De Facto Segregation

With the decision of Brown vs Board and the mobilization of troops, legal segregation came to a halt.  To me, I find it hard to believe this happened on 50 or so years ago.  However, with the end of de jure segregation, a look at neighborhoods throughout the country show the signs of de facto segregation.  No longer does the government endorse the separate but equal philosophy, but we have, through various movements, segregated ourselves into pockets of homogeny.  

Check out these maps from Eric Fisher on Flicker.  He originally took 40 major cities across the US and included where people live on the maps.  Now he has taken the total up to 103 cities.  Red represents white, blue is black, green is asian, and orange is hispanic.  As you go through the pictures you will see clearly defined borders between one group and the next.  In some cities, you find more blending, but most have distinct pockets of black, hispanic, or asian populations.

Washington, DC shows a clear East/West divide between White and Black.  New York's density shows the intense colors of segregation, yet that density also provides ample interactions between races.

Four North Carolina cities show the same trend: Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro, and even Winston-Salem.

Racism thrives on ignorance.  When people divide themselves and limit interactions with different peoples, stereotypes prevail as the only understanding of different races.  Diversity is not a dirty word, but the antidote to animosity.