Where We Live Now: Immigration and Race in the United States [Paperback]

John Iceland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2009

Where We Live Now explores the ways in which immigration is reshaping American neighborhoods. In his examination of residential segregation patterns, John Iceland addresses these questions: What evidence suggests that immigrants are assimilating residentially? Does the assimilation process change for immigrants of different racial and ethnic backgrounds? How has immigration affected the residential patterns of native-born blacks and whites? Drawing on census data and information from other ethnographic and quantitative studies, Iceland affirms that immigrants are becoming residentially assimilated in American metropolitan areas. While the future remains uncertain, the evidence provided in the book suggests that America's metropolitan areas are not splintering irrevocably into hostile, homogeneous, and ethnically based neighborhoods. Instead, Iceland's findings suggest a blurring of the American color line in the coming years and indicate that as we become more diverse, we may in some important respects become less segregated.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A well-documented study. . . . Recommended."--Choice

From the Inside Flap

"In Where We Live Now, John Iceland documents the levels and changes in residential segregation of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans from Census 2000. Although the concentration of new immigrants in neighborhoods with more co-ethnics temporarily increases segregation, there is a clear trend toward lowered residential segregation of native born Hispanics and Asians, especially for those with higher socioeconomic status. There has been a modest decrease in black-white segregation, especially in multi-ethnic cities, but African Americans, including black immigrants, continue to experience much higher levels of housing discrimination than any other group. These important findings are clearly explained in a well written story of the continuing American struggle to live the promise of E Pluribus Unum."--Charles Hirschman, University of Washington

"Where We Live Now puts on dazzling display all the virtues of rigorous social science to go beyond mere headlines about contemporary American neighborhoods. Iceland's book reveals much more complex developments than can be summarized in a simple storyline and dissects them with admirable precision to identify their dynamics and implications. The reader comes away with a more sophisticated understanding of the ways in which residential patterns are moving in the direction of the American ideal of integration and the ways in which they come grossly short of it."--Richard Alba, co-author of Remaking the American Mainstream

"A unique work that takes on immigration, race and ethnicity in a novel way. It presents cutting-edge research and scholarship in a manner that policy makers and other nonspecialist social scientists can easily see how the trends he examines are reshaping American life."--Andrew A. Beveridge, Queens College and the Graduate Center of City University of New York

"This is the new major book about racial residential segregation; one that will influence research in this field for several decades. Using new measures, John Iceland convincingly shows that the Asian and Hispanic immigrants who are arriving in large numbers gradually adopt the residential patterns of whites. The presence of many immigrants, he demonstrates, is also linked to declining black-white segregation. His analysis shows that the era of 'white flight' has ended since many racially mixed neighborhoods now are stable over time. This careful analysis cogently explains how race, economic status, nativity and length of residence in the United States contribute to declining residential segregation. Future investigators who conduct research about racial and ethnic residential patterns will begin by citing Iceland's Where We Live Now."--Reynolds Farley, Research Scientist, University of Michigan Population Studies Center

"Where We Live Now is both a very timely and highly significant study of changes in living patterns among racial/ethnic groups in the United States, showing how such groups are being affected by immigration, and what this means for racial/ethnic relations today and tomorrow. This book is a must-read for all persons interested in the country's new diversity."--Frank D. Bean, Director, Center for Research on Immigration

"In Where We Live Now, John Iceland paints a clear yet nuanced picture of the complex racial and ethnic residential landscape that characterizes contemporary metropolitan America. No other book of which I am aware places residential segregation so squarely or effectively in the context of immigration-fueled diversity. Thanks to its rare blend of theoretical insight, empirical rigor, and readability, Where We Live Now should appeal to audiences ranging from research and policy experts to undergraduate students."--Barrett Lee, Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (March 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520257634
• ISBN-13: 978-0520257634
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Iceland is Professor of Sociology and Demography and Senior Research Scientist in the Population Research Institute at Penn State University. He was previously Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, and before that, Chief of the Poverty and Health Statistics Branch at the U.S. Census Bureau. His research focuses on racial and ethnic residential segregation, poverty, and immigration issues. His latest book is Where We Live Now: Immigration and Race in the United States (2009, University of California Press). His previous book, Poverty in America (also University of California Press), is now in its second edition. He has written several articles on poverty measurement issues and has testified before a Congressional subcommittee examining problems with the current U.S. official poverty measure. He is on the editorial board of a number of social science journals and is currently serving as an elected member of the Population Association of America (PAA) Board of Directors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Immigration and Civil Rights Book, May 12, 2009

By 

Kevin Johnson "No Name" (Davis, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where We Live Now: Immigration and Race in the United States (Paperback)

Going beyond Black/white analysis of the issue, WHERE WE ARE NOW analyzes in a sophisticated fashion residential segregation through the lens of immigration. It specifically considers the impacts on housing patterns of the migration of diverse peoples from Mexico and Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Such an analysis is much-needed. The demographic diversity of the United States has grown exponentially since Congress eliminated discriminatory national origins quota system from the US immigration laws in 1965. The book tells the important story of the integration over time of immigrants of different races and national origins and their offspring in neighborhoods across the country. By so doing, WHERE WE LIVE NOW highlights the growing diversity of the American population and how, in certain instances, the struggle for civil rights implicates Latinos, Asians, and other groups as well as African Americans.
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