Preferences, Race and Place: The Geography of a Monochrome Society

William A.V. Clark, University of California, Los Angeles

The divide between those who lament the coming multi-ethnicity of the United States and those who celebrate a nation of nations, continues to grow. Yet, demographic evidence and expressed preferences may provide very different long term outcomes than those suggested by either people who worry about a declining white majority or those who emphasize the gains from multi-ethnicity. There is now evidence that the residential locations of children of mixed-race households emphasize integration both in central cities and suburbs. These residential patterns can be interpreted as the first steps to a monochrome society. The data for levels of integration for Asians, Blacks, whites and Hispanics (who identify as white) show very high levels of integration. I argue that this is evidence of a changing pattern of residential integration and evidence of very different outcomes than those suggested by either the lamenters or the celebrators.