A new essay published by Politico documents how the Black population of Chicago is in decline. In fact, nine out of the ten largest populations of Black Americans are seeing a significant decline.
The beginning of Black flight from Chicago corresponds with the election of Chicago’s first Black mayor in the 1980s. Since then, Chicago has gone from 40% Black to 29% Black. Since 2000, the Black population has declined by over a quarter million. Meanwhile, Black residents in Chicago’s suburbs rose by 125k in the same time period.
Politico concedes that violent crime in the Black community is the core reason for Black flight.
Politico says there are similar trends all across the United States. Blacks are fleeing majority Black urban areas in favor of suburbs and small towns. Politico seems to be the most concerned about the decline of Black political power in major cities and fears “bare-knuckle tribal fights” between Blacks and Latinos as they clash over which group will dominate city politics.
Chicago city council is made up of 50 people, 46 Democrats, and 4 Independents. Currently, the Chicago Black Caucus includes 20 members, of 40%. Racial gerrymandering has preserved a disproportionally high number of Black members.
The Chicago Black Caucus is fighting to redistrict the city to preserve the largest number of majority Black districts.
