A father of five, his only hope for survival is a stem-cell transplant he can't afford. Gary is white, and I'm black. Had we been living in segregated neighborhoods, I'd most likely never have known him as a human being, nor cared about his fate. Integration humanizes us. Yet a new State University of New York analysis of Census data found that while blacks and whites overall live in slightly more integrated areas now than 10 years ago, their children live in increasingly segregated areas.
Racism clearly plays a part in residential segregation.
Some whites won't even purchase a home lived in by blacks. Gary's wife, Jerrie, an ebullient Southerner who grew up in a children's home, is a real estate agent. She and I have spoken about housing discrimination, which she acknowledges exists and which she abhors. When my mother, Magdalene, and sister, Miriam, who'd been living with me, my wife and our three children, found minimum-wage jobs and saved enough to start dreaming about their own house, Jerrie offered to help. She admired their work ethic and family values, but knew many lenders would overlook these qualities and focus solely on their credit history, which they hadn't yet established.