Lesson 16: The New Segregation

• Determine the racial or economic diversity of their community
• Evaluate the merits of diversity and the role of public policy in encouraging or discouraging diversity.
  

Government: Goal 3: Geography – The student will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities throughout history.

Expectation 3.1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of cultural and physical geographic factors in the development of government policy.

Indicator 3.1.1: The student will explain the influence of demographic changes on government policies.

Indicator 3.1.2: The student will evaluate the role of government in addressing land use and other environmental issues.

• National Geographic Maryland Smart Growth Map
• Census Maps: www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc
• Census Data: www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc
• Race, Hispanic Origin, and Ancestry, Census Bureau Fact Sheet, http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/bwd3249.pdf
  

Diverse communities are comprised of people with different racial or ethnic backgrounds and a range of incomes. In contrast, homogeneous communities are home only to people of the same race, ethnicity, and level of income. Before the civil rights movement certain laws specified where people lived and how they interacted based on race, religion and other factors. While those segregation laws are now illegal, there are factors today that still result in similar segregation, whether racial, class or other socio-economic factors.

Macro and micro-scale land use decisions can influence the composition of communities. For example, zoning that requires houses to be built on large lots may exclude people with lower incomes. On the other hand, zoning that requires new development to reserve a percentage of the new homes for moderate-income residents can specifically include people with a range of incomes. Development regulations that require separation of stores, offices, and houses makes it difficult for people who cannot drive to get from home to work. Public and private sector expenditures on roads, schools, libraries, shopping centers, and subdivisions far from established communities can deplete resources available for maintaining these assets in established communities.

In this lesson, students use census data to analyze the racial and economic diversity of their community or their county. Students then discuss the role of diversity within communities, the impact that land use decisions can have on the composition of a community, the forces driving these land use decisions, and the impact of diversity, or the lack of diversity, on people and communities.

Activity 1:

For background information, review:

• Race, Hispanic Origin, and Ancestry, Census Bureau Fact Sheet, http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/bwd3249.pdf
• National Geographic Maryland Smart Growth Map
• One of the five books under “suggested reading”

1. Identify census tracts for your community:

Note: This exercise can be completed at two different levels of geography: the community or the county. To examine diversity within the community, students must first identify census tracts that help to define the community. This takes time but may be more meaningful because students are likely more familiar with their community than with their entire county.

According to the Census Bureau, a census tract is defined as a small, relatively permanent statistical subdivision of a county delineated by a local committee of census data users for the purpose of presenting data. Census tract boundaries normally follow visible features, but may follow governmental unit boundaries and other non-visible features in some instances; they always nest within counties. Designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions at the time of establishment, census tracts average about 4,000 inhabitants. They may be split by any sub-county geographic entity. For more information see the Census Bureau Glossary, http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/teachers.html

Identify the census tracts that are included in your community, using the Address Lookup function on the Maryland Department of Planning State Data Center website: http://www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc/caliper/caliperapp.htm. Select “Bypass Instructions – Begin Address Lookup.” Under “Choose a Category,” select “Statistical Maps.” Under “Choose a Map,” select “Population by Census Tract.” Push the “Show Map Button”. Select “Find an Address” and type in the address of your school. Push the “Find” button. This will bring you to a map that shows the Census tract in which your school is located, and you can move the map around to find adjacent Census tracts. As a group, determine which Census tracts should be included in your community for the purposes of this exercise. Note: You will be using the Economic Characteristics and Summary Race profiles to complete this exercise, so you should keep these web pages open.

2. Divide into two groups. Collect data from each of the census tracts in your community (or for your county if you have chosen to examine diversity at the county level rather than census tract level). Group 1 should look at the distribution of households in the community by income class. For information at the census tract level, use the Economic Characteristics Profile from the Address Lookup function. For information at the county level, go to http://www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc/census/cen2000/sf3/sumyprof/DP1_4/sf3cnty_idx.htm. The information is in Table DP-3. Group 2 should look at the distribution of people by race and ethnicity. For information at the census tract level, use the Summary Race Profile from the Address Lookup function. For information at the county level, go to http://www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc/census/cen2000/sf3/sumyprof/DP1_4/sf3cnty_idx.htm. The information is in Table DP-1.

3. Discuss the relative importance of diversity within communities (or counties). Discussion questions:

• Does diversity matter? If so, why?
• What influences the level of diversity within a community (or within the county)? (Ask students to think about personal choices, land use policy, housing policy, transportation policy, lending policy)
• How does the level of economic diversity influence communities? (Ask students to think about revenue raising ability, ability to provide government services, ability of people to access jobs, ability of business to access employees.)
• How does the level of racial diversity influence communities? (Ask students to think about intolerance, cultural understanding and development.)
• What is the appropriate role of public policy in encouraging or discouraging diversity?
• What should policy makers bear in mind when crafting any public policy, if they want to be mindful of diversity?
• Discuss the implications of diversity between groups, drawing on information from “Maryland’s Socioeconomic Diversity.” For example, which race/ethnic groups have the lowest poverty rate in Maryland?
  

Suggested Reading:

• American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass Massey, Douglas, Denton, Nancy. 1993. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Metropolitics, David Rusk and Myron Orfield
• Inside Game, Outside Game: Winning Strategies for Saving Urban America, David Rusk
• Baltimore Unbound: Creating a Greater Baltimore Region for the 21st Century, David Rusk
• Maryland’s Socioeconomic Diversity, Mark Goldstein, Maryland Department of Planning, September 2002, http://www.mdp.state.md.us/msdc/census/cen2000/sf3/highlight/highlightsfullsf3.pdf