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Every time I visit the museums on the National Mall I am shocked. I understand Washington DC is an African American dominated City but the people in the museums (WHICH ARE FREE!) are 97% White or Asian. I find this discouraging and puzzling. Is there an historical perspective or a form of racism in that part of town? Any old Washington experts want to make an effort at explaining this.
(Please do not tell me the Mall Area is full of ethnic diversity or call me a troll or racist, this is a sincere Washington based question)
Last edited by questioner2; 12-18-2007 at 12:09 PM..
First of all, we must be walking around a different Mall, because I do not see 97% white and Asian. I do agree that the majority of the people walking around are non-African American. Washington is somewhere around 67% or 2/3 African American. The museums are in no way a representation of the city as a whole. It is a tourist attraction. The North West quadrant of the city is predominately white, but the NE, SE, and SW are not. For some diversity, venture to other parts of the city outside of the Mall. Hope that helps.
Every time I visit the museums on the National Mall I am shocked. I understand Washington DC is an African American dominated City but the people in the museums (WHICH ARE FREE!) are 97% White or Asian. I find this discouraging and puzzling. Is there an historical perspective or a form of racism in that part of town? Any old Washington experts want to make an effort at explaining this.
(Please do not tell me the Mall Area is full of ethnic diversity or call me a troll or racist, this is a sincere Washington based question)
To answer you query you must understand the demographics of DC. Yes, the majority of DC is African American. However, you must know that DC is only a small geographic area with about 600,000 people. The DC metro area has close to 8 million people which live in the suburbs and are people from all over the USA and the world. So, when you say 65% African american you are looking at 65% of the 600,000 and not the 8 million. Quite a difference.
To answer you query you must understand the demographics of DC. Yes, the majority of DC is African American. However, you must know that DC is only a small geographic area with about 600,000 people. The DC metro area has close to 8 million people which live in the suburbs and are people from all over the USA and the world. So, when you say 65% African american you are looking at 65% of the 600,000 and not the 8 million. Quite a difference.
But 30% of the Washington Metro area is still African American/Hispanic, they are vastly under represented in the Mall area.
uh... cause it's filled with bused in tourists???? HELLO??????
kind of pointless to use the mall as a demographic litmus for the DC area, people people go spend sometime in the neighborhoods and get and idea of what the REAL city is like.
African Americans don't go to museums and related stuff......Personally, I have only been to a museum once in the last seven yrs. And that was in FL @ UF.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by questioner2
Every time I visit the museums on the National Mall I am shocked. I understand Washington DC is an African American dominated City but the people in the museums (WHICH ARE FREE!) are 97% White or Asian. I find this discouraging and puzzling ...
Essentially jnestorr hit the nail on the head. Negroes may simply have different interests and goals compared to the minorities that you so assiduously have labeled as "White" and "Asian." It is simply a matter of personal preferences and choices with respect to how one allocates one's resources (in this context, time and cerebral affections). No big deal - we each have our own "commodity bundles" and act accordingly.
So why is this "discouraging," as you put it? What limit does this place on your goals and agenda? Apparently something is being hampered by these choices made by others - why does this concern you to the point of being "discouraged"? Very interesting ...
African Americans don't go to museums and related stuff......Personally, I have only been to a museum once in the last seven yrs. And that was in FL @ UF.
There is nothing Euro-centric about the Museums on the Mall and there should be no reason why people from all races, religions and creeds should not participate in this free attraction.
So the Mall is for Tourists. The South is full of potential tourists who are Hispanic or African American. Washington DC is not like Yellowstone National Park in the middle of Wyoming.
Why is it "discouraging"? I don't see how more varied pigmentation among the visitors would make it any better or worse. The Mall is a nice area, regardless of who comes to visit it.
It's like others have said. You have quite a few things at work. It's a tourist area, so you're not going to see so many locals there. Also, Northwest DC is not predominantly black, and as has been mentioned, when you take into account the entire DC metro area, the minority community is not as large as an outsider might think.
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