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ETD Abstract Container

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Integration without Assimilation: Black Social Life in a Diverse Suburb

Grigsby, Alan V.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372415028617

Abstract Details

2018, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Sociology.
The face of cities and suburbs has changed. The majority of Americans now live in suburbs and today’s suburbs are becoming more racially diverse than ever before. However, most research on this topic is limited to quantitative research designs that cannot fully ascertain the quality of race relations in this changing landscape. My research uses an ethnographic approach to investigate social life in one racially diverse suburb of Cleveland, OH: Shaker Heights. Specifically, I investigate how African Americans who occupy this space—as residents, employees, and visitors—think about, describe, and participate in social life in a diverse suburb. After two years of ethnographic fieldwork, I conclude that, although Shaker Heights is statistically integrated, the residential spaces and social lives of black adults do not reflect this demographic reality. Moreover, black adults interpret the rare, discrete instances where racial diversity is promoted as inauthentic. Finally, my research explores connections and commonalities among the black adults living in the segregated sections of Shaker Heights. This information will help scholars better understand dynamics of race relations in a neighborhood context that is both seldom explored and growing in demographic importance.
Jeffrey Timberlake, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Erynn Casanova, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Sarah Mayorga-Gallo (Committee Member)
138 p.
Sociology
suburbs; diversity; race relations; African Americans; integration; Shaker Heights

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Grigsby, A. V. (2018). Integration without Assimilation: Black Social Life in a Diverse Suburb [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372415028617

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Grigsby, Alan. Integration without Assimilation: Black Social Life in a Diverse Suburb. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372415028617.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Grigsby, Alan. "Integration without Assimilation: Black Social Life in a Diverse Suburb." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1535372415028617

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1535372415028617
372
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.