Racial Segregation in Kansas City and Its Signs

Hyper-segregation, a term defined by Denton and Massey, means a “central-city neighborhood that is highly segregated, isolated, and concentrated” (Chen, Orum, & Paulsen, 2018). This is being studied all over the country by different sociologists in cities. Many metropolitan areas in the United States including Kansas City are hyper-segregated because of past prominent individuals, covenants, laws, and real-estate activities.

When studying hyper-segregation in these cities, it is studied at a metropolitan level. The study focuses on every single neighborhood individually and then as a whole. Researchers will study an all-black neighborhood and an all-white neighborhood to compare them together and with others all around. There are three ways to measure the amount of hyper-segregation in a city. These three ways are the index of dissimilarity, index of exposure, and index of isolation. The index of dissimilarity shows what percentage of a certain race would have to move to achieve a non-segregated neighborhood. A percentage over sixty is considered very high. This means that over sixty percent of the population of a certain neighborhood would need to move so it would no longer be segregated (Chen et al.,2018). Kansas City has an index of 72% (“Segregation, 2000). This means that 72% of people in all black neighborhoods would have to move to achieve integration. The index of exposure shows how close people live to members of a different racial group. The index of isolation shows how close people live to others of their same race (Chen et al., 2018). These all help to study and describe how segregated a city is.

When looking at all of these parts of segregation, it is clear that some past problems have caused this issue. Gwendolyn Wright, author, stated in her writings that, “the federal government institutionalized racial class discrimination in the housing market by its mortgage insurance system which encouraged the white middle class’s flight to the suburbs and hastened inner-city neighborhood decay” (Wright, 1981). This means that the government was helping to cause this hyper-segregation phenomenon. The main way this was carried out was through real-estate agents and housing reformers. Real estate agents are responsible for a process called blockbusting. Blockbusting is the process of scaring a certain race or class of people out of their own homes for fear of another race moving in. This way real-estate agents can buy their properties for cheap, and they can resell them all at a higher cost to people of a different race (Chen et al.,2018). This causes whole neighborhoods of one race to move together. Kevin Fox Gotham is one author who studied the impact of past activities on hyper-segregation. Gotham wrote about, “how race and manifestations of racism emerged in the context of the development of local housing markets in the United States’ cities during the turn of the century” (Gotham, 2014). Gotham explained how the real-estate industry, housing reformers, and social workers helped give an image to the black ghetto. The ghetto became a place that was looked upon as dangerous, poor, and a place that white people should not go to or live in (Gotham, 2014). These places are still labeled in the same way today.

Other historical mistakes that led to hyper-segregation are redlining, school segregation, transportation, deeds, and covenants. Some of these are very noticeable right here in Kansas City. Kevin Fox Goth was one to study Kansas City and notice these patterns. He wrote that “before 1900, Kansas City was race and class mixed within the city” (Gotham, 2014). However, when modern real-estate came around, land owners created racially restrictive covenants. These excluded people of some racial groups from owning, occupying, or renting certain land (Gotham, 2014). This caused the separation of ethnic groups in the city. J. C. Nichols was a huge developer in Kansas City during this time. He is responsible for a large amount of the covenants that were made. He also took part in the redlining phenomenon. Redlining a type of mapping that divides up a city by race and poverty levels. It makes it very difficult for families in certain “bad” areas to get money for home loans (Chen et al., 2018). A historic line that divides Kansas City is Troost. It is very obvious that property prices still vary greatly on different sides of the street.

So, although redlining and covenants were outlawed many years ago, they still have a huge impact. Many metropolitan areas in the United States including Kansas City are hyper-segregated because of past prominent individuals, covenants, laws, and real-estate activities.

Because of this, hyper-segregation will continue to be studied in every single neighborhood at a metropolitan level by social scientists looking for solutions.

Concentrated poverty can be defined as an area where 40% or more of the neighborhood population is living in poverty (“Understanding Neighborhood”, 2011). There are many people all around the world, in the United States, and right here in Kansas City living in concentrated poverty. Concentrated poverty is the result of many different issues families struggle with, poor job opportunities, and poor means of transportation.

Concentrated poverty can be measured in a couple of different ways. Poverty can be considered, as said in the previous paragraph, if 40% or more of the neighborhood or geographic area’s residents live in poverty. There is a large difference between general poverty and concentrated poverty. When a family or individual is living in concentrated poverty the residents are not able to access resources, help, and other networks needed to succeed (“Understanding Neighborhood”,2011). Sociologist William Julius Wilson highlights the difficult barriers that residents in these neighborhoods have to overcome. “Wilson emphasizes that a spatial mismatch between increasingly suburban job opportunities and the primarily minority residents of poor urban neighborhoods has magnified other challenges, such as crime, the movement of middle-class residents to better neighborhoods, and a perpetual shortage of finance capital, stores, employment opportunities, and institutional resources” (“Understanding Neighborhood”, 2011). This directly relates to communities with crime, health, and education problems that impact the children growing up in these areas. This being said, those living here are not given many opportunities to get out of those conditions.

We spoke of some of these concentrated poverty barriers in class. The lack of healthy food, means of transportation, and good jobs are the main issues we covered. When it comes to transportation, a lot of these poor residents do not have money to spare. If their car were to break down, they would not have a way to get to work. It is also likely that their neighbor does not have the means to help them or give them a ride either. If the resident cannot find a ride and cannot pay for the bus, or even get to the bus, they will not be able to work. If they can’t work, they don’t get paid. This situation really highlights the number of incidents that can cause a huge problem in these people’s lives. Lack of healthy food is also a problem we covered in class that has a large impact in these neighborhoods. Most grocery stores refuse to place stores in poverty-stricken areas because the resident will not buy their expensive items. Since most large stores are not located close, people are required to eat food from stores such as gas stations or small markets. Generally, these stores sell cheap processed food and not healthy meats, fruits, and vegetables. Eating poorly can cause a lot of health problems. If a person living in poverty becomes ill, they probably can’t afford a doctor’s visit. Looking at these few examples, it is easy to see why it is so difficult for these residents to move out of concentrated poverty.

Concentrated urban poverty also relates to hyper-segregation. These concentrated areas go all the way back to when the African American’s had their institutional ghettos, maps were being redlined, and covenants were being placed on land (Chen et. al.,2018). An article on segregation and poverty sates “racial segregation in central cities typically means greater concentrated poverty and fewer opportunities for economic mobility” (Butler & Grabinsky, 2016). A study done by these sociologists in D.C shows large differences in black and white poverty and education levels. With over 60% of the population being majority white or black, the hyper-segregation issue reflects the poverty problem. Their study shows that 94% of D.C neighborhoods with major white population have 10% or less of the families below the poverty line while majority black neighborhoods have 22% below the line (Butler & Grabinsky, 2016). By looking at these numbers, it is evident that segregation has relations to poverty.

Kansas City itself has close to the same problem with poverty and hyper-segregation. The street “Troost” is often named the dividing line for Kansas City poverty. Looking back, we can partially blame developers like J.C Nichols, and the real estate industry for our areas of concentrated poverty. African Americans were forced to live separately from the whites. Once their institutional ghettos became jobless ghettos concentrated poverty began. These people were all living together and somehow, even when the jobs left, the people stayed living together in poverty.

Although many sociologists are studying poverty and segregation, it still remains a large issue around the country and world. These families are not finding ways to overcome the depths of poverty they are living in because it is the result of many different problems including jobs and transportation.

There are many different solutions and ideas that have been thought of to combat hyper-segregation and concentrated poverty. Although these problems have not been fixed, some have reduced the issues. Many have also thought of ways to combat racial segregation and social inequality. These are problems that do not have one simple fix, it will take many steps and much time to solve the troubles of hyper-segregation, concentrated poverty, and inequality.

Hyper-segregation and concentrated poverty go hand in hand. They have developed over a long period of time and are the outcome of many past decisions. When people first started noticing problems, racial covenants were outlawed, redlining was outlawed, and restrictions were put on the real estate market. Since then, sociologists have continued to study solutions. A recent article states that real estate agents say three factors determine the value of a home. These three things are location, location and location (Squires & Kubrin, 2005). The authors go on to state how much place and neighborhood matter when looking for a home. “Access to decent housing, safe neighborhoods, good schools, useful contacts and other benefits is largely influenced by the community in which one is born, raised and currently resides” (Squires & Kubrin, 2005). Since place and location are the number one things that matter to homeowners, this could be a gateway to a solution for hyper-segregation. When looking at solutions there are some that can impact the “longstanding and seemingly intractable problems. Land use planning tools like tax-based revenue sharing and the delineation of urban growth boundaries can be utilized more extensively to reduce sprawl and some of the associated costs” (Squires & Kubrin, 2005). If sprawl is reduced, this will then allow reinvestment into the already inhabited communities. Old homes can be redone and resold. Housing mobility programs and zoning ordinances can also be enlarged to help get rid of the concentration of poverty. Another plus would be enforcing more fair housing laws so racial segregation could be minimized. With these policies and new ideas, metro areas can be evenly and fairly developed (Squires & Kubrin, 2005).

Another big solution to these issues that goes along with stopping sprawl and focusing on the already existing communities is making more transportation available. This is especially important in a city like Kansas City. Since Kansas City is so spread out, it is hard to walk to work. Also, weather conditions are not always permitting for a comfortable walking commute to work. As stated earlier, if one cannot get to work then they can’t get paid. In Kansas City, transportation is especially an issue because of its less dense population. “According to the findings of a 2011 Brookings Institution report comparing 100 metros of similar size to Kansas City, our public transit system is among the 10 worst. In addition, Brookings found only 18 percent of the jobs in the metro region are accessible to job seekers with less than a 90 minute commute on public transit” (Ziegler, 2014). This is a real problem for people that have no other option than to take public transportation. Especially for working people that have other family members to tend to as well. If they miss their bus, it could make them very late for work (Ziegler, 2014). A solution to this would be to arrange and renovate affordable housing close to the bus lines and closer to jobs. This way people could have the opportunity to possibly walk to work, and their commute would not be as long if they chose to ride public transit. Making the public transportation easier to access would also help reduce sprawl. Reducing sprawl would then go back to investing in the communities that are already built. An article by Robert Freilich states that the Federal Aid Highway Act was useful for creating interstate highways, which helped the suburbs. However, these highways did not help the already existing communities inside the cities. Neighborhoods were cut through by these highways that encourage sprawl of the city (Freilich, 1998). Robert’s final words of his solution in his article were “we can no longer afford sprawl, either socially or fiscally. It may be difficult to contain, but it makes communities and the nation economically uncompetitive in a worldwide market” (Freilich, 1998).

These are just a few solutions to the very large and complex problems of hyper-segregation, concentrated poverty, and inequality. If sprawl is reduced and real estate agents and developers are forced to renovate existing home, then communities will become nicer and more affordable. Also, if the public transit inside the city is maintained and improved, people will get to work easier and homes can be built along bus lines. These major problems will not be solved overnight, but step by step will begin to improve.

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