Madison is racially segregated, according to some Madison politicians and activists.

“Whites are living separately in Madison; everyone else is living together,” mayoral candidate Bert Zipperer said.

Zipperer said that while previous generations might have considered segregation to be a problem lying predominantly in Southern states, a 2000 Census Bureau survey showed that a band of extreme segregation sweeps across the Midwest through metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.

He said that segregation is evident when viewing the composition of Madison’s elementary schools.

According to a Madison Public Schools ethnic survey taken in September, the number of students of Caucasian descent varies widely between schools, ranging from 83 percent in some schools to 23 percent in others.

District superintendent Art Rainwater said he tries to draw school district boundaries to include a mix of socio-economic backgrounds, but it is difficult because Madison’s low-income housing is concentrated in specific areas.

Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, said segregation exists because of the way Madison has developed.

“There are weird pockets of apartment buildings in one spot, surrounded by single-family homes,” Konkel said. She said the apartments have become less desirable over time but are rented because of the lower prices.

“It’s a downward spiral,” Konkel said. “The landlords don’t take care of the apartments, and minorities don’t have the money to live anywhere else.”

Erika Sanders, program director of the Fair Housing Center of Greater Madison, said landlord discrimination towards minority tenants also contributes to segregation.

“It steers people of color into very specific neighborhoods,” Sanders said.

She said the Fair Housing Center secretly investigates landlord discrimination, sending equally qualified people of different races to apply for the same apartments.

Zipperer said the investigations’ results have revealed unfair treatment by some landlords of minorities; some landlords show minorities the less desirable units and even lying about available apartments.

Some apartments welcome diverse tenants, including the lower-income Eagle Heights Apartments.

Eagle Heights manager of community services Jan Sternbach said two-thirds of its tenants are international students.

“Part of the reason for that is we are a comfortable, welcoming community,” she said.

One of the proposed solutions for segregation is inclusionary zoning, which would require developers to include affordable housing in all of their new developments. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the bill is expected to pass this spring.

However, not all Madison residents agree that inclusionary zoning is the best solution. Lifelong Madison resident and former Madison NAACP-branch president Eugene Parks said many Madison minorities are low-income, confining them to central downtown locations with lower rent.

“How can the poor afford to live in remote areas where there is no bus route?” Parks said in November. “Seventy percent of housing in Madison is beyond Section 8 and housing vouchers, and the adopted living wage does not even begin to alleviate the poor.”

Zipperer said he wants University of Wisconsin students to become aware of Madison’s hidden diversity.

“Euro-Americans don’t see what isn’t there,” Zipperer said. “When they are part of a group they should learn to recognize who is missing and question why this group doesn’t look like the community as a whole.”