District of Columbia Losing Black Majority

With D.C. neighborhoods attracting new white upper-income residents and lower-income black families fleeing for the more affordable suburbs, the nation's capital is poised to lose its longtime status as a black-majority city.

1 minute read

May 18, 2007, 7:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


"The 14 percent increase in non-Hispanic white District residents and 6 percent decrease in blacks from 2000 to 2006 are probably the result of the gentrification of once-affordable city neighborhoods, demographers said.

The impact on the city's racial makeup is noticeable. In 2000, blacks made up 60 percent of the District's population. By 2006, that figure was 55 percent."

"If the trends continue, the city will almost certainly cease to be majority black by 2020, said Robert E. Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. "It will wind up more like a Los Angeles or a New York, with no clear majority." "

Thursday, May 17, 2007 in The Washington Post

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