This article originally appeared on TheGrio.

Recent census data show that residential segregation is now the lowest it has been in a century for African-Americans. According to U.S. Census data, Fort Myers, Florida, Honolulu, Atlanta, and Miami were among the least segregated cities, contributing to a national trend that dropped the residential segregation index for African-Americans to its lowest point in generations.

As a result of civil rights enforcements that have prevented redlining and overt housing discrimination, and a developing social culture that celebrates the growing diversity of our nation, more black and white people now call the same neighborhood home. However, it may be a bit premature to begin pulling the “post-racial” rhetoric from the grab bag of contemporary analysis on race relations.

The decline in black-white residential segregation is not an equal opportunity phenomenon. In fact, the U.S. Census data shows that in the Northeast, segregation remains intense. According to Dr. Steven Pitts, Labor Specialist with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, opportunities for work — or the lack thereof in the current economy — partially explain the segregation that persists in parts of the country…

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This article was originally posted on TheGrio.com

Images of black people can be found all over the world. Unfortunately, many of these images are rooted in America’s own demeaning popular culture of the late 1800s and early 1900s. They mirror the social inequities that relegated African-American women to domestic labor and “other-mothering” children that were not their own, and that steered African-American men to agricultural or other service-oriented occupations.

In reflecting these inequities, popular images were little more than exaggerated caricatures of “blackness,” reinforcing notions of black inferiority. While civil rights and faith-leaders have managed to force corporations to retire some of these images, their legacy — as “Aunt” Jemima and “Uncle” Ben demonstrate–remains.

In fact, derogatory images continue to color the world’s perception of African-Americans and other people of African descent. A recent Intel advertisement showed 16 African-American figures bowing down before a white man. Stereotypical depictions of Africans and lingering discrimination against darker people can be found in ads and commercials throughout India. An Australian commercial made headlines earlier this year for its blatant derogatory content, which joked about a white man being able to calm down people of African descent with fried chicken…

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