Chicago is losing its black middle class. Can it get it back?

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

But in the context of the black community of Chicago, the article states that black households only make about 43% of what white households make (an astonishing divide, btw, far larger than the national difference)

I wouldn't read too far into that stat. Chicago has a large poverty-stricken population that is most likely single-parent households and receiving government assistance compared to the overall American black population.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Would a Chicago without black people be a world class city?

I think we all forget as recent as 1950 most American cities were majority white. Having a black/white/hispanic/Asian majority doesn't make a city great.

Does Detroit barely having any white people make it suck?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by memph

Considering the middle class blacks are being replaced by low income blacks, I highly doubt they're being priced out. The South Side of Chicago is still mostly heading in the opposite direction from gentrification - it's declining. Middle class black neighbourhoods turn into low income black neighbourhoods, which become run down, and have homes go vacant and abandoned and lose population.

The middle class black residents aren't being replaced. The ones you see on these lists are just the ones that were left behind. And, it could very well be the case that the heat map from above is showing the decline in economic status of black Chicagoans and not just the flight of them.

Most of Chicago's black working class and middle class would have been employed in local and state government jobs (teachers, city services, emergency services, etc.), or manufacturing jobs. We all know what's happening with manufacturing, but there was also a big trend of privatizing city services, and closing public schools in favor of charters. And the black families in professional worker households (doctors, lawyers) would've mainly serviced those black middle class workers.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I think we all forget as recent as 1950 most American cities were majority white. Having a black/white/hispanic/Asian majority doesn't make a city great.

We didn't forget that; it's not really true. The biggest American cities have always been diverse.

Does Detroit barely having any white people make it suck?

Obviously, Detroit is not a very cosmopolitan place. Obviously, the lack of diversity is a key factor in it not being cosmopolitan.