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Atlanta may always be a black mecca, but it won't be the black mecca. It's losing some of it's luster within the black community. Here's why:
1. People shrug off the fact that blacks won't be the majority in Atlanta pretty soon. But "losing Atlanta", politically speaking, will have deep implications. One of the main reasons Atlanta earned that title in the first place was due to the city being a seat of black political power. It will be hard for people, black or otherwise, to reconcile a non-black political structure and a black mecca title.
2. Black people are no longer the only minority game in town. Atlanta was late to the whole "multi-cultural" wave that swept other cities in the 70s and 80s. But since 1996, Atlanta has made up for its lagging and then some. The Hispanic and Asian populations have absolutely exploded, and if the growth of these groups continues at the current pace, it will actually start driving down the metro black percentage.
3. Black culture tends to be socially conservative. But for whatever reason, the media is starting to portray Atlanta as a "black gay mecca" instead of just a "black mecca", (for example, notice the lead picture the New York Times chose for this article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/us...20south&st=cse ). This could cause the city to loose some of its allure within the black community.
Charlotte, on the other hand, has a large black population that is growing both in the city and in the metro, and at a much faster rate than the Hispanic or Asian growth rates (opposite of Atlanta). It's a southern city with a growing economy, minus the alternative lifestyles. All trends and future indicators, including media buzz, point to Charlotte.
Atlanta may always be a black mecca, but it won't be the black mecca. It's losing some of it's luster within the black community. Here's why:
1. People shrug off the fact that blacks won't be the majority in Atlanta pretty soon. But "losing Atlanta", politically speaking, will have deep implications. One of the main reasons Atlanta earned that title in the first place was due to the city being a seat of black political power. It will be hard for people, black or otherwise, to reconcile a non-black political structure and a black mecca title.
2. Black people are no longer the only minority game in town. Atlanta was late to the whole "multi-cultural" wave that swept other cities in the 70s and 80s. But since 1996, Atlanta has made up for its lagging and then some. The Hispanic and Asian populations have absolutely exploded, and if the growth of these groups continues at the current pace, it will actually start driving down the metro black percentage.
Well there's even the question as to whether Atlanta is the Black mecca since DC also has a legitimate claim to that title. And I think this particular excerpt from this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper/A%20Section/2011-04-11/A/1/18.0.2110150693_epaper.html - broken link), discussing DC's declining Black population, applies to Atlanta as well:
When new census data revealed last month that blacks are probably no longer a majority in Washington — a status they had held since shortly after World War II — some residents read that as confirmation that the District’s black identity is slipping away. From politicians to talk-show callers, in diners and schoolyards, many Washingtonians — and especially black residents who have spent all their lives in the city — took the census numbers as proof that the District is turning into one more majority-white city.
But in politics, business, culture and sports, the public face of Washington is still largely African American, and there’s considerable evidence that it may stay that way for a long time to come.
Washington remains “a magnet for black intellectuals, the black middle class and the black creative class,” said Richard Florida, whose theories about how the creative class of academics, artists and professionals vitalize cities have been the core of several best-selling books. Florida, who moved from the District to Toronto in 2007, said his interviews with young people across the country “identified greater Washington as a place they wanted to live — young policy wonks, foreign-born techies, gay professionals and also ambitious, college-educated African Americans”...
Similarly, the city’s cultural offerings seem unlikely to lose their emphasis on black artists and audiences. “No one is getting major foundation funding without being asked about the diversity of their audience and their offerings,” said Anne Corbett, executive director of the Cultural Development Corp., which creates spaces for arts groups and issues grants to D.C. artists. “Whatever the census shows, in the arts world, all we can think about is we need to do a better job of drawing audiences of color.”
Students of urban change argue that a city’s ethnic self-image often survives for generations after the defining group loses its demographic dominance.
“Cities have a certain background, and that culture permeates, even long after that group is no longer the majority,” said former D.C. mayor Anthony A. Williams, who teaches a course called “Leading Cities” at Harvard University. “The Irish influence in Boston is still very powerful, even though Irish people are no longer the bulk of the population.
