Strange reversal of fortunes
July 20th, 2018 at 10:28:37 AM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5055 | the increase in %Black came largely from white flight I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
July 20th, 2018 at 10:39:58 AM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
It is pricey in Washington DC. I' ve always thought of Washington DC and Atlanta as having the greatest concentration of African American wealth in the country % African American Atlanta - year - D.C. 67.1% 1990 64.8% 66.6% 1980 70.3% 51.3% 1970 71.1% 38.3% 1960 53.9% 36.6% 1950 35.0% 34.6% 1940 28.1% 33.3% 1930 27.1% Detroit 75.7% 1990 63.1% 1980 43.7% 1970 28.9% 1960 16.2% 1950 09.2% 1940 07.7% 1930 |
July 20th, 2018 at 11:17:04 AM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
They flocked there after the Civil War because they figured it was the seat of the nation and would be more tolerant of their new freedom. They stayed for generations because that's what people do, stay where you're born. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
July 20th, 2018 at 11:44:41 AM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | Post WW2 'white flight' sure helped but in Washington DC the availability of middle class jobs and middle class suburbs sure helped increase the black population in the Washington dc area. Sure inner city areas such as Adams Morgan got pricier and even became trendy after awhile but the suburban areas that were largely black got some white buyers who enjoyed the shorter commutes every day. Atlanta used to have a white downtown surrounded by blacks but once you get to a turning point it simply became blacks. Municipal hiring was black irrespective of white flight and entrenched management. |
July 20th, 2018 at 12:49:57 PM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
You seem to be correct that there was a jump in the 1860s from 10,983 to 35,455. but the massive jump in AA population from 1940 to 1960 (average 4% per year) couldn't have come from births alone. There had to be migration. You can see the same jump in the AA population in Chicago as people moved from the poor rural South to cities. %AA -- year- number AA people Washington DC 65.8% 1990 399,604 70.3% 1980 448,906 71.1% 1970 537,712 53.9% 1960 411,737 35.0% 1950 280,803 28.2% 1940 187,266 27.1% 1930 132,068 25.1% 1920 109,966 28.5% 1910 94,446 31.1% 1900 86,702 32.8% 1890 75,572 32.8% 1880 48,377 32.5% 1870 35,455 18.0% 1860 10,983 25.7% 1850 10,271 27.9% 1840 6,521 29.0% 1830 5,459 27.5% 1820 3,641 28.1% 1810 2,304 %AA -- year- number AA people Chicago 39.1% 1990 1,087,711 39.8% 1980 1,197,000 32.7% 1970 1,102,620 22.9% 1960 812,637 13.6% 1950 492,265 8.2% 1940 277,731 6.9% 1930 233,903 4.1% 1920 109,458 2.0% 1910 44,103 1.8% 1900 30,150 1.3% 1890 14,271 1.3% 1880 6,480 1.2% 1870 3,691 0.9% 1860 958 1.1% 1850 323 1.2% 1840 53 |
July 20th, 2018 at 1:00:41 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Big jump from 1950 to 1970, those were tumultuous civil rights years. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
July 20th, 2018 at 1:48:27 PM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
The first Great African American Migration (1916–1930), which saw about 1.6 million people move from mostly rural areas to northern industrial cities, and a Second Great Migration (1940–1970), which began after the Great Depression and brought at least 5 million people—including many townspeople with urban skills—to the north and to California and other western states. The Great Migration was one of the largest and most rapid mass internal movements in history—perhaps the greatest not caused by the immediate threat of execution or starvation. In sheer numbers it outranks the migration of any other ethnic group—Italians or Irish or Jews or Poles—to [the United States]. For blacks, the migration meant leaving what had always been their economic and social base in America, and finding a new one.-Nicholas Lemann
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July 20th, 2018 at 2:06:09 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
I've talked to many people years ago who said before WWII, the area in the city where the blacks lived was very defined. It exploded after the war and what were once very nice sections of town became overtaken by blacks and quickly were run down and became the ghetto. Today they live in sections of the city where, when I was in the taxi biz in the 80's, no blacks lived at all. Where crime was very rare, now it's an every day thing. Where once you never locked your doors at night, those people have sold and moved away entirely. There is a lot of truth to the old adage 'there goes the neighborhood'. I remember on the west side when a few blacks started moving in. Then it became a deluge and now you can't even safely walk down the streets in the daytime anymore. For a hundred years it was all Polish and E European Catholics, a solid safe place to live. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |