April 3, 2001 --Leading social scientists gathered with civil rights and fair housing leaders to discuss new U.S. Census data that reveals the powerful national trend of continued segregation among minority groups living in metropolitan areas nationwide. Speakers addressed the policy implications of these new segregation statistics.

John Logan, Director of the Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research at the State University of New York, Albany presented the results of a new Center study, Segregation in America: Findings from Census 2000, that ranks the most segregated metropolitan areas in the country and analyzes the changing patterns for blacks, Latinos, Asians and whites. Logan noted that there has been little if any change in segregation levels since the 1990 census, and that "the average white person continues to live in a neighborhood that looks very different from those neighborhoods where the average black, Hispanic, and Asian live."

William Taylor, Vice-Chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), read a statement from LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson. In his statement, Henderson called upon the Bush Administration to address the issue of housing segregation through changes in current policy. Henderson asserted, "Without affirmative steps by government to ensure, through vigorous enforcement of our fair housing laws, that housing markets remain open to a changing population, the long legacy of housing segregation will remain with us."

"Growing residential segregation is disturbing on many levels," said Charles Kamasaki , Senior Vice President, National Council of La Raza (NCLR). "But perhaps the most dangerous implication of these developments is how residential segregation reinforces other societal inequalities to severely limit educational opportunity for Hispanics." Kamasaki continued, "Reversing the trend toward growing residential separation along racial and ethnic lines should be a major national priority."

Karen Narasaki, President of the National Asian Pacific Legal Consortium (NAPALC), discussed how these new statistics reflect the importance of intergroup relations. Narasaki observed, "Asian Americans have a great stake in working together with other racial groups to develop a constructive approach to sharing power and resources, as well as a process for working out any racial tensions in diverse communities."

In urging support of fair housing policies, Gary Orfield, Co-Director of The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, said, "We need a major increase in fair housing enforcement, stronger penalties for violators, and a mobilization of suburban governments and schools to prepare for a huge wave of social change in our suburbs. This is the only way that suburban communities can avoid the failure of city leaders and communities a half-century ago and build communities where diversity is welcome and housing integration is extensive and lasting."