(Note: Last week, I had the good fortune to publish an opinion piece written by Ed Zotti and myself in Crain’s Chicago Business.) It’s about the continued loss of the black middle class. This article is behind a paywall, but as a co-author I decided to publish it here. It’s a topic I’ve written extensively about. , and Chicago isn’t the only city or metro to experience this. But Chicago (and other rusty, industrial cities) has a certain racism that’s a less-recognized feature that holds them back. Please take a look. -Pete)
Opinion: Chicago needs to attract more black talent. So far, we’re not even trying.
Crain’s Chicago Business, March 21, 2024
The past few years have sparked much debate about the scourge of black people in America, with one local business leader warning that “without significant intervention, black people will become a permanent underclass.” did.
I think we are different. We know all too well the challenges that Black Americans face. But the alarming narrative ignores the substantial progress that has been made and perpetuates the myth that black people are victims of a fate that they cannot help themselves to.
That’s nonsense. An analysis of the latest Census Bureau data for the 10 largest U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest black populations reveals that in many areas, black Americans are building strong middle-class communities of millions of people. It was shown.
Indeed, it turns out that there are many variations. The pessimism in the Midwest is unmistakable, with Chicago and Detroit (where one of us, Pete Sanders, grew up) at the top of the list in important indicators such as black income growth, education, geographic mobility, and integration. This stems from the fact that they are at a lower level. That’s because vast numbers of middle-class black Chicagoans have fled to other parts of the country, and there aren’t enough ambitious newcomers to replace them.
Why not? Other cities have also attracted black middle classes and are booming as a result. Chicago has had no difficulty attracting people of other ethnicities. Pandemic-induced fluctuations aside, if the number of Black residents is growing at the same rate as the rest of the city, the overall population is increasing, not flat, and the Black community is receiving a much-needed revitalization. It turns out.
That’s not happening now, but I don’t think that’s a cause for despair. On the contrary, the fact that other cities are so far ahead of us shows that Black Chicago’s problems can be solved. But only if we understand why we are so far behind and decide to do something about it.
Some important findings from our research:
More blacks left the Chicago area than any other metropolitan area in the United States except New York. For decades, blacks have been returning to the South from other parts of the United States, a phenomenon demographers are calling the “New Great Migration.” Many of these people are from Chicago. Our calculations show that the region experienced a net outmigration of 857,000 Black people between 1980 and 2022, more than any other major city except New York, which lost just over 1 million people. New York is a much larger place.
The majority of those who left became middle class or middle class. According to our calculations, if black migration had not occurred, the number of black people living in middle-income neighborhoods in the Chicago metropolitan area would have increased to 1.2 million by now. In fact, that number has fallen to 746,000. Chicago is one of two of the top 10 cities to lose middle-income black residents since 1980. The other is Los Angeles.
Read the rest of this article on the Corner Side Yard Blog.
Pete Saunders is a writer and researcher whose research focuses on urbanism and public policy. Pete has been the editor and publisher of Corner Side Yard, an urbanist blog, since 2012. She is also an urban affairs contributor to Forbes Magazine’s online platform. Her Pete’s writing has been widely published in traditional and internet media, including a feature article in the December 2018 issue of Planning Her Magazine. Pete has over 20 years of experience in planning, economic development, and community development in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. He lives in Chicago.
Photo: Justin Brown, via Flickr under CC 2.0 license
