The Lost of Black Population in Major Cities Has Reached a Critical Point

            There is a stealth development taking place in major cities throughout the country – the dramatic decline in Black population. According to the most recent Census Bureau figures, cities with once sizable or even majority Black populations are now becoming more and more non-Black. This development has tremendous potential consequences, especially in the area of Black political empowerment but it is receiving amazing little public notice.

             A few examples will suffice to demonstrate the severity of the problem. In 1957, Washington, D.C. became the first major American city to achieve majority Black status. By 1970, African Americans accounted for better than 70 percent of the population of the nation’s capital.  But according to Census data addressing population shifts through 2006, Washington, D.C. is now just 57 percent Black and demographers are projecting it will lose its majority Black status within 10 years.

             New York City had been gaining Black population for decades. But in 2005 (for the first time in history) the nation’s largest city actually loss Black population. In 1970, African Americans accounted for better than 18 percent of the population in Los Angeles. In 2006, that percent had declined to 9.9 percent. San Francisco, meanwhile, leads the nation in the loss of Blacks having loss better than half its Black population since 1970.

             With a few exceptions, similar developments are taking place in Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, San Diego, Miami and Boston. In the case of Boston, after being majority Black and Hispanic for years, in 2005 the city once again became majority white.

             The chief culprits appear to be skyrocketing housing prices, urban renewal which destroyed predominantly Black communities and gentrification. In Washington, D.C., once predominantly Black low-income communities are now dotted with condominiums selling for a minimum of $300,000. In San Francisco, a descent condominium goes for around $500,000.

             However, the most amazing development is that virtually no one is discussing this development even though it holds the threat of undermining Black political gains on both the local and national levels. With the exception of a study group in San Francisco, we were unable to find any efforts designed to reverse the decline of Black populations in major cities.

             Thus, we face a situation in which a major change with significant consequences is taking place in America and we and our leaders are being caught completely off-guard. Instead we are fighting one another over superficialities such as rap music, use of the N-word, and dress codes. This commentary therefore constitutes an emergency alert: We have failed to gain adequate economic power to better the lives of our people and the stage is now being set for a dispersal which will result in the lost of the little political power we did gain.

  Wake up!