Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Actually a lot of government contractors live in Maryland; as a matter of fact, it was Marion Barry's minority contracting policies in the 70s and 80s that dramatically expanded the Black middle class with many of those families then choosing to head to the suburbs in PG County. Also, DC has the highest percentage of Black business owners of all jurisdictions. I'm honestly surprised Maryland didn't rank higher in the overall list or the one just for the percentage of Black business owners.
Guess where he got those ideas from?Maynard Jackson,In fact it was the template for many cities that followed these plans for minority development in cities.Even NYC followed this example
Atlanta/Houston/Dallas and Orlando pop up on that list consistently. Tampa of course also has an impressive mix of ethnic groups. We already how ethnically diverse Miami is. And even Charlotte gets some shine. I think ppl truly underestimate how ethnically diverse and culturally integrated some of these southern metros are TODAY. Houston for example, the Nigerian community is heavily integrated in the dominant culture here. It’s not some bubbles of ethnic groups like some might think it is cause it’s more car centric than up north.
Yeah that’s some serious homerism there lol. My cousin use to live in Seattle and while he enjoyed living in Seattle he said sticking out in social gatherings became a nuisance.
Not only recently but also historically the southeast of the US has been by far the most diverse region of the country and probably always will be, within the past 50 years it's major cities have also became the least segregated. People who know nothing about the region many ignorantly assume the opposite due to its history in the past of not only slavery but also extreme racial violence and powerful racist terrorist organizations (the klan etc.) That ran amok for a century unchecked.
Guess where he got those ideas from?Maynard Jackson,In fact it was the template for many cities that followed these plans for minority development in cities.Even NYC followed this example
Yeah, Maynard Jackson was the first to do it and DC experienced a similar level of success under Marion Barry. I don't think any other mayor came close making the same type of impact among Blacks.
Where does everyone see the black community in Atlanta proper and DC proper moving forward? Are there any middle-class black neighborhoods rising in the city propers? Displacement has taken hold of all major cities for black people, but based on census data, DC proper actually gained about 16k new net black people from 2010-2016. Ward 7 and Ward 8 in DC have become the new destination for black homeowners with homes still affordable at $350k-$700k still.
Is that also happening in Atlanta? If so, which neighborhoods? Has Atlanta proper added new net black population over the last decade or has it been mostly in the suburbs? I think it’s so important to speak to black people and encourage home ownership in the city proper versus the suburbs. The majority of black people across the nation are still thinking like our white counterparts did in the 1950s and leaving for the suburbs like it’s the promise land, but wealth is returning to the cities and poverty is rising in the suburbs. I fear we as a people will be shutout of the cities if we keep choosing to leave them. Yes, some people are priced out, but others leave by choice with a dated perception that moving to the suburbs is the future.
The point of all this is to learn. Now it's your turn.
DC always had a sizable Black population, starting when it was first established. Several subsequent waves of Black migrants moved to the city during the Civil War and Reconstruction, right at the turn of the 20th century, and during the height of the Great Migration. As far as the demographics of the federal government workforce go, according to FY2016 figures, non-Hispanic Whites comprise the majority of federal workers at 63.6% while all minorities comprise 36.4% of federal workers. The federal government took the lead in enacting non-discriminatory hiring practices among major employers and that policy is still strongly enforced which is why Black people have historically been attracted to federal (and subsequently state and local) government jobs. But it was DC's first Black mayor, Marion Barry, who was responsible for dramatically expanding the Black middle class and number of Black millionaires in DC starting in the late 70s/80s through liberal minority contracting policies.
Atlanta was popular with Black people long before that. The large collection of HBCUs, prosperous Black neighborhoods like Sweet Auburn, and the city's status as the command center for the Civil Rights movement with prominent leaders such as MLK, Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, etc being natives were responsible for cultivating and increasing the city's Black populace. The unofficial alliance Black civic leaders had with the White political and business establishment during the 1960s meant that desegregation efforts in the city usually happened without violence and were essentially peaceful in several cases. Atlanta became a noteworthy destination city for the so-called Reverse Great Migration when it began in the 70s when the South began receiving transplants in large numbers primarily from the North; every since that decade, Atlanta has been the number one metropolitan area for Black domestic migration in the country. Maynard Jackson became the first Black mayor of a sizable Southern city in the 70s and established the same policy that Marion Barry did in DC, but specifically with airport-related contracts, and the results were the same with the Black middle class increasing rapidly from that time onward. Black people simply never stopped moving to the area since that time, which stretched into the era of Atlanta-dominated hip hop and R&B and now includes the prominent rise of the TV/film industry. The presence of the hip hop industry was hardly a major factor in Atlanta's already major and increasing prominence in Black America; it played a role but was preceded by decades by several more important other factors playing their roles.
