POVERTY, SEGREGATION, AND RACE RIOTS - 1960 TO 1993

We test arguments that residential segregation incites racial unrest u sing event-histories of 154 race riots in 1960 to 1993 in 55 of the la rgest SMSAs in the United Stares. We argue that, although racial depri vation and residential segregation may reinforce identification with r acial boundaries and awareness of racial grievances, these problems do not alone spark racial conflict. Instead, we find that a combination of high levels of racial segregation followed by interracial contact g enerates racial competition, which in turn increases the rate of ethni c and racial unrest. Our results show that in SMSAs where residential contact between African Americans and Whites increases, the rate of ra ce riots increases significantly. A prior history of racial turmoil in creases the likelihood of another race riot; the results suggest that the rate of race riots in a metropolitan area depends nonmonotonically on the number of previous riots in that region. These effects remain potent in models controlling for population size, income disparity, et hnic diversity, Black poverty rate, unemployment, and minority composi tion.