[Eleopteryx]

I don't think there's any simple answer to this.

On the most abstract level: it seems to come down to various related problems feeding into each other. People of color continue to be economically and socially disadvantaged, which plays into the negative perceptions that society might have toward them, which makes it more challenging to elevate oneself above such problems, which allows the cycle to repeat, generation after generation. So if a large portion of the population consciously or unconsciously sees a group as the lesser, then that perception reveals itself socially, legally, politically...that perception to some degree immutable on account of its existence. This simultaneously creates a counter-culture whereby the mainstream is rejected on account of the rejection it creates, which further feeds into the cycle of poor racial integration. In many ways, racial segregation is merely class segregation, it's just that blacks are disproportionately of lower socioeconomic class.

Without forcing oneself to be open-minded, one might immediately associate a black person with low income, poor education, "criminality" (I put that in quotes because laws don't practically apply to all races/classes equally [e.g. the war on drugs]), and then question "what will my friends/family think?" because even if one has abandoned his or her prejudices, he or she will still have to contend with everyone else.

It's overwhelming for me to even try paint a complete picture in a single comment. There's so many nuances to the situation that I feel like I'm already short-changing all of the relevant groups by being so general.