Where does everyone see the black community in Atlanta proper and DC proper moving forward? Are there any middle-class black neighborhoods rising in the city propers? Displacement has taken hold of all major cities for black people, but based on census data, DC proper actually gained about 16k new net black people from 2010-2016. Ward 7 and Ward 8 in DC have become the new destination for black homeowners with homes still affordable at $350k-$700k still.
Is that also happening in Atlanta? If so, which neighborhoods? Has Atlanta proper added new net black population over the last decade or has it been mostly in the suburbs? I think it’s so important to speak to black people and encourage home ownership in the city proper versus the suburbs. The majority of black people across the nation are still thinking like our white counterparts did in the 1950s and leaving for the suburbs like it’s the promise land, but wealth is returning to the cities and poverty is rising in the suburbs. I fear we as a people will be shutout of the cities if we keep choosing to leave them. Yes, some people are priced out, but others leave by choice with a dated perception that moving to the suburbs is the future.
I see continued development and upward mobility for Atlanta's inner city O4W, Ponce/Virginia Highlands, and South Atlanta for its untapped potential. Atlanta is doing the right things to avoid a mass exodus like some of the other cities.I also disagree that it is an outdated notion that people leave for the suburbs in spite of the core. For many, cost of living is the major factor. Some suburban areas are not the same as they used to be. There are new urbanist developments, town centers, etc. that offer walkability and employment opportunities.
I think it’s so important to speak to black people and encourage home ownership in the city proper versus the suburbs. The majority of black people across the nation are still thinking like our white counterparts did in the 1950s and leaving for the suburbs like it’s the promise land, but wealth is returning to the cities and poverty is rising in the suburbs. I fear we as a people will be shutout of the cities if we keep choosing to leave them. Yes, some people are priced out, but others leave by choice with a dated perception that moving to the suburbs is the future.
The wealth is going to be wherever the folks who have the wealth choose to live, whether it's central cities or suburbs. Certainly more of them are choosing to live in central cities these days but that doesn't mean all the wealth is leaving the suburbs.
Historically moving to the suburbs represented choice and freedom of movement for Black people as we were no longer restricted to living in certain places. These days Black folks moving to the suburbs don't do it for ideological reasons, but for practical reasons, especially if kids are involved. I'm reminded of this entry in VSB that lays out the issues of living in an "up and coming" neighborhood in DC: https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com...ime-1801083566
I'm surprised that Sharif662 didn't pick up on this, but Barry is originally from the Mississippi Delta.
You are correct. I was really thinking Barry was DC's first elected Black mayor, but Walter Washington, who was first appointed mayor-commissioner by the president, actually did run for mayor and win after home rule was implemented in DC.
I'm surprised that Sharif662 didn't pick up on this, but Barry is originally from the Mississippi Delta.
I didn't know that at all. I've met 1 guy from Itta Bena and back then i couldn't find it on the map on a game show.
I'm from Northeast Mississippi so many delta related people I'm not familiar unless they're regionally or mainstream known ( entertainment wise). Heck i found out some years ago that the 42nd (?) mayor of los angeles was from my hometown.
The wealth is going to be wherever the folks who have the wealth choose to live, whether it's central cities or suburbs. Certainly more of them are choosing to live in central cities these days but that doesn't mean all the wealth is leaving the suburbs.
Historically moving to the suburbs represented choice and freedom of movement for Black people as we were no longer restricted to living in certain places. These days Black folks moving to the suburbs don't do it for ideological reasons, but for practical reasons, especially if kids are involved. I'm reminded of this entry in VSB that lays out the issues of living in an "up and coming" neighborhood in DC: https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com...ime-1801083566
Yes, but major crime exists in the suburbs too. This is especially true in black suburbs. The wealthy black areas with low crime in the black suburbs mirror the wealthy black areas with low crime in the city. Woodmore and Friendly are just like Hillcrest, Fort Dupont, and Eastland Gardens, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
