[Durham INC] White flight may still enforce segregation

[David Eklund]

 White flight may still enforce segregation
<https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/10/white-flight-segregation> (
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/10/white-flight-segregation)

Journal Article: Diversifying Neighborhoods and Schools Engender
Perceptions of Foreign Cultural Threat Among White Americans (PDF, 473KB)
<https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-xge0001115.pdf>

WASHINGTON — As the population of people of color grows across the United
States, white Americans are still prone to move when neighborhoods
diversify, and their fears and stereotypical beliefs about other racial and
ethnic groups may help maintain segregation, according to research
published by the American Psychological Association.

In a nationally representative survey and six additional studies, white
Americans perceived a threat to their culture and way of life when
presented with information about changing demographics in hypothetical
white-majority neighborhoods and schools, compared with when no demographic
change was projected. The projected population growth of Arab Americans,
Latino Americans and Asian Americans evoked the strongest feelings of
foreign cultural threat, followed by the projected population growth of
Black Americans. The research was published online in the *Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General*.

“The more that white Americans perceived this foreign cultural threat, the
more they reported wanting to move out of those communities,” said lead
researcher Linda Zou, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the
University of Maryland. “Racial segregation of schools and neighborhoods
never ended. The country is growing more diverse, but those changing racial
demographics may trigger heightened perceptions of threat among white
Americans and contribute to the persistence of segregation.”

Since 2000, the population growth of Latino Americans has accounted for
more than half of the total population growth in the United States.
According to U.S. Census projections, the United States will be a majority
minority nation by 2044, when non-Hispanic whites will make up just under
50% of the population, compared with approximately 25% for Hispanics, 13%
for Blacks, 8% for Asians, and 4% for multi-racial people. Non-Hispanic
whites currently make up approximately 58% of the U.S. population.

The perception of different types of threat is often fueled by different
underlying stereotypes, Zou said. For example, the study found that while
Asian Americans were perceived by white Americans as a greater threat than
Black Americans to a hypothetical white-majority neighborhood’s cultural
character, Black Americans were perceived as a greater threat than Asian
Americans to the neighborhood’s safety and resources. Another study about
schools found that white parents reported a greater degree of perceived
foreign cultural threat from a growing Latino American student body
compared with a growing Black American student body.

The research included data from a 2000 nationwide survey with 2,213 white
Americans (54% of whom were female). Respondents who reported greater
feelings of foreign cultural threat were equally more likely to oppose
living in neighborhoods with Latino Americans, Asian Americans or Black
Americans.

Six additional studies that were conducted online or in Seattle from
2016–18 produced more detailed findings. White Americans were more likely
to want to move out of hypothetical white-majority neighborhoods in
response to both Black American and Latino American population growth
compared with Asian American population growth. They were also more likely
to want to move out in response to Asian American population growth
compared with no projected demographic change.

White Americans tended to perceive a greater foreign cultural threat from
both Latino American and Asian American population growth (compared with no
projected demographic change) even though participants were told that the
ethnic minority growth was from people born in the United States. Previous
studies have found that white Americans often consider U.S.-born Latino
Americans and Asian Americans as less American or more foreign than their
white counterparts.

The studies didn’t analyze whether the participants’ political affiliation
affected the findings, but even liberal white parents have resisted sending
their children to integrated schools in New York City and other areas, Zou
said. While more white Americans may say they support racial integration,
that doesn’t necessarily reflect where they choose to live or send their
children to school, she added.

Other research suggests that programs and policies designed to welcome
immigrants could help improve attitudes and support among white Americans
for neighborhood and school integration by signaling positive local norms,
Zou said. The research relied on surveys and data about hypothetical
neighborhoods. Additional research is needed about white flight in actual
neighborhoods across the United States, according to the researchers.
David
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