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This is surprising to hear you say as I assumed most people had heard of racism for blacks in Phoenix, but I guess my knowledge of it is just reflective of who I've been around. I mean you don't exactly have to dig hard to find accounts of this in Phoenix:
I assumed everyone knew this though or at least heard about it. The reality is there is no escaping racism as black men and women in America. We try to find our little corner where the positives outweigh the negatives and create happy lives for ourselves. I guess to some people they may have a perception that Phoenix doesn't have the racial issues of other places, but that directly contradicts reported accounts in Phoenix and I think there are plenty of people who know that Phoenix is like everywhere else...
I thought it would've been obvious that I wasn't claiming that Phoenix or any other American city was totally free of racism or racist incidents; after all, this IS America and stuff like the incidents you posted are par for the course. But when I say "historical racist baggage," I'm talking about the type of racial dynamic that exists due to things like, say, widespread discrimination in the housing market in the postwar era. For instance, is gentrification a "thing" in Phoenix like it is in other cities with large Black populations? I've never heard it mentioned in that light.
Y'all actually thought I was saying that there's no racism in Phoenix....sheesh. Somebody ought to know me better than that by now.
5% of 5 million people is plenty of color for some and its close to 300k in total, so its really not that extreme when you look at it that way. It really comes down to what you want out of life and your values in AZ and most people don't get wrapped up statistics before they move out here.
Yes, its not as high as legacy places like LA, Oakland or high percentage like Sacramento or Las Vegas, but they economy and QOL is much higher than many can afford on those places (minus Vegas) hence the crazy growth as people are starting to recognize a good thing when they see it.
Yeah, the Phoenix area is interesting in that it is one of those "there are black people all over in visible enough numbers" kind of way. While say Laveen and South Mountain have higher percentages, you still can find visible amounts in say Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Goodyear, Glendale, Chandler, etc. So, it isn't necessarily set up in a way where there is one concentration in the main city and that's it.
What's most important is just keeping an open mind and doing some research on a place so you have an up to date understanding of demographics and race relations.
At the end of the day if you've got 150k+ black people in any given urban area there must be some nice places and positive attributes. They're not all being held hostage literally or figuratively speaking. Even in Milwaukee. Im sure theres a lot to like and you could carve out a nice life as a black person.
In the highlighted area, it looks like parts of the outer North Side, Brown Deer(31.3% black) and Glendale(15.5% black) are where you can find middle class areas with a high black population in the area. There are others with parts with a decent/visible black population in parts like Wauwatosa and Menomonee Falls(maybe a few others) that are middle class as well.
In the highlighted area, it looks like parts of the outer North Side, Brown Deer(31.3% black) and Glendale(15.5% black) are where you can find middle class areas with a high black population in the area. There are others with parts with a decent/visible black population in parts like Wauwatosa and Menomonee Falls(maybe a few others) that are middle class as well.
I mean yea man..I dunno some people need a full sea of middle class Black people to be happy but that’s so few places and it’s not really where most of us live.
I’m glad we’ve been able to have some good conversations about places like Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Boston. All together you’re talking about 1 million black people in three wildly different areas . That’s not insignificant and sometimes they can get lost in the sauce under neath the giants of black culture.
I bet if abyone took 30 and AirBnB’d in Black/multicultural Seattle, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Boston and Miami-Dade for 6 days each our perspective of ‘Black America’ would be soo much richer and very interesting...
I mean yea man..I dunno some people need a full sea of middle class Black people to be happy but that’s so few places and it’s not really where most of us live.
I’m glad we’ve been able to have some good conversations about places like Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Boston. All together you’re talking about 1 million black people in three wildly different areas . That’s not insignificant and sometimes they can get lost in the sauce under neath the giants of black culture.
I bet if abyone took 30 and AirBnB’d in Black/multicultural Seattle, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Boston and Miami-Dade for 6 days each our perspective of ‘Black America’ would be soo much richer and very interesting...
