Chicago is one of
America’s most diverse cities. Per
census.gov, it’s racial makeup is: 33 percent whites/non-Hispanics, 30 percent
black, 29 percent Hispanic and 6.4 percent Asian; making it a mecca for anyone
who values a progressive environment…or not.
Because despite appearing to be the poster child of integration on
paper, Chicago is quite segregated.
Thus, diversity, in communities and companies, may not be as effective at building
equality as our intuition implies.
In a FiveThirtyEight
article appropriately titled “The Most Diverse Cities Are Often the Most
Segregated” editor Nate Silver analyzes data indirectly based on the 2010
census. It includes a scatterplot that measures
integration by comparing diversity at the neighborhood level to that at the
city level. Further, a regression line
is drawn through the points (cities): the farther a city falls below the line
the more segregated it is.
Admittedly, at
first glance the data isn’t a cause for concern, given that neighborhood
diversity generally increases with city diversity. However, Silver acknowledges there’s a “curve”
due to the reality that most cities fall below the integration line: cities
that are diverse overall but still segregated, like Baltimore, are the norm
rather than outliers. He also notes that
“Cities with substantial black populations tend to be highly segregated.”
This disclaimer
alludes to Silver’s method, which measures all segregation equally. This allows
residents of a city like Sacramento to pat themselves on the back for being
integrated: despite the low percent of blacks.
Indeed, when measured via the index of dissimilarity, which uses
the white population as a pivot, those cities wouldn’t score as high for
diversity / integration.
Of course, the
implication that diversity efforts generally result in privileged demographics
segregating rather than integrating is not news. Given, it’s ironic that discussions of race
inequality relative to business and media promote diversity as the
solution.
Though data like
that presented in the FiveThirtyEight article mainly pertains to residential behavior,
there’s no reason to believe the conclusions don’t apply to office spaces as
well. Writer/editor Jay Caspian Kang
touches on this in episode 2 of Diversity Hire, jokily stating “They put
us in an actual ghetto here in the corner”: in reference to the proximity he had
to the only other Asian in their office at The New Yorker.
And rather than
inadequate housing, underperforming schools or over-policing, corporate
segregation instead results in low morale and/or retention among those
excluded. This notion is addressed by
Tiffani Ashley Bell, founder of Human Utility, on an episode of Marketplace
Tech. In the interview she describes how
a friend was let go from a company mostly, based on her review, because of the
inability to mesh with the waspy culture.
And given that white-collar professionals are hardly working, such a claim
sounds credible.
Additionally, in
episode 25 of ChapterThirtyPodcast a host describes an incident where she and
her co-workers, who were white men, were preparing for a presentation. At some point they reassigned the sections and
only made her aware before entering the room, resulting in her looking like the
unprepared one in the process.
Ultimately, these
accounts served to highlight how the negative effects of segregation are just
as salient in employment as in residential settings. This post was not to convince those who
prefer homogeneity to embrace integration: due to the strong correlation
between whiteness, power, and the eternal validity of rational choice theory,
it would be naïve of me to assume that any article can convince a group of
humans to voluntarily spoil their privilege by desegregating.
However, it’d be wise for advocates of equality to be aware that diversification may not achieve the intended goal. Indeed, it’d be nice to have mainstream sources that make employee retention data from top companies accessible. Despite the bell and whistles on glassdoor.com and comparably.com, I couldn’t locate such a feature. Regardless, it’d probably do little for concrete progress, and more radical means will ultimately be needed. But don’t take my word for it. Stay pissed.
References:
Silver, Nate. "The Most Diverse Cities Are Often The Most Segregated." https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-most-diverse-cities-are-often-the-most-segregated/
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