“On the road again.”
I was recently reading an article in the newspaper from the city I grew up in which stated that it is the 4th worst city for Black people in America. Now, the city to the north Milwaukee is ahead of ours. So that is two cities in the top five in proximity to my previous home. Today, I live in New York City, which seems like a world away from my small Midwest city in Wisconsin. But this issue that Black people face isn’t just a small Midwest issue, it is in other parts of the country as well. Gentrification has pushed a lot of Black families out of the community. So that leaves a question on the table.
Will there be another migration in my lifetime of the Black community? During the industrial revolution there was a leap from the South into the major cities in the north. Families were escaping Jim Crow South and finding better work opportunities. But today, the South of the past is becoming the life of today in other American regions. And my small city along with metropolitan Milwaukee are not the only places where Black people facing hardships. So, where will the migration exist? Will Black people head back south, or disperse even more throughout the country? Or, will we leave America and disperse elsewhere all together?
Because the young generation, unlike our parents are more fluid to move about. We could disperse more throughout the country. Or given there is only 11% of us in the country, we could easily disperse throughout the globe. When there is 40 million introduced to a country, that’s a lot, but around the globe is not. Because something has to happen considering we are dipping further and further down. With the signing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voters Rights Act in the 1960’s, coupled with the election of President Barack Obama, we thought life would be different. But it’s turning out to be worst than the past.
The schools today are worst than the past, the family is more fragmented, and our health is going down. We were 10% of the American population during the 1950’s and only set to be 14% by 2050. A population growth of 4% in 100 years is tiny, so another trend is taking hold. You could very well start to now see the numbers declining over time as well. Because if opportunities are slim, then fewer Black children born, and numbers decrease. So you could easily see the Black population of what was once descendants of slaves in this country become Black people immigrating from other parts of the world.
In the end, the Black community is decreasing in the financial morale department and could see a decline in numbers over time. Yet on the other hand population in America is growing, while White men and women’s numbers decline over time as well. Giving rise to America being a majority Hispanic nation over time. I am old enough to bare witness to such changes in America; and I wonder what the country will look like by the time I reach elderly years.
https://faheemjackson.squarespace.com/ (PERSONAL WEBSITE)
https://www.facebook.com/fjacks063 (FAN PAGE)
https://www.Medium.com/@faheemjackson
@theefaheemjackson Instagram
@2320howe Twitter
the word 