How does racism hit home? Examining the city's housing issues

We live in racially separated worlds and, of course, that’s what we all want, right?

No, it’s not true. Whites, blacks and Latinos actually prefer to live in diverse communities. That’s according to newly released research from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Sociology. The findings are based on surveys of Chicago area residents’ in the midst of housing searches and their choices on neighborhood preferences.

And even though whites, blacks and Latinos prefer diverse communities, it’s not happening, the study found.

• Whites home searchers wind up in communities that are nearly 75 percent white.
• In contrast, blacks search in neighborhoods that are not majority black, but end up in areas that are 66 percent black.
• Similarly, Latinos seek out neighborhoods that are not predominantly Latino, but settle in communities that are more than half Latino.