The Suburbanization of Segregation

Abstract

This chapter lays out the case for understanding the transformation of the Bay Area as segregation, and for transforming our understanding of segregation. It begins with a brief introduction to the history of diversity in the Bay Area, one of the first regions to be born as multiracial in what was at that time a very two-tone America. It then turns to the question of segregation, starting with how what became known as the “suburban wall” helped form ideas of segregation. It examines how segregation has changed, moving beyond debates about whether American is still segregated, and instead focusing on what segregation means in the twenty-first century. It argues that the partial erosion of the “suburban wall” does not mean segregation is dead, but simply that it has changed form and geography.