Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The same map, based on 2000 census results, shows that the black ghetto has
grown considerably from its initial core towards the east, south, and southwest (see
Figure 8.5). There is an increasing black presence in the growing suburbs, especially
in the southwest, but blacks represent no more than 10% of the population in the
northern suburbs.
A comparison of the segregation and income distribution maps reflects a close
relationship. Poor neighborhoods south of the Central Business District and some
nearby suburbs have populations that are predominantly black, whereas the
wealthier districts to the north are those where the proportion of black residents is
the lowest. Not all blacks are poor, but the more successful tend to move away.
There are more affluent black neighborhoods, particularly in southwest suburban
Atlanta.
In the 1970 census, nearly two in three blacks residing within the metropolitan
area lived within Atlanta city limits, giving the city of Atlanta a black majority (50%
of the population) (see Figure 8.6). At the time, the city of Atlanta had 485,000
inhabitants and 28% of the total 1970 population of the metropolitan area within its
1999 limits (1999 definition). Suburban growth was such that by the 2000 census
only 21% of metropolitan blacks lived in Atlanta's center city. That said, the
African-American community in the center city had grown by 3%, even though the
city lost 15% of its population over 30 years. This is a prime example of the
phenomenon of “white flight” to the suburbs between 1970 and 1990. Since then,
the population has continued to increase so that a black majority has strengthened its
hold on Atlanta's center city, further accentuating the social cleavage with the
suburbs. Residents of Atlanta elected a black mayor for the first time in 1974 and
blacks have held power since. In 2001, a woman was elected mayor of Atlanta.
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
USA
MSA
Central City
Suburbs
Figure 8.6.
Atlanta MSA, African-American population
as a percentage of the general population, 2000
