Ending de jure segregation stranded urban blacks in an underclass amid capital flight.

Evidence

After stateenforced racial inequality was eliminated by civil rights legislation, blacks were admitted to the societywide system of stratification, rather than being confined by segregation and exclusion to limited numbers of jobs. But amismatch arose in the cities, as manufacturing shrank and the remaining industrial work, as well as administrative labor, moved away. White flight, capital flight, anda widespread lack of both blue-collar and white-collar skills condemned most blacks to an “underclass” stranded in the ghetto. The black community was further stratified as well: A small privileged “class” emerged whose opportunities and status were effectively equivalent to those of whites with similar, high levels of training and skills. While a significant number of blacks obtained what were essentially middleclass jobs— many in the public sector— the massive black “underclass” was relegated to permanent marginality. — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 71