Racial residential segregation in the Kansas City area: a comparative study between Blacks and Hispanics
Abstract
There is considerable literature on racial residential segregation but there are few
examples that examine similarities and differences between two ethnic groups within an
urban area. Racial residential segregation among blacks and Hispanics in the Kansas
City area is examined using two methodologies. One is an historical and cultural
methodology that utilizes a theory of culture to explain differences. The second is a
statistical methodology that uses data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Censuses. The
culture theory is predicated upon three axes of a cultural framework: philosophical
rationalism versus philosophical skepticism, idealism vs. materialism and the individual
as an abstract entity versus the social individual as a unit of analysis. Theories of change
and spatial theory are also components of this cultural theory, and the culture theory is
also applied to study developers, government, and majority population. Statistical
differences are explored using dissimilarity indices and isolation indices and differences
between the two ethnic groups are analyzed through Mann-Whitney U tests. The design
for the statistical analysis is based on (1) gradients of density, density growth population
growth, and linguistic isolation gradients, and (2) an analysis of city and county areas. It is found that the cultural framework is very useful in analyzing differences between
blacks and Hispanics and understanding the development of policy. First, policy
supports real estate developers in developing profitable and “ideal” communities in the
Kansas City region. Secondly, black and Hispanic communities differ in the functions
provided to their members. They historically have had a different level and type of
contact with the majority population. Policy affects all groups, but is primarily directed
toward blacks due to their proximity to majority neighborhoods and associated pressures
on housing and labor markets. With the decline of manufacturing in the inner city and
lack of minority access to suburbs, residential housing segregation has further deleterious
effects on minorities. More recently minorities have increased their presence in the
suburbs; patterns relating to indices and income characteristics in high growth areas are
strongest for blacks and either very weak or mixed for Hispanics.
Table of Contents
Housing and segregation in Kansas City: a comparative assessment of two minority groups -- Culture and explanation in social science and policy: an examination of theoretical undercurrents and architectures -- Racial residential segregation in Kansas city: a comparison of Blacks and Hispanics in the context of culture, development and policy -- Residential patterns in the urban system: change and emerging pattern over space and time (using the 1900 and 2000 censuses) -- Residential segregation in Kansas City among Blacks and Hispanics: theory, history and policy, space and modern patterns
Degree
Ph.D.