Question

What does real estate value have to do with school segregation? With this correlation in mind, how have inequalities in wealth contributed to long-term inequality between blacks and whites in the U.S. Use scholastic data/sources to substantiate your analysis

Answer 1

Answer.

Within the United States, the Inequality in wealth has subtly reinforced racial discrimination as it has shaped the boundaries of American neighbourhoods. Given the fact that the African American and Hispanic population represents the majority of low income families in the US society, more Black and Latino individuals inhabit the poor neighbourhoods of the major towns and cities. This difference in neighbourhoods has over the years accrued into the system of education as well resulting in a grave situation of segregation of Schools.

This is because areas with higher real estate values, which is by and large the majority heterosexual White family, have access to better schools. The taxes pay for it. Re’al estate agents are found to further increase what is called ‘racial steering’ ( Besbris, Faber, 2017) by influencing the the access to possible properties for sale to potential customers based on the agents’ own assessment about the racial identity of their customers. Such a clustering enhances the house prices as well as creates ground for racial segregation.

Compared to the White, ‘elite’ neighbourhoods, Blacks who live in lower income areas would get a lower grade of education when the district is under funded by lower tax collection for education. Therefore, racial minorities get deprived of a better education due to lower income status.

References:

Besbris, M; Faber, J.W (2017). ‘Investigating the Relationship Between Real Estate Agents, Segregation, and House Prices: Steering and Upselling in New York State’.In Sociological Forum. DOI: 10.1111/socf.12378

Retrieved on 12 August, 2018 from : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/socf.12378