Living Apart: 21st Century Segregation in Hampton Roads (ULI Virginia)

ULI Virginia

The “Living Together / Living Apart” project is a long-term participatory action research project that focuses on the human experience and toll of persistent racial segregation in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Indeed, racial segregation in most major U.S. metropolitan areas is worse today than it was during Reconstruction. This did not happen by accident, nor did it happen overnight; the origins of racial segregation in the American city are deep and go far beyond the oft-cited quip that “birds of a feather flock together.” Rather, a combination of discriminatory housing and economic policies, and both overt and indirect racism throughout much of the 20th century, lie at its heart.

This project uses oral history interviews, historical documents, participant-directed photography, and spatial analysis to engage the local community in meaningful, open ways and to challenge the “naturalness” of segregated landscapes and explore alternative futures. In this presentation Dr. Finn will provide an overview of the theoretical and historical underpinning of racial segregation in Hampton Roads and present his research team’s preliminary findings, focusing especially on the uneven racial geography of economic, educational, and environmental inequality that are the legacies of racist housing policies in the U.S. Attendees will also be able to use multiple interactive digital maps to explore the multifaceted impacts of racial segregation across Hampton Roads.

Speaker: Dr. Johnny Finn, Associate Professor, Christopher Newport University