“Just as [Massachusetts Gov.] Deval Patrick had to be steeped in Irish institutions to succeed in Boston,” Williams said, “the black institutions in the District will continue to dominate the city’s politics — the whole grapevine of churches, social groups, fraternities.”
Quote:
3. Black culture tends to be socially conservative. But for whatever reason, the media is starting to portray Atlanta as a "black gay mecca" instead of just a "black mecca", (for example, notice the lead picture the New York Times chose for this article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/us...20south&st=cse ). This could cause the city to loose some of its allure within the black community.
This is nothing new. It's always been known within and without the Black community that Atlanta has been a magnet, not just for Blacks, but Black gays and lesbians also. As gay and lesbian culture becomes more and more visible nationwide, it's not something that will "taint" the image of Atlanta in particular in the minds of African Americans. Trust me, this isn't an issue.
Quote:
Charlotte, on the other hand, has a large black population that is growing both in the city and in the metro, and at a much faster rate than the Hispanic or Asian growth rates (opposite of Atlanta). It's a southern city with a growing economy, minus the alternative lifestyles. All trends and future indicators, including media buzz, point to Charlotte.
"Minus the alternative lifestyles"? As I said earlier, gay culture is becoming more and more visible nationwide, and that includes Charlotte. No it's not as dominating in Charlotte as it is in Atlanta, but it's definitely there. Charlotte may have a faster-growing Black population in the city, but Atlanta still, by far, has a faster-growing Black population metrowide. Charlotte certainly doesn't have anything like the predominantly Black upscale residential enclaves that one can find in parts of metro Atlanta.
The stats show that while Atlanta still by far attracts the largest share of African American migrants, the rest is split among other cities like Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Raleigh, etc. There's not going to be the emergence of some new Black mecca because the conditions that originally created the Black meccas of Atlanta and DC don't exist anymore, at least to the same extent that they once were. And I think that's a good thing. Furthermore, I'd hate to see Charlotte experience some of the downsides that come along with the whole "Black mecca" label.
Well there's even the question as to whether Atlanta is the Black mecca since DC also has a legitimate claim to that title. And I think this particular excerpt from this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper/A%20Section/2011-04-11/A/1/18.0.2110150693_epaper.html - broken link), discussing DC's declining Black population, applies to Atlanta as well:
When new census data revealed last month that blacks are probably no longer a majority in Washington — a status they had held since shortly after World War II — some residents read that as confirmation that the District’s black identity is slipping away. From politicians to talk-show callers, in diners and schoolyards, many Washingtonians — and especially black residents who have spent all their lives in the city — took the census numbers as proof that the District is turning into one more majority-white city.
But in politics, business, culture and sports, the public face of Washington is still largely African American, and there’s considerable evidence that it may stay that way for a long time to come.
Washington remains “a magnet for black intellectuals, the black middle class and the black creative class,” said Richard Florida, whose theories about how the creative class of academics, artists and professionals vitalize cities have been the core of several best-selling books. Florida, who moved from the District to Toronto in 2007, said his interviews with young people across the country “identified greater Washington as a place they wanted to live — young policy wonks, foreign-born techies, gay professionals and also ambitious, college-educated African Americans”...
Similarly, the city’s cultural offerings seem unlikely to lose their emphasis on black artists and audiences. “No one is getting major foundation funding without being asked about the diversity of their audience and their offerings,” said Anne Corbett, executive director of the Cultural Development Corp., which creates spaces for arts groups and issues grants to D.C. artists. “Whatever the census shows, in the arts world, all we can think about is we need to do a better job of drawing audiences of color.”
Students of urban change argue that a city’s ethnic self-image often survives for generations after the defining group loses its demographic dominance.
“Cities have a certain background, and that culture permeates, even long after that group is no longer the majority,” said former D.C. mayor Anthony A. Williams, who teaches a course called “Leading Cities” at Harvard University. “The Irish influence in Boston is still very powerful, even though Irish people are no longer the bulk of the population.
