Moving Towards a Melting Pot

According to data from the most recent Census, segregation along racial lines has hit an 100-year low in seventy-five percent of U.S. metropolitan areas. Southern and Western cities have showed the most noticeable integration trends.

1 minute read

December 15, 2010, 5:00 AM PST

By Emily Laetz


New figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that racial boundaries are fading in many American neighborhoods within metropolitan areas. The data was collected through the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which, with 10 million participants, is the largest demographic survey ever completed in the country.

Of particular interest to politicians and lawmakers alike is the Congressional redistricting issues that have emerged as racial demographics change according to geographical location.

"The shift is part of a 'complicated story with lots of nuances' that includes changes in social attitudes, the emergence of new housing and economic opportunity, and an age gap that shows young America is dramatically more diverse – and open to diversity – than older generations, says Kenneth Johnson, a demographer at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham."

" 'Whether you like it or not, [the new figures] show that change is coming,' says Mr. Johnson."

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 in The Christian Science Monitor

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