White and Asian couples are the most common pairing of interracial marriages in D.C.
The share of marriages that were interracial reached an all-time high in 2010. A Pew Research Center study released Thursday found that 8.4 percent of married couples were interracial or inter-ethnic, a record number, and 15.1 percent of people who got married in 2010 did so across racial lines.
But the trends aren’t the same for every racial group. Whites were the least likely to marry someone of another race in 2010, while Asians were the most likely to.
The Pew study also found that more than four-in-10 Americans say the rise in interracial marriages has been a good change in society. We’ve previously explored how tolerant D.C. is of interracial couples, and a number of you shared your experiences, both positive and negative. Almost 20 percent of new marriages from 2008 to 2010 in D.C. were interracial. White-black couples are the least prevalent of interracial marriages in D.C., while the District ranks as the “state” with the second highest percentage of white-Asian marriages (Hawaii ranks first).
Here’s the breakdown for D.C.’s newly-wed couples between 2008 and 2010: Continue reading →
The debate over whether to continue Black History Month is a provocative one, and the voices calling to end it are coming from some unlikely sources. There are those who have long argued that singling out minority groups perpetuates racial animosity. Others ask “Why is there no white history month?” (A common counter argument to that is “Because every month is white history month.”). But some are raising the question because they think that having a Black History Month “lets us off the hook,” so to speak; with a month set aside to learn about black history, there’s little impetus to incorporate it into U.S. history classes.
That’s the thread chased by filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman, the man behind “More Than A Month,” a documentary exploring the roots of Black History Month and the debate over whether to end it. (The film is screening in D.C. on Feb. 26).
Black History Month began in the 1920s as Negro History Week, the brainchild of D.C.’s Carter G. Woodson. The purpose: to learn about the accomplishments of black Americans and their contributions to society. Tilghman appeared on WAMU 88.5′s The Kojo Nnamdi Show earlier this month when he said that as a child, Black History Month gave him a “sense of empowerment, a sense of pride:”
The number of very low-income renters has risen in recent years, at the same time rents are increasing. That’s according to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group, which found that between 2009 and 2010, the number of “extremely low-income renters” grew by 200,000 nationwide. Extremely low-income renters earn less than 30 percent of their area’s median income, and the report found that for every 100 such families, only 30 affordable units were available for rent. These kinds of renters usually have less than half of their income available after paying for housing, The Wall Street Journal reports.
“What we’ve seen is a decline in the homeownership rate since 2008, and we’ve seen rent being pushed up,” pushing market-rate housing out of reach for an increasing number of people, said NLIHC chief executive Sheila Crowley in an interview. The gap between supply of affordable rental housing and demand from extremely-low income borrowers exists in all 50 states, but the problem is worst in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Michigan. “Where you have the biggest problems is where you have the biggest difference between rich and poor,” Ms. Crowley said.
The D.C. Fire and EMS Department has had to face conflicts with racial undertones for many years. The latest incident took place after about 100 firefighters walked out during Chief Kenneth Ellerbe’s State of the Department address on Jan. 24. The firefighters, most of whom, but not all, were white, and they were protesting a policy to switch from 24 to 12-hour shifts. In response to the walkout, department spokesman Lon Walls wrote on his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts that he “just witnessed a blatant display of racism and disrespect shown to an African American leader,” and the walkout was ” the most blatant, ignorant and racist public display of disrespect I have ever seen,” The Washington Times reports. Walls has since been placed on administrative leave.
During an appearance on The Kojo Nnamdi show last week, Chief Kenneth Ellerbe answered questions on the role race has played in recent conflicts. He told Kojo, “We never want to interject race in an area or environment where you already have perceived challenges or even hostilities.” Hear more in the video below:
Focusing on educational disparities in the District would help reduce crime, according to a report issued today by D.C. think tank Justice Policy Institute. According to the report, D.C.’s high school dropouts are more likely to have prison records. It went on to show that states that have increased the money they spend on higher education have also seen their violent crime rates decline.
The think tank, whose mission is to reduce the incarceration rate, recommends spending more money on parks, mentoring and schools and less money on courts and policing. They also recommend revising school policies to keep kids in school.
Researchers found the same stark disparities we’ve examined when it comes to education levels in D.C.’s wards; for instance, one-fifth of Ward 8 adults haven’t completed high school. But the report also breaks down formal education levels of D.C.’s adults by race. Nearly all white adults in D.C. — 99 percent of them — have a high school diploma or higher. For African Americans, 80 percent of adults have completed high school, while 57 percent of Hispanic adults have high school diplomas.
