Blacks in Segregated and Desegregated Neighborhoods

Abstract

A stepwise discriminant function analysis is used to determine those variables that best distinguish those blacks who live in low percentage black neighborhoods from those who live in high percentage black neighbohoods. Using data from the 1970 U.S. Census One-in-a-Hundred Public Use Sample with Neighborhood Characteristics, this study expanded the results of previous studies in which more limited samples from a different sociolegal context were used. These results suggest that social and psychological factors may be important mediators in the decisions of blacks to seek desegregated housing. In particular, it is suggested that future research in this area incorporate family type as a variable, as well as measures of status concern or status discrepancy. Further, future research should utilize designs that allow the indirect effects of factors such as income, education, and life cycle on housing decisions to be estimated.