The Black and White Divide (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: fit in, homes, neighborhoods)

[mdiggs1]

While looking at the demographics of cities and incorporated areas of Miami-dade county, I noticed this:

Most areas of Miami-dade county which have a high proportion of blacks and hispanics, have a lower proportion of non-hispanic whites. (e.g. Miami, North Miami, Miami Gardens, Opa-Locka)

Most areas of Miami-dade county which have a high proportion of non-hispanic whites and hispanics, have a lower proportion of blacks. (e.g. Coral Gables, Kendall, Miami Beach)

Hispanics just seem to fit in everywhere. I realize that not all areas are like this but the most populated areas have this characteristic. It seems to me that Miami-dade county is more separated racially when it comes to blacks and whites.

I have been researching the South Florida area for a while, because I have been considering moving there after college, as well as other places. What are your thoughts on why it is like this?

Any comments would be appreciated.

[crisp444]

I would say that there is a distinct black/white divide in Miami, but I must add that the most of Miami-Dade's Hispanics are white or mostly white and tend to live in neighborhoods that reflect that. A "white" neighborhood in Miami is "white" regardless of whether the European-origin people who live there are Hispanic or not, and interestingly enough, some of the MOST HOMOGENOUS areas of Miami-Dade are white, Cuban neighborhoods like Westchester, Olympia Heights, and Westwood Lakes.

Although neighborhood segregation in Miami happens along both ethnic and economic lines, I would say the segregation is almost purely economic in neighboring Broward County, where it is very common for upper middle class neighborhoods (which would be almost exclusively white/Hispanic in Miami-Dade) to have good black presence. Furthermore, in Broward trailer parks you are just as likely to find white, non-Hispanic people than you are to find black or Hispanic people. This is not the case in Miami-Dade.

If you are looking for an area with a good presence of blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites I would direct you to Cutler Ridge / Cutler Bay, Homestead, North Miami Beach, and Miami Shores. However, even these cities have sections that are much "whiter" or "blacker" than the other side of town. Much more thorough black/white integration exists in suburban Broward county.

[compelled to reply]

We have some segregation in Broward, especially within the city of Fort Lauderdale and parts of Hollywood and Dania Beach. But I would say it's really not a factor in the rest of the county. I can think of one other glaring example of "segregation", and it's in the school system. Plantation High School (over 60% black) borders on the district for Western High School (about 4% black,70% white non Hispanic), although realistically the areas could not really be integrated due to distance issues. Other than that, the races are very integrated here and it's without the awkward tension you see in South Dade or in other "diverse" areas around the metro (or the nation for that matter).

[crisp444]

Why would you say that there is "awkward tension" in diverse areas of South Dade? Not that I disagree, I would just like a clarification of what you mean.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by crisp444

Why would you say that there is "awkward tension" in diverse areas of South Dade? Not that I disagree, I would just like a clarification of what you mean.

Like the neighborhoods are mixed, but, I don't know how to describe it, but maybe as "not by choice". In other words people don't really get along all that well. I don't know, it's historically a poorer area, it has had a rough history with Andrew, it gives me a weird vibe...it's also a checkerboard of more and less affluent residents, the less affluent tending to be minorities. For comparisons sake, in say, Pembroke Pines, there is not much class difference between non Hispanic whites, Asians, Blacks, and Latinos. Neighborhoods are very mixed whether they are the lower income neighborhoods to the east or the (interestingly more diverse) upper income neighborhoods to the west.

[rogerbacon]

Originally Posted by mdiggs1

Hispanics just seem to fit in everywhere. It seems to me that Miami-dade county is more separated racially when it comes to blacks and whites.

It just seems that way because Hispanics make up the majority of people in Dade county. If Whites were the overall majority you would see areas that were White/Black and White/Hispanic and would conclude that Whites seem to fit in everywhere.

[PBCboy]

There's huge segregation in Dade, but if you look at it it exists here in Palm Beach as well. It seems less so in Broward in communities like Coral Springs, though.

[mbmouse]

Can I ask why are so many here are obsessed with race? Every other post in the Miami forum is about race. What gives? Doesn't anyone look at a person or group of people for who they are or is it really just what color they are? This IS 2008 isn't it?
Language barrier frustrations, OK I can understand that, but honestly, why does a large portion of the regular posters here continue to obsess about races?

[tallrick]

I don't get it either. The segregation in Miami is not about race, it is about economic status. Everywhere I go in Miami I see white, black and in-between. There are areas where Blacks are the dominant group, a leftover from the disgraceful days of segregation. I have been accused of being a racist myself, but my complaints have been only about economic and cultural differences, not those from genetics.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Can I ask why are so many here are obsessed with race? Every other post in the Miami forum is about race. What gives? Doesn't anyone look at a person or group of people for who they are or is it really just what color they are? This IS 2008 isn't it?
Language barrier frustrations, OK I can understand that, but honestly, why does a large portion of the regular posters here continue to obsess about races?

I never was so observant about "race" until I joined this forum. I honestly never noticed it. I mean I traveled, noticed that I lived in a more mixed place than other places, also learned people here get along better than a lot of places. I learned to appreciate what I had here, but never really observed it until joining here (mainly to observe peoples thought about a lot of cities and ones I traveled to) although in my day to day life, I honestly could care less, I don't even notice "Race" anymore. I do notice "class" and thats for sure, but I don't notice "race". I believe my first thread here though was about the Hispanic population in Fort Lauderdale. It was some dude complaining how nobody speaks English in the city of FTL and it being "like Queens, great if you like Black or Spanish people" or something to that extent and the city is 9.5% Hispanic with no registered hispanic population growth from 2000...and now my original intentions took a totally different direction. I lurked for months but now I guess most of my posts are about FL and I'm trying to take a no-nonsense fact based approach.

I think part of the obsession might be the nature of this website; "city-data.com" since it's a place you go to get demographics...