US History of Residential Segregation

This two-week course will explore one of the most visible yet least well understood aspects of racial segregation in the United States: the color line in housing. While some Americans do live in racially diverse communities, by and large, the housing landscape in the US remains remarkably segregated along racial lines. These racial lines largely correspond with economic status. While there are certainly many well-to-do white people in cities (and many expensive, exclusive urban neighborhoods) and many middle class and wealthy people of color in suburbs, in the aggregate, across the country inner-city neighborhoods tend to be disproportionately minority – and poor – in composition and suburbs tend to be disproportionately white, and wealthier. This course will explore the long history that has produced today’s segregated residential landscape, paying particular attention to the role of government at all levels in instituting housing policies that have historically advantaged whites and disadvantaged blacks.