Regions in the North and West, with small black populations, exhibit levels of mobility for black individuals that are both higher and comparable to those of white individuals, but these are regions with relatively small black populations. In the South, these low mobility rates for black individuals are substantially lower than corresponding rates for white individuals. Overlaying this pattern with the spatial distribution of the black population yields some disturbing results: areas with a large black population are likely to be places where black individuals experience particularly low levels of economic mobility. Recent research by Raj Chetty and coauthors has illuminated the differing potential for intergenerational mobility that exists across the United States. As Hardy, Logan, and Parman detail, influences ranging from discrimination and intimidation, to lender behavior, to white flight from cities, to public policies like redlining or highway construction all combined to keep the African-American population more concentrated in particular communities. This concentration of the African-American population is not accidental. ĭifferences within regions-across cities, suburbs and rural areas-also affect racial inequality. The black population tends to be more concentrated in the central counties of large metropolitan areas relative to the white population. By contrast, the white population tends to live in smaller metropolitan areas and in rural counties. Therefore, any economic shifts that disadvantage the South and Midwest co uld disproportionally affect African-Americans. Relative to the general population, b lack households today are far more likely to live in the South or in urban areas in the Midwest, and far less likely to live in the West (as seen in the figure below ).
Moreover, as illustrated in the figure below, poverty in the Deep South tend to be much higher in counties with high black populations. Counties with disproportionately high shares of black Americans today are the same counties that had large black populations before the Civil War, suggesting that historical conditions have had extremely persistent impacts on the outcomes of African-Americans. The Regional Concentration of the African American Populationĭespite the Great Migration of millions of African-Americans from the rural South to cities across the United States, the modern distribution of black Americans closely relates to the historical patterns of the black population. Their analysis emphasizes the importance of both place and policy in determining individual outcomes. Logan, and John Parman examine how the spatial distribution of the black population has evolved over time and how this has interacted with economic mobility and U.S. In a recent Hamilton Project paper, The Historical Role of Race and Policy for Regional Inequality, economists Bradley L.
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