"These middle class minorities are ultimately not ending up in the same type of situation as middle class whites," Orfield said.
The number of Latinos living in racially diverse areas is also dropping.
"Latinos are especially at risk, because they are more likely to be in inferior schools," Orfield said. "This will limit the education opportunities for Hispanics, especially with the recent removal of bilingual education in states like California."
Experts argue that a solution to this tendency towards segregation can only be reached by a conscious and purposeful effort. These steps would include more serious fair housing enforcement and support for dwindling interracial communities.
"The system that is in place is not benign-it is vicious," Orfield said. "It has got a momentum of replicating itself and is going to cause huge problems. The race problem hasn't gone away."