Why people think Chicago is still a black and white city ? (Cambridge: construction, living in)

[Chicagoland60426]

I been living in the Chicago area all my life and people from other regions in the US are suprise when they find out that Chicago have a very large Hispanic and a sizable Asian population. I just want to know why people from the coast still see Chicago as a black and white city ?

[LexusNexus]

Two reasons I can think of if this is the case:

1) Chicago has long been considered the "new Mississippi." There is black/white polarization as a result. These groups dominate in numbers too.

2) Hispanics and Asians side with whites in perpetuating and accepting negative stereotypes concerning blacks.

Although a big, vibrant, dynamic city, Chicago remains far more rigid in its ability to overcome or minimize the traditionally polarizing effect of these two factors.

[Anthera]

Because they are ignorant?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Anthera

Because they are ignorant?

Ding ding ding! We have a correct answer!

From Wikipedia, here are the 2000 census numbers for the City of Chicago:

"The racial makeup of the city was 41.97% White (31.32% White Non-Hispanic), 36.77% African American, 4.35% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.36% Native American, 13.58% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. 26.02% of the population were Hispanic of any race."

Since then, most estimates are that the African American population has dropped in the city while the Hispanic population has risen. We are basically a city that is one third white, one third black, and one third hispanic (with a sprinkling of other races).

[MassVt]

...these visitors are from the West Coast, where racial diversity is perhaps at its strongest in the US. In their minds, any other area of the country would come up short.

In my visits to Chicago, I would say that the above ratios mentioned seem about right to me (Boston is reasonably similar), with the concentrations varying depending on what part of the city (or suburb) you're in at the moment. I believe that the trends towards more diversification will continue in both Boston and Chicago. ( i.e. the number of Asian restaurants in Boston and Cambridge, while always representative, have increased dramatically in the 20 years I have lived here.)

[Humboldt1]

Chicago is currently a third white, black, and hispanic. Middle eastern and asians are included in the white numbers.

In 10 years, I see Chicago as 25 percent black, 35 percent white, and 40 percent hispanic. We are already trending in that direction now.

Remember, I am including asians and middle eastern populations among my white numbers. The south and west side to a lessor degree will continue to be dominated by black poulations while the north and northwest as well as downtown will continue to be dominated by whites (asians and middle eastern too) and hispanics will continue to serve as a buffer between the two groups, albeit in greater numbers. I see this first hand in Humboldt Park. South of grand it is almost all black. Between grand and diversey it is mostly hispanic (humboldt park and logan) North of diversey it is mixed (avondale and irving park) and almost all white north of say irving park. These are not exact breakdown racially as you go north but close.

This can be clearly seen in the white, hispanic and black belts of chicago that another poster included a few months back.

[Chicagoland60426]

Why are you puting middle easterners & Asians in the same catergory as whites, and most people don't consider these two groups as white.

[JohnCU]

Originally Posted by bluchidog

Why are you puting middle easterners & Asians in the same catergory as whites, and most people don't consider these two groups as white.

Because they're not black or hispanic?

[Lookout Kid]

The city is about a third white without the asians and middle-easterners added in... Take a look at the numbers I posted.

The "Hispanic" category can be hard to define. Do we consider people from Spain to be anything other than "white"? Of course not. Otherwise we'd be saying the Italians weren't white. "Hispanics" can be of Native American, Spanish, or African descent, or a combination of two or all three. So the social construction of "Hispanic" as a race is on shaky ground. That's why many "hispanics" identify themselves as "white" AND "hispanic" on the census (and thus the term "white, non-Hispanic"). I know Argentenians with Italian last names and blonde hair, and they are still defined as "hispanic" in this country.

[Irishtom29]

Last weekend I met an Argentine polo player named Marcello who had an Italian accent.

Note that many working class Whites consider Mexicans as Whites and think intermarriage with Mexicans is no big deal.