Cities w/ Sizeable Black Populations But Few Black Professionals (schools, colleges)
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I have a friend who travels all over the country .I am trying to get him to post here because he has been everywhere and has a lot of insight. Anyway he has discussed this subject with me and he thinks the least professional blacks are in his hometown of St Louis..maybe he's biased because he's from there but he strongly believes this. His runner up is Milwaukee...so I found it interesting those were the first two cities mentioned on this thread.
He has never read C-D yet for most professional blacks he is in agreement with the consensus here that it's Washington DC. He is amazed how different blacks are in the DMV compared to St Louis...he said they are much better educated, articulate etc. in the DC area.
Glad somebody could back me up. My friend moved to STL from DC and feels the same way. St. Louis is the worst I have seen for educated, professional and middle class Blacks as well and like I said, I grew up in one of the worst myself (Memphis).
This isn’t entirely wrong. Pitraburgh’s Black professional community seems to be older, insular and cliquish. It tends to center around membership in organizations, whether that be a church or BGLO. Black middle class also tends to cluster in undesirable eastern suburbs. These areas offer very little that would appeal to a transplant. In the last couple years, I have noticed real growth in the blipster segment.
Monroeville seems to have the best balance of a substantial Black middle class and good schools. I think Sewickley does too. Are there any others that come to mind in the area?
Monroeville seems to have the best balance of a substantial Black middle class and good schools. I think Sewickley does too. Are there any others that come to mind in the area?
Sewickley is an absolute gem, but I believe the black population hovers around 7%. That’s a good buy Western PA suburban standards, but not really all that substantial. I think the consensus is that Gateway school district (Monroeville) is in decline.
This does not surprise me one bit. Now it is somewhat confirmed.
Charleston isn't among the worst, but not among the best either (for its size). The drivers of the local economy (tourism, the port, manufacturing) have a lot to do with it and not having an HBCU doesn't help either.
This isn’t entirely wrong. Pitraburgh’s Black professional community seems to be older, insular and cliquish. It tends to center around membership in organizations, whether that be a church or BGLO. Black middle class also tends to cluster in undesirable eastern suburbs. These areas offer very little that would appeal to a transplant. In the last couple years, I have noticed real growth in the blipster segment.
Aside from being older, insular, and cliquish, everything else you said could describe the Black professional populations in other cities, including DC and Atlanta. Even the 'insular' and 'cliquish' descriptors apply in some cases.
The bolded part is interesting, because Dallas, Texas is the same way. You even see it all the time on City-Data, where potential Black transplants ask what areas of Dallas are good for professional Blacks. and they get steered toward the Southern part of the metro, which has communities like DeSoto, Cedar Hill, and Lancaster that are Black middle class areas ON PAPER, but when most Black transplants go to DFW and see how neglected, isolated, segregated, amenity lacking, and full of poor schools those so called middle class Black areas are, they move to the Northern burbs with all the other middle class transplants of different races and ethnicities, or at least to nicer, more convenient suburbs and areas between Dallas and Fort Worth. That causes a lot separation, division, and the tension between the native so called middle class Blacks who live in the Southern, mostly Black part of the metro and the middle class Black transplants who live mostly up north with all the other transplants of different races and ethnicities where all the jobs, amenities, entertainment, good schools, etc are. This is why Dallas' Black community is surprising weak and divided for a city and metro so large with such a sizeable number of Black residents. It's sad.
That's really not all that different from DC and Atlanta. Majority Black middle/upper middle class neighborhoods are always underserved and the homes in those neighborhoods have less value compared to similar predominantly White/Asian neighborhoods, regardless of where you are in the country.
New York - 80,350 (5.6%)
Washington - 67,675 (9.6%)
Atlanta - 48,615 (6.5%)
Chicago - 35,015 (5.6%)
Los Angeles - 31,570 (8.3%)
Houston - 25,999 (6.0%)
Dallas - 24,680 (6.1%)
Philadelphia - 22,919 (4.8%) Miami - 19,240 (4.0%)
Detroit - 17,194 (5.1%)
Bay Area - 14,801 (8.8%)
Boston - 10,369 (7.0%)
I think the only known middle class black neighborhoods are pockets of northern Milton, parts of Randolph and outer city pockets in some city neighborhoods. There was a thread in that forum that had some information about the black middle class in substantial numbers was located in the area that I'll try to find.
As for Rust Belt cities, what is interesting is that while the cities may not have the large professional scene of the usual cities, many can actually have quite a few black people in leadership positions or at least more than people may realize.
That's really not all that different from DC and Atlanta. Majority Black middle/upper middle class neighborhoods are always underserved and the homes in those neighborhoods have less value compared to similar predominantly White/Asian neighborhoods, regardless of where you are in the country.
Yeah, everybody knows stuff like that; stuff like houses in ANY class of majority Black neighborhood being of lower value that in an equaivalent white or Asian neighborhood, no matter what city you go to. That's not really what I'm talking about when I bring up Dallas, though.
Maybe I didn't make it clear in my previous post, but I was making a point about how that common factor combined with the massive amount of Black transplants to Dallas AND how spread out DFW is, AND how quickly it is growing make Dallas somewhat unique in just how acute the difference is between what is CONSIDERED middle class to native Black Dallasites and what is considered middle class to Black transplants to Dallas; and how it really waters down the overall strength and feel of the Black Professional community as well as the Black community in general in Dallas/DFW.
Atlanta and DC don't have that problem---or at least not NEARLY to the extent that Dallas does---because they have both been known, proven Meccas for Black professionals and Black people in general for a very long time now. Dallas/DFW has not, and the point I was trying to make was that as quickly as it's growing and with all that DFW has to offer professionals in general of ANY race these days, it's a shame that that is holding Dallas back as a known and positively regarded place for Black professionals. (Not to spark up Houston vs. Dallas again, but) That's the very reason why Houston gets brought up by Black folks a considerable amount as a good, up and coming or underappreciated city for Black Professionals but Dallas either never gets brought up or gets compared unfavorably to Houston in that regard.
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