Profiles and Perspectives of Housing Quality of Blacks in Selected Southern Metropolitan Cities

Abstract

This article reassesses the factors that have been identified as influencing housing quality disparities and profiles recent housing conditions of Blacks as compared to Whites in selected cities in the South Census Region of the United States, using a national data set. The intended result is to promote further research and debate in an area that has received less attention in recent years, in view of the fact that 1990 Census data show African Americans still ranking below Whites on nearly every measure of socioeconomic status (O’Hare, Pollard, Mann, & Kent, 1991).

Much of the research has focused on differences in housing quality for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites, and has attempted to measure and explain these differences. A number of factors have been identified as contributing to the persistent disparities in housing quality. These factors include location, income levels, household composition, tenure type, race, and past and present discrimination that constrains housing choices. This study uses the American Housing Survey data from 1985 through 1991 to profile selected demographic characteristics, housing unit characteristics, and the Black and White occupants’ perception of the adequacy and satisfaction of the housing units in ten southern metropolitan cities from two survey times at four year intervals.

A search of the literature shows that studies focusing on racial differences and inequalities in housing have declined in recent years. Greater emphasis was placed on these areas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, thus documenting the impact of a multiplicity of federal housing and urban renewal programs implemented following the civil unrest of the 1950s and 1960s with the enactment of major civil rights legislation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gladys G. Shelton

Gladys G. Shelton, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Department of Housing and Consumer Economics, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Marion R. Sillah

Marion R. Sillah, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor, School of Business and Industry, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida.