Figure 1: Dissimilarity

Figure 3: Tolerance and Diversity

Figure 2: Isolation and Exposure

Figures:  
• Figure 1: Dissimilarity  – 
• Figure 3: Tolerance and Diversity  – 
• Figure 2: Isolation and Exposure

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Three different measures of residential segregation are used to indicate inclusivity. Dissimilarity is the evenness with which one racial population group is located (or segregated) within a metro area, with respect to another racial group. Exposure is a segregation measure referring to the degree of potential contact, or the possibility of interaction, between group members of two racial groups within the average neighborhood of a metro area. When the racial groups are the same (e.g., black-black exposure), this is same-group exposure, or isolation.

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

Patterns of inclusivity are influenced by the historical development of the region as well as by cultural attitudes. 

According to 2000 census data on dissimiliarity, the Seattle Metropolitan's non-hispanic black population was more segregated in reference to the non-hispanic white population than the hispanic and asian/pacific islander populations were to the reference white population. (Figure 1)  Dissimilarity is the evenness with which one racial population group is located (or segregated) within a metro area, with respect to another racial group. The dissimilarity statistic is interpreted as the proportion of one racial group that would need to relocate to another neighborhood (census tract) for that racial group to be distributed across the metro area like a second (reference) racial group. A value of "0%" reflects absolute integration; a value of "100%" reflects absolute segregation. 

White people are least likely to be exposed to black people by virtue of where they live.  Exposure is a segregation measure referring to the degree of potential contact, or the possibility of interaction, between group members of two racial groups within the average neighborhood of a metro area. For instance, the white-black exposure index provides the average proportion of neighbors that are black, for the average neighborhood where whites live. The first group listed is exposed to the second group listed.  When the racial groups are the same (black-black exposure), this is same-group exposure, or isolation.  

The non-hispanic white population is the most isolated of the racial/ethnicity groups identified in the census (Figure 2).  In comparison to other areas of the country, the Seattle Metropolitan area ranks 46th out of 100 largest metroploitan areas in terms of white isolation.  Asian/pacific islander peoples are the second most isolated population in this region.

A study of friendship between diverse populations showed that compared to the national norm, people in the Seattle metropolitan region along with the San Francisco metropolitan region, are most likely to report having friendships with people dissimilar to themselves by race and sexual oreintation. (Figure 3)

Data Source and Limitations

Diversitydata.org

Non-Hispanic black and Asian/Pacific Islander groups include people who identified themselves as those races "alone" or those races "in combination with other races."

The primary source of data for Figures 1 and 2 is: "Racial and Ethnic Residential Segregation in the United States: 1980-2000," U.S. Census Bureau, Series CENSR-3, and 2000 Census, Summary File 1.

Figure 3 come from an analysis by Rich DeLeon, professor of political science at San Francisco State University and is based on comparative data gathered by the Roper Social Capital Benchmark Survey, a Harvard-based research project headed by Prof. Robert Putnam (of Bowling Alone fame).

 

 

 

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