

The Racial Dot Map: One Dot per Person for the Entire U.S. - draugadrotten
http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/

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DanAndersen
When looking at data like this, I'm always reminded of Schelling's model of
residential segregation, which suggests that even a small preference for
living near like people leads to high segregation in the global system.

Example: in this simulation, agents are willing to live in environments where
only 30% of neighbors are like them:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnffIS2EJ30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnffIS2EJ30)

Another good explanation of it:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFl3Cfw12bo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFl3Cfw12bo)

I wonder if anyone has done a "reverse" model, taking in census data and
trying to estimate a rough "Schelling threshold" \-- like if all the dots
started out randomly placed on the US, what percentage of "tolerance" would
lead to the clustering we have in reality.

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skywhopper
Very nice. Unfortunately, color-perception-deficient visitors will have
trouble with the map. I personally can't tell the difference between the
"Black" and "Hispanic" dots unless two relatively big blobs of them are right
next to each other. The "Asian" and "Other" colors are similarly indistinct,
but not as bad.

~~~
chuckledog
Agreed even for normal color perception :)

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llamataboot
If you are interested in why racial segregation persists to such a high level
(especially in the de-industrialized midwestern and rust belt cities) and the
persistence of intractable racial disparities, I highly recommend Massey and
Denton's American Apartheid. A bit old now, but still a very clear and deep
understanding of segregation and its effects

[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674018214/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=4161...](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674018214/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=4161356325&ref=pd_sl_7szqbh44o9_b)

\--

I spent about a decade working for racial justice think tanks doing research
and policy work around racial segregation and its connection to racial
disparities, and it was always my go to book to explain to people why the work
I was doing was important for racial justice.

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githulhu
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6276296](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6276296)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8302548](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8302548)

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chrdlu
Great map!

I go to school in St. Louis and think that it really shows what the situation
is like. Here is a map I just created:
[http://i.imgur.com/uz9Pbhx.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/uz9Pbhx.jpg)

Red box - Forest Park (the big park in the middle of the city)

Green shape - Lambert International Airport (Ferguson is about a mile to the
east)

Purple line - City limits -- you can clearly see that St. Louis County and St.
Louis city have very different demographics.

Blue line - Imaginary line of segregation. Its a few block north of Forest
Park, its not as clear on Google maps, but its very distinct on the dot map.

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th0ma5
Also shows the correlation to slavery in the US as well
[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-
ex...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-
across-united-states-180951452/?no-ist)

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pohl
I would be very interested to see this overlayed with the boundaries of some
of the more oddly-shaped, gerrymandered districts.

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dEnigma
I think this would be more intuitively understandable if they just took the
skin color to represent the different races.

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kzrdude
Does everyone take part in the US Census? If so, why, is there an incentive?

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dangrossman
Answering US Census surveys is legally required, though nobody's been
prosecuted for failing to do so in decades. If you don't respond to a survey,
the bureau will send someone to the house to ask the survey questions in
person. If nobody there will respond, then the agent/representative will
record their own estimates for that household.

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bradbatt
Really interesting…and well done.

