Most white people choose segregated neighborhoods and schools for their children, even in diverse metropolitan areas. This is not news.

In a new brief, @maturner @NatalieSpievack & I grapple with what it would take to change those choices: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/white-peoples-choices-perpetuate-school-and-neighborhood-segregation

We don't think that changing white people’s behavior alone will dismantle segregation, but it's hard to imagine achieving meaningful and sustainable neighborhood and school integration without changing white people’s choices.

Many white people justify their choices as doing what's best for their children.

But there's evidence to suggest that white parents who choose segregation are harming their children by depriving them of the benefits of diversity.

We review evidence showing that, under the right conditions (an important qualifier), intergroup contact reduces racial prejudice and has intellectual, social, and civic benefits that can persist across the life cycle and generations.

But the available evidence is limited in important ways, and much of it is dated.

We outline a set of knowledge-building activities that could support efforts to influence white people's choices and dismantle separate and unequal systems of neighborhoods and schools:

This line of work comes with real risks. Successful efforts to change white people’s behavior in ways that lead to more integration could further marginalize or displace incumbent families.

And proximity to white people does not guarantee—and should not be the only way—that people of color gain access to well-resourced neighborhoods and schools.

These risks mean that this work needs to be done well if it is to be done at all.

And, in our view, changing white people's choices should be part of a larger portfolio of tools for dismantling today's system of separate and unequal neighborhoods and schools.

We really grappled with the ideas in this brief, and I'm sure we didn't get it all right.

But we think that the knowledge-building agenda we have outlined is worth pursuing, and welcome feedback on both the research ideas and how to bring them to life: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/white-peoples-choices-perpetuate-school-and-neighborhood-segregation