By Naomi Foster

The residential segregation of Whites and Blacks has been with us so long that it seems a natural part of the social order, as though it’s a mere feature of the American landscape, a cultural touchstone if you will. This sort of division between races has been ingrained in us from the earliest days of youth due to stereotypes and narratives pushed not only by those closest to us but also by the media, government, and public education system. We have reached a point in society where most people are not bothered by the sight of Black and Brown people as they maneuver in more upscale neighborhoods, because on some level, they believe that they don’t belong. It’s only a matter of time before they return to the “slum” they came from. Had it not been for the systemic and social structures put in place by White America, perhaps this would be different. But it’s a nearly impossible and illogical thought to have when we live in a city that is so clearly divided.

Before the 19th century, “Blacks and Whites lived side by side in American cities”’ (Massey& Denton, 17). Even Northern cities that are now known for their large Black ghettos, like Detroit and Chicago, were integrated on a residential level. In southern cities, like Charleston and Savannah, Black laborers lived in alleys and side streets near the mansions of the White employers (Massey& Denton, 17). While it wasn’t necessarily equal, there was still a significant amount of intermingling between races. Although the end of the Civil War triggered a multitude of systemic and social issues, residential segregation was not an immediate consequence.

The “leading” Black citizens had managed to forge friendships with White people of the same status. Despite their past, these particular upper-class Black individuals had managed to maintain trusting and respectful friendships. However, most Blacks were not living in northern cities, nor were they upper-class. The majority of Blacks were still in the rural South, being exploited by the sharecropping system, caught in a constant cycle of violence and poverty.

This continued for a few decades until the second wave of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred in the Northern part of the United States. With an increased demand for workers, many Blacks found themselves moving from rural southern farm life to an industrial city. To be clear, Black Southerners were not the only people migrating to the north in search of work. Between 1880 and the early 1920s, millions of Eastern and Southern Europeans moved to American cities with similar intentions. This was the time for a fresh start. People were under the impression that they would move to a new city and work their way up. In some instances, it worked, and certain people, both Black and White, were able to pull themselves out of poverty via higher education and increased income, but that was not the case for most.

Many factory workers found themselves suffering through horrid conditions, living in close quarters, and being paid next to nothing. The White laborers came together to form unions, where they would demand better wages and working conditions. If they did receive what they were asking for they would strike. In response to the strikes, “employers began a spirited recruitment of Blacks from the rural south”, and many workers were replaced. Black, unskilled workers from the rural South were not familiar with strikes or unions (Massey & Denton, 28). They needed to work to sustain themselves and their families, and so that is what they did. This reluctance to strike, caused tensions to rise between Whites and Blacks. On top of them feeling othered by their White peers, they felt threatened by the influx of Black migrant workers. When the demand for farm workers in the South fell, the demand for unskilled workers in the North skyrocketed and tension began to rise (Massey&Denton, 29).

As mentioned, the people migrated to cities for a fresh start. Frequently, this migration was “guided and structured by social networks that connected to relatives and friends who had arrived earlier”

(Massey&Denton, 27). It was this same kinship that enabled migrants to secure jobs and homes. In these ways, members of specific ethnic groups found themselves in particular neighborhoods and factories. At the same time that these densely populated neighborhoods began to form, the managerial class also formed. The managerial class was composed of White Americans (non-immigrants), and essentially, their job was to oversee the production. This particular group of White people was in charge of White migrants and Black migrant workers. Thus, putting a divide between the White population. This was not taken lightly by White immigrants as they felt bothered and ostracized. White Northrend became increasingly upset, which in turn led to hostility and alarming behavior on their part. Middle-class Whites were rather displeased by the behaviors displayed by Black Southerner migrants. They were deemed uncouth, unclean, and poverty-stricken (Massey&Denton, 29). The White racist ideologies of the 1920s only furthered these narratives, as they provided a theoretical “scientific” justification for why White people were simply better than Black people( Massey& Denton, 29). As for the working-class Whites, their fear was not the behavior but the economic competition. This fear quickly turned to hatred. These same European immigrants who were previously “scorned by native Whites, reaffirmed their witness by suppressing those that were lower in the racial hierarchy”(Massey& Denton,29).

It was during this time that social segregation began to take off. White racial views “hardened” and “the relatively fluid period of race relations in the north drew to a close” (Massey & Denton,30). Media plastered discriminatory terms on the front pages telling stories of Black crimes, furthering this narrative that the “other” is dangerous and something to separate from in every way. Even interracial contact among the elite ceased. Black professionals lost White clients, associates, and friends. “Individual Blacks were attacked”. While some, “had their houses ransacked or burned. Those unlucky enough to be caught trespassing White neighborhoods were beaten, shot, or lynched”(Massey&Denton, 30). Black people were terrorized in the name of hatred and fear. Status was no longer enough to keep a Black person afloat in the North. The Blacks who happened to be living in “White” spaces were forced to move into expanding “Black belts”, “Darkey towns”, and “Bronzeville”. Black people were meant to stay in Black neighborhoods, regardless of social or economic standing(Massey&Denton, 30).

From there, this social segregation was backed by laws and real estate policies that confined them to these specific areas. Blacks were only allowed to reside in cities, which in turn were decreasing in value. The city was no longer a place of financial flushing, but a slum. Whites began to relocate to more family-friendly neighborhoods, with front yards and common spaces for people to enjoy. There were shops and markets. It was a place to wash their hands of the now disgraced cities. Blacks do not have the luxury of relocating to a more quiet family-friendly area for comfort’s sake. They were barred from suburbia. The city, which was once promised to provide opportunity and opportunity had become a tra of rural Blacks. It was yet another mechanism of oppression and alienation.

This is not to be confused with ethnic enclaves that non-Black immigrants inhabited. First, these enclaves were not homogenous, meaning that it wasn’t limited to only people of a certain ethnic group or race, though they did make up the majority. Whereas in the Black ghetto over ninety percent of the Black population lived in a very specific area. Another difference, the most significant fact, is that these enclaves were mere jumping-off points for European immortals, while the ghettos were a permanent feature of Black residential life. For Blacks the city was a trap “yet another mechanism of oppression and alienation”. Unlike rural Blacks, the European immigrants were able to use these enclaves to make connections and learn to assimilate as they transitioned. Blacks were forced to stay in these poorly maintained, shunned areas of the city. The Black ghettos that we see today, did not happen by chance. It was not a thing that just happened, but rather the result of deliberate decisions made by White Americans “to deny Blacks access to urban housing markets and to reinforce their spatial segregation” (Massey& Denton, 19). And it is through this residential segregation that [ensures] the continued subordination of Blacks in the United States, as intended by White America.

Furthermore, there is an agent to be made that the social segregation central to the racial ghetto is quite similar to the segregation found within colonial dual cities and divided industrial cities. The writings of George Simmel thoroughly explain how the rich and poor maneuver through life while inhabiting the same space. He explains that there is a certain psychological foundation of urban life, a high process that develops over time through life experience. In these densely populated industrial cities, described by Simmel, the people found themselves caught in a routine. There was very little stimulus, as it was the same thing and some people say in and day out. This caused people to develop a sort of indifference to certain parts of daily life that would otherwise shock an outsider. It is this reason why the rich made a conscious choice to separate themselves from their individuality and location. A physical divide was needed to clarify that they were not on the same level. It is the same principle in these racial ghettos and well-off White Americans. Blacks who inhabit the ghetto are accustomed to seeing certain “spectacles” or hearing a specific vernacular, and they are relatively unbiased as they have grown accustomed to it. Whites who reside in upscale areas of the same city may feel a certain disdain or disapproval towards those sorts of behaviors, which is why they have created policies that keep the “urban” lifestyle at a distance. The blasè attitude was adopted by both the rich Whites and poor Blacks. The Whites are well aware that these areas exist, but not much is done to improve testing. Black people have found themselves in this situation, and they are forced to work with the resources that they have.