“Just as [Massachusetts Gov.] Deval Patrick had to be steeped in Irish institutions to succeed in Boston,” Williams said, “the black institutions in the District will continue to dominate the city’s politics — the whole grapevine of churches, social groups, fraternities.”
This is nothing new. It's always been known within and without the Black community that Atlanta has been a magnet, not just for Blacks, but Black gays and lesbians also. As gay and lesbian culture becomes more and more visible nationwide, it's not something that will "taint" the image of Atlanta in particular in the minds of African Americans. Trust me, this isn't an issue.
"Minus the alternative lifestyles"? As I said earlier, gay culture is becoming more and more visible nationwide, and that includes Charlotte. No it's not as dominating in Charlotte as it is in Atlanta, but it's definitely there. Charlotte may have a faster-growing Black population in the city, but Atlanta still, by far, has a faster-growing Black population metrowide. Charlotte certainly doesn't have anything like the predominantly Black upscale residential enclaves that one can find in parts of metro Atlanta.
The stats show that while Atlanta still by far attracts the largest share of African American migrants, the rest is split among other cities like Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Raleigh, etc. There's not going to be the emergence of some new Black mecca because the conditions that originally created the Black meccas of Atlanta and DC don't exist anymore, at least to the same extent that they once were. And I think that's a good thing. Furthermore, I'd hate to see Charlotte experience some of the downsides that come along with the whole "Black mecca" label.
Why do you find it interesting? Because all parties involved are black?
America is becoming a society of the haves and have nots. Race is not the issue, it's class. Well off blacks do not want to be around poor blacks. I do
not find this strange at all......
Well off blacks get burdened with the jopb of having to "take care" of the entire race of blacks when in fact it's not their responsibility. This only happens to blacks. Whites DO NOT get burdened with having to take care of poor whites in rural America.
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Not understanding what your mean by take care of the entire race ,can you please expand on that issue a little.
Increased tensions along the lines of race and class, attracting certain types of people simply based on hype who haven't done their homework, etc.
Devil's advocate here, but how come it's ok for areas to be majority white and not be viewed with such negativity? However, when an area becomes majority "something other than white," it's viewed as a problem...? I guess because this country is majority white, it's almost like a given and it's expected that most areas will be majority white. I don't know.
Im tired of seeing threads with people posting information with no backup data. You all are just posting cities just for the fun of it. When your city can equal to these stats MAYBE we can have this discussion but until then just keep waiting
Well in terms of black educational attainment, Atlanta does attract more blacks with at least a bachelor's degree or more than any othe metropolitan area. Lets break it on down shall we...
According to the Status of Metropolitan America study done by Brookings:
African Americans with degrees in metro Atlanta grew by 83% from 2000-2008! Compared to 40% for metro Atlanta overall. The growth rate for blacks holding a master's degree or more grew even more; by an astounding 125% from 2000-2008!
Metro Atlanta has the second highest number of African Americans holding degrees (275,000) after only New York (451,000), recently surpassing Washington, DC (250,000).
One in four (24%) metro Atlantans holding a degree is an African American, compared to 10% in metro New York and 15% in metro DC. Almost one out of ten African American adults hold at least a master's degree in metro Atlanta.
Lastly, 27% of African American adults hold at least a bachelors degree compared to 19% nationwide.
Devil's advocate here, but how come it's ok for areas to be majority white and not be viewed with such negativity? However, when an area becomes majority "something other than white," it's viewed as a problem...? I guess because this country is majority white, it's almost like a given and it's expected that most areas will be majority white. I don't know.
Let's just say that you get some different dynamics at work in majority-minority cities or cities/metros with a large population of minorities, particularly African Americans given our complex history in this country. You can get both positives and negatives with that.
I agree that African Americans populate so many different metro areas across the country that there won't really be another "Black Mecca"
The days of African Americans flocking to one of 5 cities for properity are long gone.
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