In Conclusion

There needs to be improvements made in order to lessen residential segregation. There needs to be an understanding that action needs to be taken to change the problem. Frustrations among differing races will rise if there is not a common understanding that there’s something that needs to be change. We don’t want to fall back into the past, or reverse the work that has been done to lead up to this point. Keeping these situations bottled up only leads to riots and rebellions such as the Watts Riots. Although some may find this subject insignificant to themselves, living in our nation places those in the center of it all. If you look around, there is not one single race within our nation. There are many shades of colors among us. It is unavoidable to realize that present day segregation is in the here and now.

The Lines Remain

For those groups that made the decision voluntarily to live in a location where others share the same race or ethnicity, Rocha and Espino discourage this and say that it’s doing more harm than good. These people of the same race feel more at ease with each other, not having to worry about discrimination within their neighborhood. By doing this, they can be worsening the discriminatory thoughts and actions of differing races and ethnicities. Stereotypes remain as residences remain racially homogeneous. There needs to be a change in our society to lessen the fears of discrimination and increase the acceptance among various races. In their article they reported that, “…individuals residing in racially mixed areas are significantly more likely to report higher levels of interracial contact than are those living in racially homogeneous areas.” (Espino 416). By continuing to seclude themselves from other races, the line between them remains. This means that many either don’t want or aren’t able to interact with other races, which can lessen the discrimination among us. 

The "Choice"

To define just what ethnic residential concentrations are, Eugene Turner explains that they are, “neighborhoods in which members of ethnic groups live much closer to each other than would be the case if they were distributed randomly.” (Turner, 268) There are no longer restrictions placed based on race, but many people are choosing to live in a place where they are grouped together. Times have changed, and Turner continues on to say that many of today’s concentrations began as ghettos, but many metropolitan areas that have more amounts of ethnicities have become more concentrated post-1970s. All of these many protests that have led up to today would lead some to believe that our society would be more intertwined with other races. The word “choice” must be used loosely, as there are various factors that come into play as to why these members of a certain group gravitate towards these communities. Many people move into these communities because they have family that already live at that location. There can be limited financial resources, so that is the only area where they can afford housing, or employment locations, where they choose a residence around the area of the job or convenience of lesser transportation. 

Turner, Eugene. “Ethnic Residential Concentrations in United States Metropolitan Areas.” Geographical Review, Vol. 95, No. 2. American Geographical Society. 2005.  pp.267-285

Dimensions of Racism

Laura Pulildo explains how the definition of racism is defined too limitedly, and should be seen in a more broad scope. There are many different advantages and disadvantages that coincide with discrimination. Most people concentrate on extreme forms of racism that result in a physical altercation. There are many various forms that can fall under the category of discrimination. “Focusing exclusively on discriminatory actions ignores the fact that all places are racialized, and that race informs all places. Clearly, our preoccupation with discrete discriminatory acts ignores the vast dimensions of racism.” (Pulildo, 13) White privilege is a problem in our society. The privileges whites have over other ethnic minorities have more to do with the past versus the present. Their families in history started from the bottom long ago to have their many well-off decedents to be financially stable.  They were given a head start, with generations before them establishing the basics to which their families today have been born with. The remaining disadvantaged races were not allowed to reside in certain areas up until recently, making it more challenging to leave the area they’ve ended up in.  “Because whiteness is rarely problemized by whites, white privilege is scarcely acknowledged.” (Pulildo, 13) Many people pay more attention towards the discriminatory and hostile acts against races of color. People need to be aware that there is no single form of racism.

The Face of the Riots

There was a lot of confusion of what the true reason of the riots were. Many answers came from White men themselves, but in this news cast following the aftermath of the riots, they interview a citizens living in Watts.