Michael Atherton wrote: > "A new study of 2000 Census data by > American City Business Journals found > white median household incomes in the > Twin Cities were nearly double blacks' > earnings, with blacks making $519 for > every $1,000 whites make." > > My guess for a part of this disparity, > in Minneapolis, is the high school > dropout rate for African-Americans. > Maybe our new school board members > can set goals and can tell us what > they're going to do about it. > > Any other suggestions as to what causes > this disparity in our city compared to > others?
My reply: I think the disparity is more likely due to the rapid increase in the number of Blacks in Minnesota over the last two decades. Where did this increase come from? I think it was mostly due to emigration of poor Blacks from other parts of the country during that period. I remember periodic scares of the last 10-20 years ago where people claimed that poor Blacks were coming from Chicago and Detroit to take advantage of Minnesota's high-paying welfare system. I don't know whether there was ever any truth to that, or if a lot of the immigration was due to the relative ease of getting a job in the strong economy we had here for so many years. But in any case, I think Minnesota has been a draw for poor Blacks recently. I think this immigration has slowed in the last few years. Hopefully, many of these new immigrants will move into the middle class over the next 10-20 years, and the disparity will at least decrease to the level of other cities the same size as Minneapolis. I have absolutely no statistics to back up what I wrote above. It's just my impression from what I've read in the paper over many years. I would welcome any facts that collaborate or conflict with my guess. Mark Anderson Bancroft _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
