I've heard innumerable pundits on TV talking about the lopsided numbers of white cops, white teachers, white School Board, etc in Ferguson, Missouri which is a predominantly black community. Of course, these pundits have nearly all labelled it a result of racism. It does seem odd and made me want to do a little research as to why. Typically, in predominantly black communities in America this disparity doesn't exist so why is Ferguson, Missouri different? Well, the census data provides some answers.

Between the 1990 and 2010 Census' Ferguson went from being a predominantly white community (73% white) to a predominantly black community (67% black). With a population of only about 21,000-22,000 people, in a 20 year span, the white population decreased by 10,000 and the black population grew by over 9,000. The total population of the city didn't change much but the demographics did.

I'm not sure what caused this demographic shift but given that that disparity in ethnic ratios of police, teachers, etc. exists, it does make some sense in that public employees are more apt to linger on in their jobs than those in private sectors, which go where the jobs are going. As a result, the poverty rate in Ferguson more than doubled in just one decade. If the poverty rate, which is typically tied to drop out rates, is so high, it also makes sense that efforts to recruit blacks among the locals for these public jobs is also a challenge. One needs a college education to be a teacher and given the small size of the community the pool of available minority teachers and available police recruits that don't have criminal records or are high school graduates would be small. Of course, it could be purely because of racism. Why bother looking at the facts?

(08-21-2014 09:33 AM)WKUApollo Wrote:  I've heard innumerable pundits on TV talking about the lopsided numbers of white cops, white teachers, white School Board, etc in Ferguson, Missouri which is a predominantly black community. Of course, these pundits have nearly all labelled it a result of racism. It does seem odd and made me want to do a little research as to why. Typically, in predominantly black communities in America this disparity doesn't exist so why is Ferguson, Missouri different? Well, the census data provides some answers.

Between the 1990 and 2010 Census' Ferguson went from being a predominantly white community (73% white) to a predominantly black community (67% black). With a population of only about 21,000-22,000 people, in a 20 year span, the white population decreased by 10,000 and the black population grew by over 9,000. The total population of the city didn't change much but the demographics did.

I'm not sure what caused this demographic shift but given that that disparity in ethnic ratios of police, teachers, etc. exists, it does make some sense in that public employees are more apt to linger on in their jobs than those in private sectors, which go where the jobs are going. As a result, the poverty rate in Ferguson more than doubled in just one decade. If the poverty rate, which is typically tied to drop out rates, is so high, it also makes sense that efforts to recruit blacks among the locals for these public jobs is also a challenge. One needs a college education to be a teacher and given the small size of the community the pool of available minority teachers and available police recruits that don't have criminal records or are high school graduates would be small. Of course, it could be purely because of racism. Why bother looking at the facts?

Nice job. The answer to your question is that the leftist narrative doesn't hold up when looking at facts.

Why did Blacks move there in the first place?

(08-21-2014 10:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why did Blacks move there in the first place?

I've heard comments that it is a depressed community, close to the noise of the airport. If that is the case, it may be filled with the type of affordable housing only the poor or unfortunate can rent or own.

I make no statement of the veracity of this claim.

(08-21-2014 10:57 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(08-21-2014 10:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why did Blacks move there in the first place?

I've heard comments that it is a depressed community, close to the noise of the airport. If that is the case, it may be filled with the type of affordable housing only the poor or unfortunate can rent or own.

I make no statement of the veracity of this claim.

There's some truth to that. The high school was recently razed because it was in the area of the airport expansion and a new high school was built. In addition, Ferguson is not an outlying suburb, it's an old suburb nearer to the urban core. The articles I found stated that like other older suburbs, it didn't have municipal restrictions against dense housing that is typical for low income dwellers whereas outlying newer suburbs do. As the jobs left, many of the residents of Ferguson left with them and lower income folks from the urban core began to move to this plentiful affordable housing area. Very typical of what we've seen in other places over the last 20 years or so. As larger cities have focused on revitalizing downtowns, demolishing old decaying urban public housing, the residents move to the next outlying ring....i.e. Ferguson.

Thanks for the great post WKU

(08-21-2014 10:43 AM)Fitbud Wrote:  Why did Blacks move there in the first place?

Public housing.

So then is is safe to say that most blacks who live in Ferguson don't work there?

(08-21-2014 12:11 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  So then is is safe to say that most blacks who live in Ferguson don't work there?

Don't work or don't work there. In either case, that's typical in suburbs. Remember, Ferguson is part of the St. Louis Metro area and like all suburbs, many of the folks who do work, don't always work in their suburb. That's why the highways are congested in the morning and afternoon....folks commuting to and from work.