The New Suburb: Multiethnic Racial Residential Integration in the United States

This article examines the relatively widespread trend toward racial residential integration within suburbs in the 21st century across metropolitan areas in the United States. I investigate the racial and ethnic compositions of stably integrated communities as well as the characteristics that distinguish these places. Using the information theory index (H) among stably diverse places, I identify cities and suburbs that were racially integrated between 2000 and 2010. Integrated places cluster in highly diverse, coastal metropolitan areas and almost entirely within suburbs. Moreover, integration is firmly patterned along racial lines. Reflecting the antiblack nature of segregation in the US, the rate of black-white integration remains remarkably low (10.5%), but in multiethnic communities with Asians and Latinxs, the probability of black-white integration nearly quadruples (40.1%). Several critical features of place are positively associated with integration: military and public sector employment as well as public university enrollment; new housing stock; and metropolitan political fragmentation. This study shows that suburbs are at the leading edge of American diversification and integration and illuminates the existence of communities where American society transgresses persistent forms of racial discrimination.

The Integration Imperative

This chapter lays out the argument in favour of public policies to achieve racial integration. It summarizes the individual and societal level costs of segregation and it presents the affirmative argument for integration. Residential integration is seen as the best way to address questions of segregation, spatial inequities, and unequal life chances across racial groups in the U.S. Further, the pro-integration argument suggests that only through residential integration can we achieve goals related to truly democratic governance and inclusiveness in social, economic, and political relationships.