Racial segregation, the concentration of disadvantage, and black and whitehomicide victimization

Discriminatory housing market practices have created and reinforced pattern s of racial residential segregation throughout the United States. Such segr egation has racist consequences too. Residential segregation increases the concentration of disadvantage for blacks but not whites, creating African-A merican residential environments that heighten social problems including vi olence within the black population. At the same time, segregation protects white residential environments from these dire consequences. This hypothesi zed racially inequitable process is tested for one important type of violen ce-homicide. I Sle examine race-specific models of lethal violence that dis tinguish residential segregation from the concentration of disadvantage wit hin racial groups. Data are front the Censuses of Population and Federal Bu reau of Investigation's homicide incidence files for U.S. large central cit ies for 1980 and 1990. Our perspective finds support in the empirical analy ses. Segregation has an important effect on black but not white killings, w ith the impact of segregation on African-American homicides explained by co ncentrated disadvantage.