"Leavin' the Hood": The Health Paradox of Integrated Neighborhoods

A fairly-recent article of Matthew O. Hunt highlights a rarely-recognized aspect of American racism: perceptions of racial discrimination are more likely in integrated settings. Below, I have included the reference and abstract of the study published in Social Psychology Quarterly.

Hunt and colleagues highlight three types of neighborhoods -- relatively homogeneous without non-whites , "integrated" (i.e., approx. 50-50 split), and relatively homogeneous and dominated by non-whites. Perceptions of discrimination is highest in neighborhoods that are relatively homogeneous without non-whites and lowest in neighborhoods that are relatively homogeneous with non-whites. "Leavin' the hood" may not be so psychologically pleasing after all, hmmph.

This finding echoes Thomas A. LaVeist's thesis from the early 90s with regards to infant mortality rates. LaVeist found that, within highly segregated metropolitan contexts, IMR rates for blacks were lower, but only if blacks were politically empowered (i.e., representation in local government) relative to their representation in the metropolitan area. On the other hand, black political empowerment had no effect on white IMR rates. For once, this isn't a win-lose situation.

Still, the critical questions remain:

• Do blacks in ethnically-dense neighborhoods just not recognize an event as discriminatory? Studies of low-income blacks would support this claim.
• Or do blacks in ethnically-dense neighborhoods not experience discrimination as much as their counterparts in integrated neighborhoods?
• Or is it really about the quality of contact? According to Hunt and colleagues, more evenly-mixed neighborhoods elicit less perceptions of discrimination than those that more skewed towards whites. Might a different kind of interracial interaction be happening in these neighborhoods?

In any case, all this leaves us with a complex public policy situation. Integration is often perceived as the savior to non-whites social and economic problems--whether it be residential, cultural, or social integration (assimilation). Yet, the dynamics of integration force both sides of the color divide to see the problem and, in doing so, raise tensions that are often only elephants in the room when we are all trying to "just get along."

Given that poor mental and physical health follow both perceptions of discrimination and residence within the structures that manifest discrimination (i.e., highly segregated neighborhoods, economic disadvantage), we need to literally change the quality of interracial contact within contemporary America for this lose-lose situation to become a win-win.

One way to change the quality of interracial contact within neighborhoods and other social spaces is to encourage a diverse groups of acquaintances. Social science research notes that contact alone is not sufficient to break down the negative stereotypes of non-whites that is ingrained in American culture. For instance, Jackman and Crane (1986) that simply having black friends and acquaintances does little to influence whites' policy attitudes towards blacks. Instead, she suggests that a diversity of contacts aides in the deconstruction of cultural stereotypes by providing multiple images of the "other". With a diversity of contacts, it is more likely that individuals who are separated by race but otherwise quite similar may come together.

Also, these images directly challenge stereotypes and provide a context to understand the social etiology of our cultural toolbox. In either case, during the process of interaction, a new bridge is constructed for otherwise estranged neighbors, colleagues, and peers to meet on equal grounds and build more stable relationships on top the class, gender, political, and civic platforms they both stand.

With each passing year, the cultural and social space for interracial contact expands wider. Yet, poor mental and physical health follow the footsteps of both past and future social structures. On the one hand, residence within the highly-segregated and economically-disadvantaged neighborhood structures manifested by historical and continued discrimination is detrimental to one's health. On the other hand, perceptions of discrimination generated by increasing levels of interracial contact is also detrimental to one's health. Clearly, we must literally change the quality of interracial contact within contemporary America for this lose-lose situation to become a win-win.

Reference

Hunt, Matthew O., Lauren A. Wise, Marie-Claude Jipguep, Yzette C. Cozier, Lynn Rosenberg. 2007. "Neighborhood Racial Composition and Perceptions of Racial Discrimination: Evidence from the Black Women's Health Study." Social Psychology Quarterly 70(3):272-289.

Little is known about the effects of social context or "place" factors (e.g., characteristics of local populations) on African Americans' perceptions and experiences of racism. Using data from 42,445 U.S. black women collected during the 1997 follow-up wave of the Black Women's Health Study, we investigated the association between neighborhood racial composition ("percent black" at the block-group level in 2000 Census data) and perceptions of racial discrimination. Perceived racial discrimination was measured using self-reports of the frequency of discrimination in "everyday" settings (e.g., being treated as if you are dishonest) and "lifetime" occurrences of discrimination on the job, in housing, and by the police. There was a linear inverse relationship between neighborhood percent black and perceived discrimination, i.e., higher percent black was associated with lower levels of discrimination. Our results support the conclusions that, relative to contexts in which blacks are a small minority, more evenly-mixed (i.e., integrated) contexts result in lower levels of discrimination (contact hypothesis), and mostly black contexts evidence the lowest levels of discrimination (ethnic density hypothesis).