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You say this as if you have reason to believe otherwise? Or as if it is somehow the fault of the people in Seattle that few blacks live there.
I suggest neither is accurate.
I agree. If black people are gonna move somewhere, they're gonna move. Those "progressive" cities haven't purposely done things to detract Blacks from moving there, it's just the majority of the things these cities are popular for or stand for like Liberalism, Eco-Friendliness, Vegetarianism, all that "White" associated Liberalism isn't attractive to most Black folks. Most Blacks vote Democrat but have a socially Conservative streak and wouldn't "fit in" those cities. That's not the fault of the Whites that live there, and there seems to be a mentality and a resentment towards those cities and the Whites that live there for embracing such things, as if they purposely embrace that type of Liberalism to detract Blacks from moving to those places. The Blacks don't want to assimilate into that culture and therefore claim that those places are "Anti-Black" or aren't "Black Friendly". As if the residents of that city need to conform to something they're not upon Blacks moving in, so they can seem non-racist. If anything, the Blacks that look at those things about those cities and reject those cities based on that way of thinking, those Blacks are the intolerant ones. There's nothing "Anti-Black" about Portland, Seattle, Austin, etc. Before anyone calls me a racist, I am Black.
I agree. If black people are gonna move somewhere, they're gonna move. Those "progressive" cities haven't purposely done things to detract Blacks from moving there, it's just the majority of the things these cities are popular for or stand for like Liberalism, Eco-Friendliness, Vegetarianism, all that "White" associated Liberalism isn't attractive to most Black folks. Most Blacks vote Democrat but have a socially Conservative streak and wouldn't "fit in" those cities. That's not the fault of the Whites that live there, and there seems to be a mentality and a resentment towards those cities and the Whites that live there for embracing such things, as if they purposely embrace that type of Liberalism to detract Blacks from moving to those places. The Blacks don't want to assimilate into that culture and therefore claim that those places are "Anti-Black" or aren't "Black Friendly". As if the residents of that city need to conform to something they're not upon Blacks moving in, so they can seem non-racist. If anything, the Blacks that look at those things about those cities and reject those cities based on that way of thinking, those Blacks are the intolerant ones. There's nothing "Anti-Black" about Portland, Seattle, Austin, etc. Before anyone calls me a racist, I am Black.
To be honest, I don't think it is "that deep". Meaning, the culture of these cities weren't always like this and it just changed. So, there was a cultural gentrification, in a sense and the commercialization of these places haven't necessarily helped either.
What's interesting is that some of these cities and those that are similar, have had Black mayors and other Black folks in positions of leadership. So, it could also be a matter of Black folks just underestimating or honestly not knowing that much about many of these places as well. For instance, how many people know that Ithaca NY has a Black mayor and a school superintendant that is Black? There have been times that there have been multiple Black representatives in that city's common council as well, but if you look strictly at Ithaca's demographics, you wouldn't think that was the case. There's other evidence of honoring Black people in that city too.
To be honest, I don't think it is "that deep". Meaning, the culture of these cities weren't always like this and it just changed. So, there was a cultural gentrification, in a sense and the commercialization of these places haven't necessarily helped either.
What's interesting is that some of these cities and those that are similar, have had Black mayors and other Black folks in positions of leadership. So, it could also be a matter of Black folks just underestimating or honestly not knowing that much about many of these places as well. For instance, how many people know that Ithaca NY has a Black mayor and a school superintendant that is Black? There have been times that there have been multiple Black representatives in that city's common council as well, but if you look strictly at Ithaca's demographics, you wouldn't think that was the case. There's other evidence of honoring Black people in that city too.
Also about 1 in 12 of Portland's population is black, roughly the same as San Francisco. Most of them are descendants from the migration wave from the south in WWII
I haven't lived in places with many black people, except Houston, Texas, but I went to a private school that was mostly white.
I don't see what's "anti-black" about these cities.
I don't either, especially those that have had more Black representation in many circles than the demographics dictate.
Geography is another factor in regards to many of these cities and specifically in terms of migration patterns.
You also have to look into the rate of who is moving into these cities and it isn't just Whites either. Interestingly, many of these cities actually had higher Black percentages in prior decades, but the number of Black people has gone up. Here are a few examples: US2010
Also about 1 in 12 of Portland's population is black, roughly the same as San Francisco. Most of them are descendants from the migration wave from the south in WWII
I haven't lived in places with many black people, except Houston, Texas, but I went to a private school that was mostly white.
Just go to the Northeast side of Portland. Even Jefferson High is about two-thirds Black in terms of enrollment. Schools like Roosevelt, Grant, Madison and Benson Poly are all around 20-30% Black and aren't to far away either.
I searched Twitter by typing in "moving to Portland". While most of the faces on the avatars were young and white, there were a few young, darker-skinned folks who seem to be contemplating the move.
The baby boom echo generation that's hitting the prime "I'm getting the F outta here and moving somewhere cool" age is a lot more diverse than previous generations. And for the most part, they're pretty cool with that.
Last edited by SyraBrian; 02-25-2012 at 11:25 AM..
Moved to Ptown from Denver. Neverseen soo many white people in one place before. Considering that in the past, Oregon has readily adopted laws that ban blacks from living here, and that the last cultural heritage themed parade was a klan rally, id say theyve come a long way! In a nutshell, i think portland set the diversity bar quite low for themselves a very long time ago, so any progress towards integration deserves a self-congragulatory pat on on the back. Times have changed, and now diversity is cool, and now Portland treasures its black population. Locals still seem quite suspicious of latino folks though. They just talk so funny.
I don't see what's "anti-black" about these cities.
I don't know anybody who thinks those cities are anti-black. I think some simply find it peculiar that a city many white people go nuts about coincidentally has few black people.
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