Segregation denotes the physical separation of people based on race, class, or ethnic alignment. Community segregation, that is, its subset, encompasses sorting out populations into different neighborhoods based on the same factors. This practice controls the living milieu at the neighborhood level. This essay explores how segregation occurs at neighborhood and community levels.
Forms of Segregation
Racial segregation is one of the most common forms of community and neighborhood segregation, either deliberate or forced separation into differing characteristics. The second category is residential segregation, which involves separating populations on specific criteria, such as income level or social class. Furthermore, segregation can either be vertical or horizontal (Laurence 6). The scenario of occupational sex differences can be used to elaborate on these two dimensions. Vertical segregation constitutes paying men different and preferably more wages than women in similar labor forces. Horizontal segregation involves the separation of individuals based on sex concentration in various professions in a way that does not exhibit inequality and discrimination. These examples of segregation signify the segregation process.
Segregation Process
Three fundamental reasons show how residential segregation occurs. Firstly, segregation arises from individual preference for one’s ethnic group. This preference propels individuals to avoid other ethnic groups due to various reservations. Individuals’ willingness to live in neighborhoods comprising different ethnic groups also tends to vary among people. Secondly, community members’ economic inequalities also propel residential segregation (Piekut et al. 4). People’s financial muscles tend to differ depending on their income levels. The disparity in income levels then groups people into social classes of the poor and the elite. The poor are forced to live in economically deprived neighborhoods as the rich live in relatively expensive estates since they can sustain that lifestyle. The poor neighborhoods are usually characterized by diseases like cholera, typhoid, and social unrest due to hardship experienced in such residences. Lastly, discrimination also propels residential separation. This occurs when real estate agents distinguish and deny a particular group of people’s houses based on ethnic origin, financial ability, and mobility behavior. Residential segregation has adverse effects on an economy since poverty levels rise by the zoning of poor people in marginalized areas where they cannot easily access quality jobs to improve their welfare. Such people would also fail to access quality education to become competitive in the job market and secure employment.
Racial segregation involves the separation of people into specific races and ethnic lines. It may take the form of the institution of mandatory use of individual hospitals and schools by a specific race. In severe cases, it may even result in people’s seclusion from a particular racial origin from using certain restaurants and water points. Racial segregation amounts to a crime against humanity and the crime of apartheid in international law (Laurence 3). This form of separation is prohibited worldwide, as it inflicts unnecessary torture on people by affecting their mental and physical wellness. A significant example of extreme racial segregation was the treatment meted out to non-whites in South Africa during the apartheid regime. This was a severe case since segregation was officially enacted in the country’s legal system, endangering blacks’ lives. It led to the infringement of the blacks’ political and civil rights, who were oppressed, which had adverse effects on their living conditions. Such a form of cruelty has also been experienced by a vulnerable group of people like women and children and has incited intense struggles and calls for equality.
Factors Causing Segregation
Cultural differences are also considered to be fuelling community segregation. Institutional practices in place tend to put more emphasis on matters concerning cultural differences than material diversities. The Muslim community has been a target for segregation in Britain in ways like political exclusion and material differences from other cultural groups (Sturgis et al. 4). They were also denied an equal share of British values as it was done to people from other religions. Human rights activists have rallied a call to make anti-Muslim racism more respectable as possible because it is detrimental to their daily lives.
Ethnic diversity among communities also significantly contributes to racial residential segregation within a population. This form of diversity hurts trusting a neighbor, resulting in segregation. People in Ethnically diverse areas develop feelings of threat and negative attitudes toward each other. By this, ethnic diversity poses a significant threat to social solidarity and cohesion as such areas tend to be highly segregated (Sturgis et al. 6). Social cohesion is necessary for community empowerment and prosperity since teamwork is the only way a community can be built to prosper to greater heights of economic success. Segregation caused by a lack of trust among people from different ethnic origins is a deterrent to community development programs.
The negative association between neighborhoods depends on neighborhood diversities caused by ethnic diversities (Laurence 7). A lack of trust for people from other ethnic origins occasions a positive correlation between diverse ethnicity and community segregation.
In a nutshell, community segregation is not a problem, though the intentions of the practice must be emphasized. Community segregation based on tribe, race, or income inequalities must be rejected as it creates animosity among community members. Poverty levels also tend to rise by undertaking segregation on income levels as the poor are deprived of resources that could be used to improve their lifestyle. Therefore, community segregation should factor in the common good of everyone to guarantee social cohesion.
Works Cited
Laurence, James. “Wider-community segregation and the effect of neighborhood ethnic diversity on social capital: An investigation into intra-neighborhood trust in Great Britain and London.” Sociology 51.5 (2017): 1011-1033.https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038516641867
Piekut, Aneta, Gwilym Pryce, and Wouter van Gent. “Segregation in the twenty first century: Processes, complexities and future directions.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie 110.3 (2019): 225-234.https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12355
Sturgis, Patrick, et al. “Ethnic diversity, segregation and the social cohesion of neighborhoods in London.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 37.8 (2014): 1286-1309.
