John Logan

John R. Logan is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences initiative at Brown University. Dr. Logan is co-author, along with Harvey Molotch, of Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place. He studies trends in metropolitan development with a particular focus on suburban areas and on segregation and performance disparities in public schools.

Speaker Abstract

Separate and Unequal in Suburbia  

School disparities closely track differentials in the composition of neighborhoods.  This presentation will focus on suburban neighborhoods -- less segregated than those in central cities, but displaying very similar patterns.  The phrase "separate and unequal" refers to two interrelated phenomena.  First, blacks and Hispanics remain highly segregated in suburban regions; "upward mobility" to the suburbs does not mean that they live in the same communities as whites and Asians.  Second, their separate neighborhoods have less resources.  Resources are measured here by the income level of neighbors, but parallel disparities are found on other features of communities.  More distressing (and surprising to those who imagine a post-racial America), blacks and Hispanics with very high incomes live on average in poorer neighborhoods than working class whites.