Prince George’s County: Growing, and growing more segregated, census shows (Potomac: buying a home, to buy)

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by bowian

His perspective is no more garbage than yours. In addition to facts (based in this case on statistics that very often can be spun and manipulated) there are opinions. You sound emotional yourself, and you tend to become rather emotional when others happen to disagree with you.

PG has been mostly black for how long? Has had mostly or all-black neighborhoods for how long? Who cares? My kids have friends of different races even though our neighborhood is mostly black. No cultural isolation here.

I welcome disagreements but when the disagreement is based on emotion and not the facts at hand I have to scoff.

The blogger is trying to make the argument that areas of Northern Virginia is just as segregated as PG and that's not the case. He seems to be getting defensive that the Post dared to do the story.

Now if one wants to debate whether this phenomenon is important or relevant that's a different matter.

Frankly I agree with you folks can live where they want. If Blacks want to live with blacks so be it. Ditto for whites.

What I find troubling is that the segregation is a symptom of fundamental fiscal, governmental and societal problems that threaten the future viability of PG County.

Personally I don't think I made an issue of cultural isolation but young PG residents did make it an issue especially when they left the area. So it seems like a valid concern to some.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by bowian

His perspective is no more garbage than yours. In addition to facts (based in this case on statistics that very often can be spun and manipulated) there are opinions. You sound emotional yourself, and you tend to become rather emotional when others happen to disagree with you.

PG has been mostly black for how long? Has had mostly or all-black neighborhoods for how long? Who cares? My kids have friends of different races even though our neighborhood is mostly black. No cultural isolation here.

Well to be fair PG hasn't been black that long. White flight really just took off 20-30 years ago and prior to that there was a sizable white population.

Also the point of the article was not to point out how many mostly black neighborhoods there are but to show that the number of mostly black neighborhoods were increasing at an unusual rate. I remember the article saying that the jump from 25 to 27 percent is very unusual. I believe that was the basis of the article not that mostly black neighborhoods exist.

[Tiger Beer]

Is this really a reflection of blacks trying to be around other blacks, or trying to self-segregate themselves?

It seems like a purely economic phenomenem to me. DC is becoming more and more gentrified.

As DC gets more expensive in places, the available options push people towards different directions. No denying that blacks in DC have all kinds of different income levels. But, being that DC has predominately been a have's (whites and blacks) and have not's (mostly blacks, the 'have not' whites of DC long ago left for distant pastures).

Than it only comes to reason that a person of limited income who wants to stay within the DC area, is probably going to end up right next to the city limits on the PG side, as opposed to moving over to NoVA or Bethesda.

Granted I'm probably stating the obvious here, but nontheless.

[bowian]

Meatkins, my points still stand. PG has been mostly black long enough for the jump in all-black neighborhoods to be particularly unusual, in my opinion. Exactly which way were they expecting the trends to go? I just don't think that the article was especially relevant, correct or not.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Is this really a reflection of blacks trying to be around other blacks, or trying to self-segregate themselves?

It seems like a purely economic phenomenem to me. DC is becoming more and more gentrified.

As DC gets more expensive in places, the available options push people towards different directions. No denying that blacks in DC have all kinds of different income levels. But, being that DC has predominately been a have's (whites and blacks) and have not's (mostly blacks, the 'have not' whites of DC long ago left for distant pastures).

Than it only comes to reason that a person of limited income who wants to stay within the DC area, is probably going to end up right next to the city limits on the PG side, as opposed to moving over to NoVA or Bethesda.

Granted I'm probably stating the obvious here, but nontheless.

Hispanics and Asians are mostly bypassing PG and and choosing to live in mostly white and more expensive suburbs of Northern Virginia and Montgomery County.

Why? That was one of the points of the article. As you point out PG is cheaper than surrounding jurisdictions. The median housing price is 100K lower than the next highest. So the county should be a draw for these groups and for sure some do make the county home but even then live in segregated enclaves.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

Hispanics and Asians are mostly bypassing PG and and choosing to live in mostly white and more expensive suburbs of Northern Virginia and Montgomery County.

