Race and Place
Race Relations in an American City

An analysis of the attitudes and behavior of African Americans and whites.

Susan Welch (Author), Lee Sigelman (Author), Timothy Bledsoe (Author), Michael Combs (Author)

9780521792158, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 September 2001

224 pages, 20 b/w illus. 2 maps 27 tables
23.5 x 16 x 2.2 cm, 0.5 kg

"The study of race and residence has not, to date, accounted for the myriad ways that neighborhood context affects racial attitudes. This well-written book is an impressive work that will help fill the void. Its detailed analysis is sure to be of enormous interest to every serious student of racial and urban politics.... the authors have made a valuable contribution by demonstrating that neighborhood racial integration has positive effects in one of the more segregated metropolitan cities in America. Their study will provide a solid foundation for further analysis..." Perspectives on Politics

A striking but little recognized change in race relations during the past two decades has seen the declining levels of racial segregation in most of America's major metropolitan areas. More American cities are beginning to have black and white residents. An integral component of this decline in residential segregation has been the large-scale movement of blacks to the suburbs. This book focuses on the attitudes and behavior of African Americans and whites. Will whites' attitudes about blacks and blacks' attitudes toward whites change if they are living in integrated neighborhoods rather than apart from one another? Are black suburbanites more likely to share the views of their fellow white suburbanites or of their fellow African Americans in the central city? Will residential integration and new patterns of race in the suburbs break down divisions between blacks and whites in their views of local public services?

1. Introduction: race and residence
2. Race relations in Detroit, 1968–92
3. Black-white social interaction
4. Perceptions of racial discriminations
5. Black racial solidarity
6. White racial prejudice
7. Opinions on urban issues - the schools and the police
8. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Black & Asian studies [JFSL3], Urban communities [JFSG], Regional studies [GTB]