Mississippi's capital city is among the most residentially segregated in the U.S., according to a new study by Apartment List Dot Com. MPB's Ashley Norwood reports.
More than half of the minority population in Jackson is living in neighborhoods outside predominantly White communities. A new report titled "The Persistent Effects of Residential Segregation" shows Jackson having the thirteenth highest level of segregation out of 100 metropolitan cities. The African American population is the largest minority group living apart from Whites.
Chris Salviati, a housing economist with Apartment List, says part of residential segregation is a result of a racial past.
"So, exclusionary zoning policies which used zoning as a tool to kind of segregated neighborhoods, redlining as well. So all of these factors combine sort of had really strong effects on enforcing these patterns in really clear-cut ways," said Salviati.
The report also shows minorities living in Jackson's segregated neighborhoods have an average income less than the average income of the entire city. Dwight Barnes is a real estate agent with Keller Williams. He doesn't believe it's all about race.
"It's about the cost of living. Can they sustain living in certain locations or at certain price points? If their debt-to-income ratio won't allow them to be able to move, then they can't control that part," said Barnes.
Charles Hampton is the president of the Mississippi NAACP chapter. He says it's been fifty years since the Fair Housing Act that would prohibit housing discrimination.
"We are still struggling. Basically, if you look at all the Civil Rights laws and all of that it was past 50 years ago. Instead of gaining ground we are losing ground," said Hampton.
The report is available at apartmentlist.com. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