Why? That was one of the points of the article. As you point out PG is cheaper than surrounding jurisdictions. The median housing price is 100K lower than the next highest. So the county should be a draw for these groups and for sure some do make the county home but even then live in segregated enclaves.

This is just a guess...but.

Asians statistically have higher incomes, and were never pushed out.

Latinos who could financially choose to move to PG, perhaps don't, as their more connected to small business owners and service jobs and perhaps even lawncare or childcare of the better off....so, for practicality purposes, prefer to 'bunch up' together in Fairfax of MoCo or Northern PG to have more access to all the types of people who are most likely going to employ them illegally, or legally, depending on their status.

Just my guess.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by bowian

Meatkins, my points still stand. PG has been mostly black long enough for the jump in all-black neighborhoods to be particularly unusual, in my opinion. Exactly which way were they expecting the trends to go? I just don't think that the article was especially relevant, correct or not.

Direct quote from article:

A Washington Post analysis of census data shows that the number of Prince George’s neighborhoods where more than 85 percent of residents are the same race or ethnicity — what demographers consider a high level of segregation — has inched up, from 25 percent in 1990 to 27 percent last year.
Though the increase is small, any uptick is startling in comparison with everywhere else in the region. While the all-white neighborhood has all but disappeared from Northern Virginia, Montgomery and the District, the all-black neighborhood is on the rise in Prince George’s.

Again, no one is saying that all-black neighborhood is news, it's the amount of increasing that is the real point. They are trying to talk about the change. The question really is why are black residents wanting live with one another more and more. Why is this becoming a trend? You are taking it as if this is typical. Prince George's County is one of the most unique places in this country. You simply do not see black wealth like this in concentrated areas. For people outside this area, it is intriguing, but for us it's like and... I definitely see why this is a story.

I also wanted to mention that I think because you know a few people who assimilate with other cultures, really doesn't mean much. If they were that comfortable with other cultures, they would want to live in a neighborhood that includes more of them. That's like a white person saying they aren't racist just because they have black friends. I mean it seems like a double standard from black people standpoint. If we live in a all-black neighborhood, we aren't culturally isolating, but if white people did they same, we would say they are trying to avoid black people. I'm not saying either is right or wrong, but I just think that this kind of thinking is illogical and backwards. It seems like black people are living with black people, because there are a large number of us that do not feel comfortable living with non-blacks. To me that's something that is interesting and seem like it has something to it, especially if it's happening at a more frequent rate.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

This is just a guess...but.

Asians statistically have higher incomes, and were never pushed out.

Latinos who could financially choose to move to PG, perhaps don't, as their more connected to small business owners and service jobs and perhaps even lawncare or childcare of the better off....so, for practicality purposes, prefer to 'bunch up' together in Fairfax of MoCo or Northern PG to have more access to all the types of people who are most likely going to employ them illegally, or legally, depending on their status.

Just my guess.

They actually do. They are the fastest growing group in PG and in MD.

[TechlawyerinPG]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Just a perspective from a PG County teacher:

I've had many students over the years whose whole existence encompassed the area from SE DC out to Capitol Heights. Many of them had zero contact with any whites until middle school when they had a white teacher. Also, great numbers are surprised when we talk demographics of the US in one class or another. From their experience the majority of the US is black. I've even had a few tell me the statistics are wrong.

that was my husband's experience...he is from those areas
he has said the exact same thing about being shocked the first time he went downtown for a field trip and saw other races

[TechlawyerinPG]

Originally Posted by meatkins

It might be nice to live in a place where you can relate to everyone, but is that really healthy for the kids? My experience tells me no, but everybody has their opinion.

Being a token minority in the junior high/high school years in the midwest really messed with my self esteem. I did get a great education but I chose to go to a black college despite test scores and grades that qualified for Ivy League because I wanted to experience being the majority and to gain a new perspective about being black than what I had been exposed to. It was a great experience for me and instilled a lot of pride about my standard of beauty and my culture. I went on to a top ranked law school where I was the minority again and I always am usually the only one or one of a few in the legal department but those 4 years in college which helped to nurture my identity as a black woman were invaluable to my personal development.