The Perpetuation of the Black Underclass

The authors of this article place their main emphasis on the word “segregation.” I don’t even know where to start. The author goes on to say that residential segregation is completely and solely based off whites and I quote “it was manufactured by whites through a self-conscious actions and purposeful institutional arrangements that continue today.” I think it should say “manufactured by upper-class” instead of whites. If were a high ranking top paid doctor, I would want my house in a neighborhood with people of similar socio-economic status. What I am getting at is I believe the price of real estate can be a huge attribute to residential segregation, as well as personal prejudice whether it is coming from a white or black person. An underprivileged white or black person would have trouble moving into a neighborhood that is not within their means. I understand that the author does contend that income is not a factor for residential segregation that it still occurs among blacks and whites of all socio-economic statuses. So instead of saying residential segregation is cause because of the institution and the structure, what about bringing it down to the individuals?

For example, say if there was a middle-class neighborhood of all whites and a family of blacks wanted to move in, I would like to point out that maybe they would not want to move into that neighborhood because it was purely all white, and they might feel uncomfortable. As well this can certainly go both ways. I do understand that the author states that blacks would prefer to live in half and half communities, but I do not believe he had any statistical data to back that up.
When the author says “Deleterious neighborhood conditions are built into the structure of the black community. They occur because segregation concentrates poverty to build a set of mutually reinforcing and self-feeding spirals of decline into black neighborhoods.” What about extremely poor white or other race neighborhoods? Does this apply to them too?
The authors talks about how Black English has become progressively more distant from Standard American English, and its speakers are at a clear disadvantage in U.S. Schools and labor markets. What about redneck English? I would like to believe that redneck English would not put those speakers in advantage of those that speak Standard American English.
Overall this article was good, even though I do not agree with some of it. Which could very well be because I am white, or it could because I am middle class (or would like to think so). I truly believe that residential segregation has a lot to do with both money and personal prejudice. Not the institution or the structure of things. That’s just my two cents.