When the 2020 US Census numbers were published in 2021, local press guise the massive displacement of Black folks from D.C. as “integration” or “growing diversity” (over past 2 decades, 60k Black folks have been made gone from the city).
Also notably missing in any local census analysis is the fact that the ward scapegoated for being exclusive and segregated was one of two wards that increased in Black residents over the past 10 years.
CENSUS 2020 (WARD LEVEL)
DC lost 20,000 (-6%) Black population in the last decade by Ward, Lost Black population:
- Ward 1, -6,000, -24%
- Ward 2, -3,100, -32%,
- Ward 4, -7,200, -16%
- Ward 5, -5,300, -9%
- Ward 6, -3,200, -10%
- Ward 7, (0), 0%
Gained Black population — Ward 3, +2,000, +58% –Ward 8, +3,000, +5%
In response to all the amazing comments to this post
Here are some of the key sources we can relay that support the Census chart demonstrated above and showing that Ward 3 increased in Black residents while the rest of the city (except Wards 7 and 8) saw the startling displacement of longtime residents who identify as “Black-alone” on the 2020 US Census.
First, going to OP’s index of all the sources regarding the 2020 census >> https://planning.dc.gov/publication/2020-census-information-and-data
From the OP index and one table in, find this chart.
Using the charts from OP, review the 2020 DC Census by Ward analysis provided by Blaine Stum, The Legislative Policy Advisor for the Office of Chairman Phil Mendelson :: https://mobile.twitter.com/Blaine_Stum/status/1425885669113712651
Then below, find snapshots of the US Census website demonstrating the startling numbers of DC Black displacement which you can access here >> https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html
Also to note among the Census data points is the racial wealth income gap, a stark reality for those living and working in D. See the Washington Post Analysis, Economy, “The black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968, Economy” By Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, dated June 4, 2020, “… [T]he gap between the finances of blacks and whites is still as wide in 2020 as it was in 1968, when a run of landmark civil rights legislation culminated in the Fair Housing Act in response to centuries of unequal treatment of African Americans in nearly every part of society and business.” https://archive.ph/thnvI#selection-1621.0-1621.303
Moreover, there are 40,000+ vacant housing units conservatively citywide and likely more now!
(AOBA report 2019-2021 at p.13). Imagine now, how and why the blue-ist city in the nation can define “Housing Affordability” as a housing unit affordable for an individual making 120K/yr.
It is a preeminent policy failure that harms Black DC and increases displacement pressures each time you hear a developer, the Mayor, anyone say they are constructing “affordable housing.” See more here >> https://twitter.com/dc4reality/status/1624111925494706177