New Orleans, Baton Rouge Among Most Segregated Cities In Country

New Orleans and Baton Rouge are among the most segregated cities in the nation, according to a report from 24/7 Wall Street. New Orleans came in at number six on the list, and Baton Rouge ranked thirteenth. Editor-In-Chief Doug McIntyre says that’s because of population concentration in the cities.

“You have sections of the city that are very heavily white and very heavily black,” McIntyre said.

In both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the black poverty rate is roughly 30 percent, while the white poverty rate is only about 10 percent. McIntyre says that demonstrates one big problem with segregation because black neighborhoods tend to be much poorer than white neighborhoods.

“Black families tend to be more impoverished. They tend to have lower income. They tend to have lower education and worse health outcomes,” McIntyre said.

In New Orleans, about 43 percent of the black population lives in black neighborhoods, compared to 32 percent in Baton Rouge. McIntyre says the fact that those groups of people are isolated from groups that have better outcomes means that segregation helps to keep those kinds of outcomes in place.

“A city that is highly segregated makes it harder for people in the minority to have their situations improve over time,” McIntyre said.