THE OTHER REASON JOB SUBURBANIZATION HURTS BLACKS - THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LOCATION AND RACIAL COMPOSITION OF EMPLOYMENT IN DETROIT AND ATLANTA, 1980

Data are presented on the racial composition of employment in census t racts for Detroit and Atlanta, showing that employment in the central cities is disproportionately black and employment in the suburbs is di sproportionately white. It is argued that this urban-suburban contrast is explained by the concentration of black employment in predominantl y black neighborhoods. Physical proximity to black workers and human c apital considerations can account for a small percentage of this relat ionship. However, even after controlling for these factors, the effect of neighborhood racial composition on the percentage black of employm ent is quite substantial. These findings suggest that the suburbanizat ion of work may adversely affect black employment, not so much by movi ng jobs outside of their feasible commuting range but by shifting jobs to areas of the city where black workers are at a higher risk of disc rimination.