This past weekend, Carnegie Mellon's Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) held a conference in celebration of its 10 anniversary. The theme of the conference was "African Americans and the Post-Industrial Age: New Challenges of Urban History and Policy-Making." In addition to workshops throughout Saturday from numerous visiting scholars, CAUSE held a keynote lecture Friday night with Lawrence Bobo, sociology professor and director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University.

Before Bobo spoke that night, many others involved in the leadership of CAUSE and Carnegie Mellon took turns welcoming attendees to the conference.

President Jared Cohon went first, "just to say to you how important CAUSE is to us [at Carnegie Mellon]."

"[CAUSE is] one of the great research centers at Carnegie Mellon," said HSS Dean John Lehoczky. "I want to congratulate CAUSE on its past accomplishments and promising future."

Joe Trotter, professor of history and director of CAUSE, thanked CAUSE's sponsors and introduced Bobo. Trotter asked for a moment of silence for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. History post-doctorate fellow Johanna Fernandez spoke after Trotter, also about Katrina, saying, "Past government policies that… systematically neglected American cities and, by extension, African Americans have come under question." Bobo would later agree with Fernandez's comments on Katrina, saying that he hoped that African Americans would work toward social change in the wake of the devastation of the New Orleans black urban community.

The crux of Bobo's keynote address, titled "Blacks in the New Multiracial Metropolis," was that although racism has declined on a superficial, visual level, it continues to negatively affect African Americans' ability to obtain housing and employment.

"The point is to argue that the problem of race endures," explained Bobo, juxtaposing himself against other social scientists who believe that it is socio-economic discrimination, not racial discrimination, that is the most pressing issue for African Americans.

Bobo cited many experimental studies that showed how racial prejudices still exist, though not on the same, obvious level as in the turbulent 1960s. One such study showed participants a "racial map" of a neighborhood, with an "X" for the participant's potential home and color-coding for the race of the neighbors (which was either white or one of three ethnic minority groups), and asked participants whether or not they would consider moving into the pretend neighborhood.

"Both race and numbers matter," said Bobo, pointing out the relevant statistics in his presentation. On the whole, white and Asian participants in the study were unwilling to move into a predominantly black or Latino community, and black participants were mostly unwilling to be the first blacks to move into an all-white community. When asked to create their own neighborhood, most participants wanted at least some degree of diversity. However, one-fifth of white participants created an all-white neighborhood.

"It's the largest coefficient," said Bobo of the correlation between race and neighborhood selection. "It's not what they assumed about… the class backgrounds."

In response to other sociologists' claims that most people equate predominantly African American neighborhoods with high crime rates, thus making African American neighborhoods less desirable, Bobo cited a study in which participants were told many factors of a potential neighborhood, including race and crime rate. In the end, the percentage of African American residents was more consequential than the crime rate.

Moving from housing to employment, Bobo said that the "gargantuan wealth disparities" between black and white Americans was no longer due to wage discrimination. Instead, Bobo claims that the wealth divide persists because it is harder for blacks to gain employment.

Much to the amusement of the audience, Bobo described a study in which identical resumes were sent to employers either with the names "Lakisha" and "Jamal" or "Greg" and "Emily."

"Lakisha and Jamal had to work to get a job," said Bobo, "even if they had the same resumes as Greg and Emily."

Bobo also described another study that showed that white applicants for a job with a criminal record were more likely to be called back for a job interview than black applicants without a criminal record.

"Let's not be naïve and think discrimination has disappeared. It has not," said Bobo in his closing. "I'm trying to suggest some truly serious obstacles still remain."

After its 10 anniversary, CAUSE will continue to sponsor graduate, post-doctoral, and faculty research in the relationships between race, the work force, and community development. It will also continue community outreach through its educational programs and urban development, particularly in Pittsburgh's Hill District.

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