Black Segregation Hits 100-Year Low

New Census figures from 2005 to 2009 (artfully mapped by The New York Times) show that black residential segregation has decreased since to a 100-year low. The average black person lives in a neighborhood that is 46 percent black (down from 49 percent in 2000). Residential segregation is by no means a thing of the past—it actually increased in 25 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas—but the numbers are encouraging.

The Progressive Pulse offers additional context:

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While the overall decrease is good news in the housing context, it raises some disconcerting questions in the realm of public school integration. A report from University of California at Los Angeles’ Civil Rights Project shows that, during the same period where residential segregation declined, segregation in public schools has accelerated.

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Do you see integration as a trend that will continue in the coming decades? You have to wonder how our continually turbulent economy will affect things.

Image (cc) by Flickr user andymangold