Racial isolation has discouraging repercussions, according to Howell Baum, the author of "'Brown' in Baltimore: School Desegregation and the Limits of Liberalism." Research shows that students do better educationally in racially and socioeconomically diverse settings, where they are more likely to be afforded opportunities and resources. Those students graduate from high school at higher rates, are less likely to get pregnant as teens or run into issues with the law, and are more likely to attend integrated colleges and work in integrated workplaces, he said.