First of all I would like to apologize about the late post of this entry. For a long time I wondered about why New York was so different from Phoenix, Charleston, or even Richmond. I’ve been to a few of these places and have noticed a definite change in attitude and demographic in these areas and could never attribute them to a tangible cause. However, in today in class Professor Brooks asked a compelling question why racial segregation was less apparent in these smaller big cities or liberal cities? In class we didn’t really seem to get an answer to this question. Yet, I think there are a few reasons why segregation has affected these cities differently.

 

I believe the most important reason why segregation is 80% in New York and much less across the country stems from what we spoke about in previous classes. How in post – WW2 New York City, White Americans were given the opportunity to move out of the urban areas and move to into the suburbs, while African Americans and other minorities were not given low interest mortgages and were confined to these areas.  Whites prevented African Americans from participating in these new opportunities, Whites deliberately made application forms confusing, prevented adequate education in public schools, and paid low wages. These factors kept African Americans in New York City separated.

 

However, in cities like Denver, African Americans have become much less segregated and have actually integrated into the community. I believe one of the reasons that this happened in this way was because with a smaller population base in cities like Denver the citizens there have less room to discriminate, because they need every individual to pull their fair share of weight.

 

I would set this parallel to what happened on the Western Frontier after the end of the Civil War. Many individuals moved to the west in search of a better life. Many of the people who went out west were White. However, many were also free African Americans. On the whole African Americans were treated better in the west then they were treated in eastern cities because their help was genuinely needed to help western societies take root and succeed.

 

In “Beyond the Melting Pot” Glazer writes about the mayors who reformed New York City; however it is not a coincidence that none of the mayors are African American. The African American’s of New York City had absolutely no power when it came to politics in the early to late middle period of the last century. With no power in politics it is impossible to secure help for your constituency. Thus until recent history have African Americans been a force in New York State politics.

 

However, in places like Denver were people are integrated people tend to vote with their ethnicity but with their party, thus African Americans benefit because they have a choice to join a party and encourage politicians to garner their votes. The sad reality is that African Americans on average vote democratic. They vote democratic because democrats support social welfare. However, since their districts are clearly defined and their needs clearly “understood” by politicians they are not seen as important voters to sway in elections. Thus they are not granted incentives like people who live in Denver, where their vote is treated as an equal vote because their vote actually matters. In cases like these it is easy to understand why many Whites want an electoral college as opposed to a popular vote. An electoral college reinforces these districts and promotes segregation and redefinition of cities based on ethnic lines.

 

Many things explain segregation in New York City. However, only a few things could be done to correct it. Segregation causes unfair circumstances for individuals. Segregation does not correct a problem but simply worsens it, and education is the only real solution. Politicians have to realize that the only way to fix segregation in New York City is to start by educating the urban masses.