about it.

Yes, trying to do something about it would be the right thing to do for the metropolitan area. But sometimes the right thing to do isn't the most popular thing to do. And, let's face it, lots of people here are quite comfortable with the racial segregation that exists. Segregated housing here didn't happen by accident.
So don't be surprised if the Census Bureau comes out 10 years from now with another study that shows St. Louis, again, among the nation's most-segregated cities.
This area has many distinctive qualities. Sadly, segregation is among them.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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