Chelli Devadutt - Racial Inequality in New York City since 1965

RACIAL INEQUALITY
IN NEW YORK CITY
SINCE 1965

EDITED BY

BENJAMIN P. BOWSER AND CHELLI DEVADUTT

Cover designed by Matt Schoen.

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

2019 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bowser, Benjamin P., editor. | Devadutt, Chelli, 1944 editor.

Title: Racial inequality in New York City since 1965 / edited by Benjamin P. Bowser and Chelli Devadutt.

Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018046842 | ISBN 9781438475998 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438476018 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: New York (N.Y.)Race relationsPolitical aspects. | New York (N.Y.)Ethnic relationsPolitical aspects. | Race discriminationNew York (State)New York. | MinoritiesNew York (State)New YorkSocial conditions. | MinoritiesNew York (State)New YorkEconomic conditions. | New York (N.Y.)Politics and government.

Classification: LCC F128.9.A1 R33 2019 | DDC 305.8009747/1dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046842

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To
Walter W. Stafford

This anthology is inspired by the life and work of Walter Stafford, a man whose spirit and essence permeates this book. Just days before he passed away, still steadfastly committed to his work, he said to his wife, Chelli, Im not afraid to die. I want to live, because I love life, and there is so much work to do.

Contents

J. Phillip Thompson

Benjamin P. Bowser and Chelli Devadutt

Part 1
Structural Underpinnings of Inequality

C HAPTER 1
Economy: Inequality in New York City: The Intersection of Race and Class

James A. Parrott

C HAPTER 2
Housing: The Paradox of Inclusion and Segregation in the Nations Melting Pot

Ingrid Gould Ellen, Jessica Yager, and Maxwell Austensen

C HAPTER 3
Education: New York City School Segregation Then and Now: Plus a Change

Norman Fruchter and Christina Mokhtar

E DUCATION A DDENDUM
Improving School Culture to Reduce Educational Disparities for Black and Latino Young Men

Adriana Villavicencio, Shifra Goldenberg, and Sarah Klevan

C HAPTER 4
Government: Do Mayors Matter? Race, Justice, and the Men in City Hall, 19652017

Jarrett Murphy

Part 2
The Race Mountains

Hector R. Cordero-Guzmn

C HAPTER 5
African Americans and Racialized Inequality in New York City

Benjamin P. Bowser

C HAPTER 6
Latino Americans: The Evolving Latino Population in New York City

Hector R. Cordero-Guzmn

C HAPTER 7
West Indian Americans: Select Socioeconomic Characteristics of West Indian Immigration in New York City

Calvin Holder and Aubrey W. Bonnett

C HAPTER 8
Asian Americans: Immigration, Diversity, and Disparity

Howard Shih

C HAPTER 9
Ethnic Conflict: How Much Exists in New York City?

Benjamin P. Bowser, John Flateau, Hector R. Cordero-Guzmn, Howard Shih, Calvin Holder, and Aubrey W. Bonnett

Part 3
Practice and Policy

Hector R. Cordero-Guzmn

C HAPTER 10
Policing: Stop and Frisk: Continuity of Racial Control and Reconstructed Blackness

Natalie P. Byfield

George W. Woods and Stephen Greenspan

C HAPTER 11
Public Health: Public Policy, HIV/AIDS, and the Destruction of Community in New York City

Robert Fullilove

Michael K. Gusmano and Victor G. Rodwin

C HAPTER 12
Human Development Index: The Five New Yorks: Understanding Inequality by Place and Race in New York City

Kristen Lewis and Sarah Burd-Sharps

C HAPTER 13
Public Housing: New York Citys Third City

Victor Bach

C HAPTER 14
Political Participation: Black New Yorkers: Fifty Years of Closing the Political Inequality Gap, 19652016

John Flateau

C HAPTER 15
Social Capital, Gentrification, and Inequality in New York City

James Rodriguez, Robert L. Hawkins, and Andrew Wilkes

Benjamin P. Bowser and Chelli Devadutt

Illustrations

Maps

Figures

Tables

Foreword

J. P HILLIP T HOMPSON

Many thanks to Chelli Devadutt and Benjamin Bowser for assembling this needed anthology on racial inequality in New York City. As they note, the city of hope for European immigrants more than a century ago shunned Black immigrants from the Jim Crow Deep South. The city that designed programs and influenced the nation to establish pathways for creating the great White middle-class is today one of Americas most racially segregated cities. This is not because New York is one of the most racist cities, far from it; it is because of the operation of the labor market and real estate markets combined with the impact of historical legacies such as inheritance. The challenge of racial inequality goes far beyond city policies. They point to the need to implement federal and state policies that match the power and effect of the federal and state policies that established racial hierarchies in the first place. We are far from that now; the nation has never figured out or had the political will to integrate its schools and neighborhoods racially. Non-whites, Blacks, and Latinos especially, are still concentrated in the worst paying occupationsas they have always been. Wealth disparities between Whites, Blacks, and Latinos are growing, leading to increased residential segregation. This anthology brings together the Citys most ardent, authoritative, and intrepid scholars and analysts to probe these issues and more. The result is a thorough overview of the problems confronting New York, and many useful insights on how to make the city better and more democratic.

It is fitting that this volume be dedicated to the memory of Professor Walter Stafford. Walter was a friend, mentor, and inspiration for many students of urban policy and especially young scholars of color, including me. Walters spirit was infectious; he often laughed when he described his activism in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, while pointing out the intractability of racial segregation in New York City. Two conversations with Walter stick out in my mind. Walter continually emphasized the importance of job training and analysis of labor markets. While activists in the 1980s were focused on housing affordability, Walter made us think about the other side of affordability: what was happening to jobs and incomes in the economy, especially for workers of color. Walter was always on the lookout for new developments and potential paths for economic opportunity.

For example, Walter was one of the early investigators of corporations dealing with inadequacies in public education by developing internal job training programs. He thought that finding new pathways for workforce development ought to be a key topic in addressing inequalitysomething I continue to believe. Walter read broadly and studied political theory to help conceive new approaches to public policy. He was thrilled with the emergence of critical feminist scholarship in the 1980s. Walter repeatedly stated that feminist thinkers were developing important critiques that paralleled, deepened, and transformed race and class analyses. He was no doubt right about that too. If those of us working on New York policy and politics can come close to Walters intensity and intellectual curiosity, I think we can change the trajectory of many of the negative trends outlined in this volume.