Community
Most and Least Ethnically Diverse U.S. Cities Identified
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “A growing body of social psychological research suggests that information about increasing ethnic diversity can lead white Americans to express greater concerns about their ethnic group’s status and, further, these concerns can have implications for interethnic attitudes as well as political attitudes,” said Dr. Maureen Craig, a WalletHub expert and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
With immigration reform remaining one of the most prominent political issues, suggesting that the U.S. demographic landscape may soon change, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2019’s Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Cities.
To identify the most ethnically diverse places in America, WalletHub compared more than 500 of the largest U.S. cities across three key metrics: ethno-racial diversity, linguistic diversity and birthplace diversity.
Oakland, California, has the highest racial and ethnic diversity than any other city in the country, a figure that’s four times higher than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the lowest.
Meanwhile, Hialeah enjoys the highest concentration of Hispanics or Latinos, at 96.44 percent while Laconia, New Hampshire has the highest concentration of whites, at 94.81 percent.
Jackson, Mississippi has the highest concentration of blacks, at 81.44 percent.
Jersey City, NJ; Gaithersburg, Md.; Germantown, Md.; Silver Spring, Md. and Spring Valley, Nevada were the most ethnically diverse cities in America according to the study.
New York City, Oakland, San Jose, Ca.; Rockville, Md. and Kent, Washington also made the top 10.
Barre, Vermont; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Watertown, South Dakota; Parkersburg, West Virginia; and Hialeah, Florida, comprised the rest of the 10 least ethnically diverse cities.
Rutland, Vermont; Wheeling, West Virginia; Laconia, New Hampshire; Miles City, Montana and Bennington, Vermont, were identified as the five least ethnically diverse cities.
Havre, Montana; had the highest concentration of residents who spoke English (98.57 percent), while Hileah, Florida found itself at the opposite end with just 5.59 percent of its residents speaking English (93.96 percent of Hileah residents speak Spanish and just 0.33 percent of those in Havre speak Spanish).
For birthplace diversity (locations where residents continue to reside long after they were born) Greenville, Mississippi topped every city with 86.79 percent, while Hilton Head Island, S.C., came in last at 16.80 percent.
New York (69.40 percent) is the most diverse large city, Jersey City counts as the most diverse mid-size city and Gaithersburg, Md., is the most diverse small city in America, according to the report.
“A growing body of social psychological research suggests that information about increasing ethnic diversity can lead white Americans to express greater concerns about their ethnic group’s status and, further, these concerns can have implications for interethnic attitudes as well as political attitudes,” said Dr. Maureen Craig, a WalletHub expert and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University.
“For example, prior research has found that viewing a media report detailing increases in national ethnic diversity can lead white Americans to express ethnic bias, support more exclusionary political stances, and express greater concerns about anti-white discrimination,” Craig said.
“However, an important caveat is that these experiments all focus on what happens when white Americans are asked to anticipate ethnic demographic change,” she said.
There are many benefits to a diverse, multicultural city some of which are being exposed to different neighborhoods, communities, culture, parks and restaurants, said Dr. Kwame Dixon, a WalletHub expert and an assistant professor of African American Studies in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
“In most cases a diverse cultural setting leads to some common boundaries of understanding. The social citizen of the 21st century must be being exposed to multiple cultural settings and environments,” Dixon said.
If diversity becomes a smokescreen for displacement or gentrification or if a historically black or Latino community is diversified in a short period of time by newcomers defined as white then there will be tensions around space, identity and displacement, he said.
“This may lead to other tensions – former residents being pushed to the margins or to poorer communities,” Dixon said.
Click here to view the full report.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
City Government
Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Special to The Post
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.
Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”
According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.
“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”
When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.
At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”
While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.
“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.
The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.
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