I know what you mean and to be honest, if your metro area is at least 5% black, you are bound to find at least an area that has a well above (national) average to high black percentage and that is middle class. About 73-75% of black people in the United States aren't in poverty. So, this may be more common than many think. for instance, this street view is in a block group in outer NW Milwaukee that is about 54% black and had a median household income a little over $60k(2014): https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1601...2!9m2!1b1!2i37 (look at other outer NW Milwaukee areas on the map like Menomonee River Hills/East, Golden Gate, Mack Acres, Melody View, Riverton Heights, Pheasant Run, as they are generally pluralistically to predominantly black and middle class)
So, even the places that are "bad" for black people have some of these areas.
It is also good to talk about places that don't get mentioned too much in regards to the topic.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 04-22-2020 at 11:00 AM..
I mean yea man..I dunno some people need a full sea of middle class Black people to be happy but that’s so few places and it’s not really where most of us live.
Depending on how many people/households we're talking about, predominantly Black middle-class neighborhoods aren't exactly rare. Pretty much any midsized Southern city is bound to have at least one.
Depending on how many people/households we're talking about, predominantly Black middle-class neighborhoods aren't exactly rare. Pretty much any midsized Southern city is bound to have at least one.
But honestly..how many people are ACTUALLY middle class or feel that they are. Even if those neighborhoods arent rare birds, I don’t think they’re the majority of black folks either. Most middle class black people don’t live around a ton of other black people because they can’t. So I don’t think most black people live in middle class neighborhoods. You gotta search for them a bit in most places. Every Major city has at least one, most have a few.
When I say rare I’m talking an ATL/DC/TX situation where you can almost throw a dart at a map of the metro area and be a 15 minute drive to if not IN a middle class black/diverse suburban area. That what I mean by a SEA of middle class black areas. Especially ones with a big/modern house and yard. It could be a lot of places due to the mid size cities in the south just not a majority of black people from what I’ve seen.
But for every ATL/DC/Houston there’s a few Milwaukee/Fresno/Providence/Youngstown’s out there (I wouldn’t recommend Fresno or Youngstown lol)
But honestly..how many people are ACTUALLY middle class or feel that they are. Even if those neighborhoods arent rare birds, I don’t think they’re the majority of black folks either. Most middle class black people don’t live around a ton of other black people because they can’t. So I don’t think most black people live in middle class neighborhoods. You gotta search for them a bit in most places. Every Major city has at least one, most have a few.
When I say rare I’m talking an ATL/DC/TX situation where you can almost throw a dart at a map of the metro area and be a 15 minute drive to if not IN a middle class black/diverse suburban area. That what I mean by a SEA of middle class black areas. Especially ones with a big/modern house and yard. It could be a lot of places due to the mid size cities in the south just not a majority of black people from what I’ve seen.
But for every ATL/DC/Houston there’s a few Milwaukee/Fresno/Providence/Youngstown’s out there (I wouldn’t recommend Fresno or Youngstown lol)
^but for a place like Youngstown. Are those folks really middle class? I’d imagine income and home prices to be bottom of the barrel and social cohesiveness to be minimal. When you’re in a really depressed city much of the middle class housing stack can be had for poor people or at the very least asset poor people.
The area looks neat though. And given Youngstown’s black population id imagine there’s some black middle class in there.
^but for a place like Youngstown. Are those folks really middle class? I’d imagine income and home prices to be bottom of the barrel and social cohesiveness to be minimal. When you’re in a really depressed city much of the middle class housing stack can be had for poor people or at the very least asset poor people.
The area looks neat though. And given Youngstown’s black population id imagine there’s some black middle class in there.
I would post the source I got the information from, but can't(comp. site), but the overall median household income for that block group was near the state figure. Same for the second street view. So, it is legitimately within the relative range of middle class.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 04-22-2020 at 11:38 AM..
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