Top Cities Where Blacks Are Most Economically Successful
http://kulturekritic.com/2015/01/news/top-cities-blacks-economically-successful/
While there are not many people who would argue about the fact that Black people in the United States are not doing well on multiple fronts, one aspect that seems to be falling under the radar is the fact that the racial economic gap has persisted. A recent Bloomberg poll conducted at the end of last year found that 53% of those surveyed believed that race relations in the United States have actually gotten worse since President Obama took office in 2008. The persistent absence of economic prosperity for Black people contributes to this perception more than most people probably realize. This is based largely on the fact that an inability for the American Dream to be achievable by many Black people makes their outleak perpetually bleak.
For the majority of the last four decades, the unemployment rate for Blacks has been more than double that of whites, and in December, it was hovering right around 10.4 percent. Another statistic that brings into focus the disparities that make up the racial economic achievement gap is the fact that Black peoples’ real median household income has remained at just under 60 percent of whites’ for the entire time the Census Bureau has been tracking information since 1967. One of the statistical indicators that has gotten worse recently is Black household wealth, which fell some 31 percent during the recession compared to just 11 percent for whites.
Despite this bleak economic outlook, there are cities where Black people are experiencing improving economic conditions based on measurements of homeownership, entrepreneurship – based on the rate of self-employment, and median household income. Demographics were also considered as a way to determine if economic conditions were good enough for people to consider the city as a good place to move to. Based on these indicators, Forbes has compiled a list of cities where Blacks are most successful economically.
The South has re-emerged as a kind of mecca or new promised land for Black people, with 13 of the top 15 cities on Forbes list being located in the South. Those cities include top ranked Atlanta, Georgia, second ranked Raleigh, North Carolina, sixth ranked Charlotte, North Carolina, seventh ranked Orlando, Florida, a eight ranked tie Richmond, Virginia and San Antonio, Texas. Texas cities Austin, Houston, and Dallas came in eleventh through thirteenth. Filling in one of the holes is Washington D.C. in third place. For a full listing of cities and the data used to determine the rankings, check out the Forbes listing.
