In this retrospective review of demographic aspects of race and the metropolis, presented as a basis from which to speculate about the 1970's, the period of mass migration of blacks out of the rural South is seen as drawing to a close. The U.S. black population is more urban and more metropolitan than the white population. The development of black…

Measures black segregation at four geographic levels: state, county, city, and neighborhood, from 1900 to 1990. Cross-references data from the decennial U.S. census with dissimilarity and isolation indices. Concludes that segregation patterns have consistently evolved to minimize white contact with blacks. (MJP)