QR Readings. Case 3. Fall
2002.
Haynes,
Bruce D. 2001. “E Pluribus Unum”. Pp. 53-59 in Red Lines, Black Spaces. The
Politics of Race and Space in a Black Middle Class Suburb. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press.
In this selection, Haynes offers a succinct summary
of changing census classifications from the 19th century onward to
inform his study of a middle class black community in New York. A lovely case
study and the entire book is well worth the read.
Grieco,
Elizabeth M. and Rachel C. Cassidy. 2001. Overview of Race and Hispanic
Origin. Census 2000 Brief. Washington DC: US Census Bureau.
This is the “official” census explanation of the changes in the race
and ethnicity categories in Census 2000. For the purposes of record keeping,
all government agencies are now legally required to keep far more detailed race
and ethnicity data than they did heretofore. Why do you think Hispanic
“ethnicity” categories have been kept separate from traditional “race”
categories? Is there anything self-evident about it?
Omi,
Michael and Howard Winant. 1986.
“Racial Formation”. Pp. 57-69 in Racial Formation in the United States.
New York and London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
This selection might help answer the last question with a really
important reflection on the social nature of race classifications. This is a
classic theoretical text on racial formation and race categories. I recommend
it to you strongly.
Massey,
Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton. 1993. “The Missing Link” and “The Creation of
Underclass Communities”. Pp. 9-16 and 115-142 in American Apartheid.
Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
These are excerpts from the seminal modern text on
residential segregation. I have excerpted part of the introduction in which the
authors make their overall argument as well as a chapter that offers a
simulation demonstrating how segregation concentrates poverty and other social
ills. The latter is conceptually difficult and not required but well worth the
effort if you are interested in race and class in the contemporary United
States. What I did not include (but wanted to) is the second chapter on the
formation of the ghetto during the 20th century. This is recommended
extra reading for those who want to pursue it.
Smith,
Preston. 1995. “Hidden History of Racial Segregation in Springfield and
Holyoke”. Paper presented to the Regional Approaches to Ending Housing
Segregation Conference. Holyoke, MA, April 1995.
This a good summary of the history of residential segregation in
Holyoke and Springfield written by an MHC professor who you could continue to
study this topic with in the next few years!!
Bluestone,
Barry and Mary Huff Stevenson. 2000. “Residential Preferences and Segregation”.
Pp. 165-198 in The Boston Renaissance. Race, Space, and Economic Change in
an American Metropolis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
This is a good recent description of segregation in Boston during that
city’s economic renewal in recent decades. The chapter selected here combines
survey data with census information on segregation to engage the question of
the degree to which residential preferences shape the racial and ethnic
composition of neighborhoods.