Arguments Against Residential Segregation

Latino neighborhoods have increased by 232% from 1980 to 2010 (Onesimo Sandoval & Jennings, 2012). Residential segregation, which I define as the Latino and White spatial segregation by income for this paper, is an important concept to consider when creating health policies that are meant to ensure equal health outcomes among society as a whole. Although the World Health Organization defines health to be “a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” empirical evidence and statistics show that residential segregation has a threatening impact on the physical and mental health outcomes for disadvantaged Latinos (WHO, 100). Therefore, it becomes a social determinant of the health of the fastest growing population in the country (Onesimo Sandoval & Jennings, 2012). However, health researchers and practitioners
As a result, policy implications must be made in the effort to dismantle the health disparities targeting Latinos, which are the consequence of people living in underrepresented, impoverished neighborhoods, segregated away from affluent society.
Background on Residential Segregation Current racial segregation among our society may not be as explicit as the Jim Crow era; however, it is still very prevalent as the research on residential segregation by race reflects. According to David R. Williams and Chiquita Collins, legislation, the support of major economic institutions, federal government housing policies, judicial system enforcement, which are all legitimized by the racial ideologies behind white supremacy, are the contributing forces of racial segregation among neighborhoods (Williams and Collins, 2001, p. 405). To begin, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed to make the discrimination in the sale or rental of housing units in the U.S. illegal. However, Latinos continue to face discrimination when white realtors and