Social Inequalities In America

The standard of living in the United States fluctuates noticeably from neighborhood to neighborhood. In general, these disparities have steepened as economic and social inequality has increased over the past 30 years. Although several decades have passed since the eradication of accepted laws and blatant practices of discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity, the promises of greater racial equality and integration are often hard to notice in todays American. The widespread discrepancies between inner cities and their neighboring suburbs are some of the most dramatic examples of unrealized promises of the “rights revolution.” An extensive comparison of two neighborhoods in the Hartford, Connecticut area helps to unveil the causes for, extent of, and possible solutions to the numerous inequalities that linger in and around many of America’s cities.

Through data collected over the last few decades, it is clear that racial and ethnic integration has gradually diminished, economic disparity between the two neighborhoods has widened, and education opportunities have migrated toward one neighborhood while moving further away from the other. These trends not only provide insight on neighborhoods alike, but for America as a whole. The West Hartford neighborhood is labeled as Census Tract 497400 and is a mere five miles away from the severely impoverished neighborhood, Frog Hollow. Frog Hollow is directly beside Trinity College’s Hartford campus, and is labeled as Census Tract 503000.