Stereotypes and Segregation: Neighborhoods in the Detroit Area

TLDR

Black‑white residential segregation persists despite open housing laws, with competing explanations: discriminatory real‑estate marketing practices or mutual preferences for segregated neighborhoods. The authors test whether white stereotypes contribute to resistance to integrated neighborhoods using data from the Detroit Area Study of 1976 and 1992. They analyze that data to assess how white stereotypes influence preferences for segregated neighborhoods and resistance to integration. The study finds that stereotype use links white preferences to discriminatory real‑estate practices, explaining the persistence of segregation in the Detroit area.

Abstract

Two opposing hypotheses seek to explain why black-white residential segreration persists despite open housing laws. One perspective argues that discriminatory practices in the marketing of real estate are responsible. Another view contends that it is the preferences of both blacks and whites for their own neighborhoods that maintain segregation. Using data from the Detroit Area Study of 1976 and 1992, the authors test the hypothesis that stereotypes among whites play an important role in explaining their resistance to integrated neighborhoods. They conclude that stereotype use links white preferences to discriminatory real estate practices in a way that helps to explain the persistence of segregation in the Detroit area.