Introducing ‘The Dream Revisited’, a Slow Debate on Racial & Economic Segregation
Black/white segregation has declined in the past few decades, but remains extremely high in many major metropolitan areas. Hispanic and Asian segregation have remained unchanged. The neighborhoods in which minorities live enjoy far fewer advantages than the neighborhoods in which whites live. Moreover, In the past two decades, both residential and school segregation by income has increased significantly, while the gap between rich and poor Americans has widened to levels not seen since the early 1900s.
Accordingly, and in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the NYU Furman Center has launched a blog to host a “slow debate” on economic and racial segregation in neighborhoods and schools.
The Dream Revisited will feature essays on contested issues in contemporary research and policy analysis on segregation and on efforts to promote integration in order to advance equality. Each month will feature a new discussion topic, including a short essay and responses from leading researchers and academics. The hope is that openly discussing such critical and difficult issues will break through some logjams and get productive debate and creative ideas flowing.
The opening discussion in the series--titled "Why Integration?"--explores the meaning of the term "integration" and the conditions under which it may be an effective strategy for promoting racial and economic equality.
Contributors to the first discussion include:
- The Problem of Integration by Mary Pattillo, Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University and a Straus Fellow at NYU
- Focus on the Costs of Segregation for All by Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
- Making Our Assumptions About Integration Explicit by Pat Sharkey, Associate Professor of Sociology and a Straus Fellow at NYU
- In Search of Integration: Beyond Black and White by Rucker Johnson, Associate Professor of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley
The Dream Revisited will feature a new discussion each month for the entire year. At the conclusion of project in 2014, the debates will be digitally archived. The Dream Revisited is presented as part of the NYU Furman Center's Integration Research Initiative and supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.
Visit The Dream Revisited or sign up to receive new discussions in via email.
Media requests, links to responses, and other inquiries regarding The Dream Revisited can be directed via email to shannon.moriarty@nyu.edu.
