AMERICA APARTHEID AND THE URBAN UNDERCLASS - THE SOCIAL-SERVICE-REVIEW LECTURE

Recent theories of the urban underclass have systematically ignored ra cial segregation in American cities. As a result, they have not come t o terms with one of the fundamental causes of urban poverty. African A mericans are uniquely segregated among U.S. racial and ethnic groups. This segregation is not voluntary, but stems from white prejudice, ins titutional discrimination, and racist public policies. The segregation of African Americans blocks normal processes of socioeconomic mobilit y and leads to a concentration of poverty in black neighborhoods. This concentration of poverty creates a social environment within which so cioeconomic disadvantage is created and perpetuated. Unless efforts ar e made to attack the forces of racial segregation, other efforts to im prove the welfare of African Americans will fail.