Last week we wrote about the ongoing debate over whether “black” or “African American” is the preferred term among black Americans born in the United States. A 2011 The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll showed that 42 percent of respondents preferred to be called black, compared to 35 percent who went by African American and 13 percent who said it didn’t matter.
We noted some complexities within this debate — what about African immigrants, non-black Africans and second-generation Americans with roots in Africa? A number of you with similar backgrounds chimed in to offer thoughts on what you preferred to be called, and how you’ve navigated racial identity in America.
Commenter Frenchie wrote she prefers to be called “Haitian-American:”
I prefer not to be called African-American because it doesn’t correctly encompass my history or background. Additionally, there continue to be tensions between “member of the African diaspora, “exotic” blacks and African-Americans “regular” blacks. That often painful and tense history continues to prevent black immigrants from feeling as if African-American can ever be an all-inclusive term and, thus, makes “black” our default.
Some readers were unsure of what to call themselves, such as commenter Cia0912:
Downtown was once a visual artistic hub in the District. In recent years, many galleries have been priced out of the neighborhood due to skyrocketing rents (sound familiar?). But D.C.’s zoning rules still require “arts uses” in the neighborhood. The result: a number of galleries have opened up in office buildings, which are not easily noticeable or accessible, and where building owners have input over the kinds of art displayed. It’s an odd situation that’s developed out of the city trying to prevent the displacement of the arts in increasingly pricey neighborhoods.
In the mid-’90s, the city implemented zoning to require arts, part of the plan for the Downtown Development District. “A lot of establishments are a result of the zoning,” Corbett says. “They’re just not galleries,” but also theaters.
But much changed after Verizon Center opened in 1997. Today, the neighborhood’s street life revolves around Verizon, something planners in the 1980s could not have anticipated.
Escalating rents forced many galleries out, notably such longtime commercial galleries as Zenith and Touchstone, which moved north, their spaces usually replaced by eateries.
The controversy over the quote on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial isn’t over. National Park Service plans to change the quote on the side of King’s statue is drawing criticism from the monument’s executive architect and others.
The quote on King’s statue currently reads, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” It’s a paraphrased version of this longer quote, from the end of his “Drum Major” speech:
If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.
Some, including poet Maya Angelou, have criticized the paraphrased version, saying it makes King sound arrogant. The monument’s architect says the existing stone can’t be matched and changing the quote “would essentially deface the monument,” reports WAMU 88.5′s Elliott Francis.
Do you think the paraphrased version should be changed, or should the NPS leave the memorial alone? Vote below:
A new campaign in a Minnesota town is aiming to spark dialogue in a community with stark racial disparities. Billboards seen around Duluth carry messages such as “It’s hard to see racism when you’re white” and “Is white skin really fair skin?” Some argue that the campaign, which is backed by 15 sponsors including the local YWCA, opens the door to discussions about white privilege. Others, however, feel it paints all white people as racists.
One of those citizens, Phil Pierson, created a Facebook page called “Stop Racist Unfair Campaign” to air objections to it. More than 425 people became members.
Pierson frequently posts messages admonishing members to keep the discussion civil, and he deplores the white supremacist rhetoric showing up in some messages to community leaders.
Still, said Pierson, the campaign erred by opening with such jarring messages and images.
“You can’t open a discussion on race and hope to see it move in a positive direction when you raise the topic by stereotyping an entire race,” Pierson said. “It spreads animosity and hate, teaches a new generation to point fingers and [focuses] on the color of our skin instead of the idea that we’re all human.”
The 2010 Census form had one option for "black, African American or Negro."
What do you say: “black” or “African American?” As someone who regularly writes about race and demographics, I often find myself using both terms interchangeably. But there is no clear on consensus on which term is most accurate or preferred, as Associated Press reporter Jesse Washington writes in a story this week on the debate.
Washington notes that the term “African American,” which came from the black intelligentsia, became popularized after the Rev. Jesse Jackson used it in the 1980s. Jackson told reporters at the time: “Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some land base, some historical, cultural base. African-Americans have hit that level of cultural maturity.”
But not everyone today prefers to be called African American. According to a January 2011 The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll [PDF], 42 percent of respondents said they preferred to be called black, compared to 35 percent who preferred African American (13 percent said it didn’t matter). From Washington’s story:
