Monica McDermott

The Presence of Organizational Resources in Poor Urban Neighborhoods:An Analysis of Average and Contextual Effects

Wilson (1987) and others argue that poor neighborhoods lack important organizational resources the middle class takes for granted, such as childcare centers, grocery stores and pharmacies. However, this approach does not distinguish poor neighborhoods from segregated neighborhoods, ignores immigration and neglects city differences. Using Department of Commerce and 2000 Census data for zip codes in 331 MSA/PMSAs, we estimate HGLM models predicting the number of each of 10 organizational resources. We find that, (1) on average, as the poverty rate of a neighborhood increases, the number of establishments increases slightly; (2) as the proportion of blacks increases, the number of establishments decreases; (3) as the proportion of foreign-born increases, so does the number of establishments. Finally (4), metropolitan context matters: poor neighborhoods have more establishments in cities with low poverty rates, and in cities in the South and West, than in other parts of the country. Findings suggest reevaluating the de-institutionalized ghetto perspective as a theory of the effects of black segregation and depopulation, rather than poverty concentration, and approaching neighborhood poverty from a conditional perspective.

Racial Attitudes in City, Neighborhood, and Situational Contexts

Multiple social contexts have been shown to affect racial attitudes both positively and negatively when considered at different levels. In this article, context is simultaneously considered at three different levels: the metropolitan area, the census block group, and the interview situation (as measured by race of interviewer/race of respondent matching). Significant effects can be classified into three categories: the effects of the racial composition of the city, the effects of the racial composition of the neighborhood, and the effects of a “differentrace” interviewer. Neighborhood income and race of interviewer effects are direct; by contrast, racial composition effects are typically cross-level interaction effects. This indicates that the modeling of cross-level interactions is essential for future studies of the effects of racial composition on attitudes.

Trends in the race and ethnicity of eminent Americans

During the last several decades, the ethnic and racial composition of the American elite has changed to include some ethnic minorities and women. This study examines changes in the composition of one segment of the American elite: those who have obtained eminence in their occupations. Lieberson and Carters study of the ethnic composition of eminent Americans, using Whos Who in America, is replicated with data from the 1990s (Lieberson and Carter, 1979, American Sociological Review 44:347–366). In addition, comparisons between blacks listed in Whos Who in America and blacks listed only in Whos Who among Black Americans are made. During the 20 years since Lieberson and Carters study, Jews have made remarkable gains in eminent membership, while the rate of black representation has increased only moderately. Women are a small percentage of the eminent regardless of ethnicity, although black women are better represented than their counterparts in white ethnic groups.

Color-Blind and Color-Visible Identity Among American Whites:

Many signs point to the contemporary period as a color-blind era, one in which Whites purport to be unaware of race in social or political life. At the same time, White ethnic and racial identity continues to be measured in official government statistics such as the decennial U.S. Census and the annual American Community Survey (ACS). To adjudicate between the two, the ACS ancestry question response can be used not just as a means to measure the actual size of national origin populations but can also be a way to understand what it means to be “White” in an era of color blindness and optional ethnicity. White identities can provide the mechanisms by which color-blind ideologies are understood and expressed. Whites whose primary identity is “American” will understand race in a different way than a White respondent who identifies with a European ethnicity—yet each identity can lead to the same color-blind beliefs. To assess the appeal of different varieties of White identity, the responses of 16,632 non-Hispanic Whites to the ancestry question on the 2011 ACS are used. Based on these data, one can discern four primary types of White identity prevalent in the United States today: “White” (6%), “American” (10%), “ethnic” (62%), and “none” (12%). Each identity is most appealing to a different segment of the population—for example, older, urban Whites are most likely to claim an ethnic identity, while younger Whites living in rural areas with larger Hispanic populations are most likely to claim simply that their ethnic ancestry is “White.” Each identity also suggests a different pathway to color blindness.

Class Structure and Racial Consciousness Among Black Americans

Analyses of class cleavages among Black Americans have taken on a new importance since the growth of a sizeable black middle class during the post-Civil Rights era. Less often analyzed are the cleavages within the black middle class itself; small employers, well-educated professionals and others in supervisory positions often have differing interests and beliefs. Wrights (1985) 12-celled class typology provides a means of obtaining a more nuanced view of the position and beliefs of the black middle class by defi ning class on the basis of access to exploitative assets. Using data from the National Survey of Black Americans, 1979—1980 , a good approximation of Wrights class structure developed for a largely white sample is applied to a sample of over 1100 Black Americans. This indicates that the black middle class is more concentrated in positions with less access to exploitative assets than their white counterparts. An analysis of beliefs about black separatism utilizing this class schema finds that separatist beliefs are concentrated among the proletariat, while expert managers and the petty bourgeoisie are the least supportive of separatism.

Terminal Identities: The Racial Classification of Immigrants in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-century Death Records:

Death certificates are a means of assessing the racial classification of foreign-born Americans that is based neither on a set of formal racial identification criteria nor self-identification. Instead, local informants typically report the race of decedents. According to a sample of 1,884 records filed between 1859 and 1960, individuals born in China were progressively less likely to be identified by racial terms (e.g., white or yellow) and more likely to be identified by their country of origin (e.g., Chinese). The opposite is true for those born in Mexico or Puerto Rico, who are less likely over time to be identified as Mexican or Puerto Rican and more likely to be identified with a racial term—typically white. Most of the records analyzed are from southern states (n = 1,335), although an additional 548 records, primarily from Illinois and Ohio, are compared to the southern records. In some cases, white identity can serve as a mark of racial confusion, acting as a default or neutral identity rather than a mark of privilege. Conversely, it can represent a status that is actively striven for to provide freedom from discriminatory treatment. It serves primarily as the former for those born in China and the latter for those born in Mexico and Puerto Rico.