Residential Segregation and the Concentration of Black Poverty

Abstract

This study aims to examine the issue of concentrated Black poverty in urban areas through the lens of residential segregation and discriminatory housing policy. Several major housing policies impacting African Americans from the Reconstruction Era into the present are first outlined, followed by a literature review of prominent academic works on residential segregation and poverty concentration. Both racial and class-based forms of residential segregation are analyzed. In light of the lingering systemic barriers to racial equality and wealth accumulation for Blacks, and the role residential segregation has played in constructing these obstacles, this study advocates further research into policies of wealth redistribution and job creation to both assist and empower impoverished Blacks to escape the poverty cycle.