Race In Des Moines (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: 2009, homes, neighborhoods)

[El Rhino]

Originally Posted by DMRyan

You are correct Rhino, the SE 6th and E. Hartford area (Sevastapol) was home to Welsh coal miners, not Russians. The latest influx of African immigrants is definitely Somalian. They've been setting up a few churches around town as they get settled.

The Census Bureau says that the City of Des Moines proper was 75% white in 2000. I'm sure that percentage has gone down even more in the ensuing years. Des Moines proper is probably much more diverse than many give it credit for and certainly more so than the stereotype about the place being almost all white.

That makes sense, my family is Welsh and that's very close to where my Grandpa grew up. I remember hearing the name "Sevastapol" as a neighborhood in Des Moines, but that's it. If you have any links or references with more info about this, I'd like to see it, please.

I would believe 75% or less. I know the school district is something like 30 or 40% minority now.

[ehenningsen]

There's a race in Des Moines? How long is it?

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by ehenningsen

There's a race in Des Moines? How long is it?

Very funny.

[ckhthankgod]

Cool, I've always thought of Des Moines and the other major cities in Iowa to be more diverse than many people would think. Waterloo, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Ames, Dubuque, Sioux City and smaller cities like Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk and Clinton all are at least decently to "legitimiately" diverse. there are a few others too.

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by DMRyan

I don't live in the south but I've been there enough to know that bigotry and hate crime seems to be much more prevalent in the deep south. I have family in Eastern Texas and Western Louisiana. The people there by and large practice way more biggorty than what I've seen in Iowa. I've spent weeks in a little Texas town not far from JASPER, TEXAS--home of one of the most shocking modern racially motivated hate crimes in this nation.

Stands to reason. Places that are more over run are going to have a bigger reaction than places where it hasn't happened yet.

Case in point. Before McCain began his current slide in the polls, the swing states were pretty much divided this way:

1) States with larger black populations - slightly McCain
2) States with minimal black populations - slightly Obama

It's been my experience in traveling around the country that areas that don't have large black populations are the most open to the idea of diversity. Those that have experienced it, feel exactly the opposite.

YMMV.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by JMadison

Stands to reason. Places that are more over run are going to have a bigger reaction than places where it hasn't happened yet.

Case in point. Before McCain began his current slide in the polls, the swing states were pretty much divided this way:

1) States with larger black populations - slightly McCain
2) States with minimal black populations - slightly Obama

It's been my experience in traveling around the country that areas that don't have large black populations are the most open to the idea of diversity. Those that have experienced it, feel exactly the opposite.

YMMV.

That is a sad, if true.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Cool, I've always thought of Des Moines and the other major cities in Iowa to be more diverse than many people would think. Waterloo, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Ames, Dubuque, Sioux City and smaller cities like Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk and Clinton all are at least decently to "legitimiately" diverse. there are a few others too.

Burlington, FM, Keokuk ... these aren't diverse in my opinion. Burlington and Keokuk are mostly blue collar workers, and a few blacks who are bitter to be there. Fort Madison is some more blue collar workers, and some Mexicans who probably don't even know where they are.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Cool, I've always thought of Des Moines and the other major cities in Iowa to be more diverse than many people would think. Waterloo, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Ames, Dubuque, Sioux City and smaller cities like Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk and Clinton all are at least decently to "legitimiately" diverse. there are a few others too.

Des Moines is more diverse than many people would believe. The fact that Des Moines is in Iowa might give alot of people the wrong idea about DM.

[Northern Traveler]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

Des Moines is more diverse than many people would believe. The fact that Des Moines is in Iowa might give alot of people the wrong idea about DM.

I guess you could make that claim ... but overall the metro is a little over 90% white.

[CJN]

I work in Urbandale which is kind of a suburb of DSM and I cannot believe the acceptance of people there. I grew up in a small town where there was only 1 non white family and its far and few between to so a non white person walking on main-street there. In Urbandale no one cares about race or other orientations and it seems that people are over the whole racial issue. Its pretty lax and people do a very good job of looking at people individual qualities rather that what group he/she belongs to. I live in Ames and the neighbors on both side of my house are black families which is different considering all my neighbors where I grew up were related to me(grandparents of cousins). I like the change and the cultural enrichment. In DSM there is a large social group of black people and a good representation of their culture. NAACP is DSM has a pretty good chapter and I have been invited by one of the ladies I work with that happens to be black to come watch her singing group which sings spiritual songs and such so I think its great to have that mix of black and white there. In Ames ISU has many different cultural clubs that garner to different ethnicities and I also think this is great. Small town Iowa isn't racist it's that fact that we dont have any other cultures to learn from and its not like a black family is going to relocate to a 99% white community. But the large cities in Iowa are very black friendly from what I can tell and DSM is no exception.