Previous research, primarily using survey data, highlights preferences about neighborhood racial composition as a potential contributor to residential segregation. However, we know little about how individuals, especially parents, understand neighborhood racial composition. We examine this question using in–depth interview data from a racially diverse sample of 156 parents of young children in two metropolitan areas. Prior scholarship on neighborhood racial preferences has mostly been animated by expectations about in–group attraction, out–group avoidance, the influence of stereotypes, and perceived associations between race and status. However, we find that a substantial subset of parents expressed a desire for racially and ethnically mixed neighborhoods—a residential preference at odds with racial segregation. Parents across race conceptualized neighborhood diversity as beneficial for children's development. They expressed shared logics, reasoning that neighborhood diversity cultivates skills and comfort interacting with racial others; teaches tolerance; and provides cultural enrichment. However, these ideas intersected with racial segregation and stratification to shape parents’ understandings of diversity and hinder the realization of parents’ aspirations. Beliefs about the benefits of neighborhood diversity were rarely a primary motivation for residential choices. Nonetheless, parents’ perceptions of the advantages of neighborhood racial mixing reveal the reach of discourse on the value of diversity and suggest a potential opportunity to advance residential desegregation.

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“因为世界由每个人组成”：了解父母对邻里多样性的偏好

先前的研究主要使用调查数据，强调了对邻里种族构成的偏好是住宅隔离的潜在因素。然而，我们对个人，尤其是父母如何理解邻里种族构成知之甚少。我们使用来自两个大都市地区 156 名幼儿父母的种族多元化样本的深入访谈数据来研究这个问题。先前关于邻里种族偏好的学术研究主要是由对群体内吸引力、群体外回避、刻板印象的影响以及种族与地位之间的感知关联的期望所激发的。然而，我们发现很大一部分父母表达了对种族和民族混合社区的渴望——一种与种族隔离不一致的居住偏好。不同种族的父母都认为邻里多样性有利于儿童的发展。他们表达了共同的逻辑，认为社区多样性可以培养与种族他人互动的技能和舒适度；教导宽容；并提供丰富的文化。然而，这些观念与种族隔离和分层交织在一起，塑造了父母对多样性的理解，阻碍了父母愿望的实现。对社区多样性的好处的信念很少是住宅选择的主要动机。尽管如此，父母对邻里种族混合优势的看法揭示了关于多样性价值的讨论的范围，并暗示了推进住宅种族隔离的潜在机会。他们表达了共同的逻辑，认为社区多样性可以培养与种族他人互动的技能和舒适度；教导宽容；并提供丰富的文化。然而，这些观念与种族隔离和分层交织在一起，塑造了父母对多样性的理解，阻碍了父母愿望的实现。对社区多样性好处的信念很少是住宅选择的主要动机。尽管如此，父母对邻里种族混合优势的看法揭示了关于多样性价值的讨论的范围，并暗示了推进住宅种族隔离的潜在机会。他们表达了共同的逻辑，认为社区多样性可以培养与种族他人互动的技能和舒适度；教导宽容；并提供丰富的文化。然而，这些观念与种族隔离和分层交织在一起，塑造了父母对多样性的理解，阻碍了父母愿望的实现。对社区多样性好处的信念很少是住宅选择的主要动机。尽管如此，父母对邻里种族混合优势的看法揭示了关于多样性价值的讨论的范围，并暗示了推进住宅种族隔离的潜在机会。然而，这些观念与种族隔离和分层交织在一起，塑造了父母对多样性的理解，阻碍了父母愿望的实现。对社区多样性的好处的信念很少是住宅选择的主要动机。尽管如此，父母对邻里种族混合优势的看法揭示了关于多样性价值的讨论的范围，并暗示了推进住宅种族隔离的潜在机会。然而，这些观念与种族隔离和分层交织在一起，塑造了父母对多样性的理解，阻碍了父母愿望的实现。对社区多样性的好处的信念很少是住宅选择的主要动机。尽管如此，父母对邻里种族混合优势的看法揭示了关于多样性价值的讨论的范围，并暗示了推进住宅种族隔离的潜在机会。