I’m a number cruncher, so one way I’m observing Black History Month is by examining census figures for the Northwest’s African-American and African-Canadian populations. (Another way is here.) Although the Northwest does not have a large black population relative to many places in the United States, the region is home to nearly 340,00 residents who self-identify as black, representing 2.1 percent of the population. Among Cascadia’s African-descended people the vast majority, 71 percent, make their homes in western Washington.
It’s often forgotten that Washington’s black communities can trace roots to the years when the area was still contested by Britain and the United States, nearly a decade before the Washington Territory was created. Today, a portion of the relatively large black population in Washington can be explained by the state’s numerous military bases and the strong tradition of military service among African Americans.
The Northwest’s black population is so centered on Puget Sound that Sound-area locales claim all but one of the top 30 spots in the region for shares of people of African descent. In fact, a rank-ordered list for the Northwest turns out to be simply a list of places in Washington, 29 around the Puget Sound and one in eastern Washington. Here it is:
(CDP means “Census Designated Place,” a term that often refers to unincorporated places.)
The data show that although Seattle boasts by far the Northwest’s largest population of African Americans, plenty of other places in western Washington have larger shares. (If some of those place names aren’t familiar, it may be helpful to know that Bryn Mawr-Skyway sits between Renton and Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood; Boulevard Park is located between SeaTac and White Center; Riverton is between Burien and SeaTac; Midland is south of Tacoma; East Hill-Meridian is east of Kent; Fairwood is roughly between Renton and Kent; and Frederickson is southwest of Puyallup.)
Many places in the Northwest with large African American populations are connected to US military installations. North Fort Lewis (5), Fort Lewis (9), Whidbey Island Naval Air Station (13), McChord Air Force Base (17), and Bangor Naval Base (25) all crack the region’s top 30 list. And several other locations are adjacent to military installations, including Parkland (7) and Spanaway (11), both of which abut Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The only place on the Northwest’s top 30 list outside the Puget Sound area is Airway Heights (28) in eastern Washington, which sits between Spokane and Fairchild Air Force Base. It is also home to a state prison, so the high incarceration rates of African-American men may be boosting the numbers there.
Now, let’s take a look at Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.
Portland is really the only place outside of the Puget Sound-area that is home to a sizeable population of African Americans. Even Fairview (3), is a small suburb closely connected to northeast Portland.
In Oregon, just two places outside of Portland’s immediate sphere make it onto the top 10 list: Sheridan and Umatilla. Sheridan is southwest of McMinnville at the foot of Oregon’s Coast Range in an area that otherwise has a very small black population. Its standing on the list may be explained by the federal prison located there. In eastern Oregon, Umatilla is next door to the Umatilla Army Depot.
Military bases also play a role in Idaho’s rankings.
Idaho’s top two spots are connected to the Mountain Home Air Force Base, which is about 60 miles southeast of Boise. Garden City is a close-in suburb on Boise’s northwest boundary.
Finally, British Columbia has a small share of people claiming African heritage. (Please note that figures for BC are not directly comparable to the states, and that this list covers metro areas rather than individual cities or places. More details are in the “notes and methods” below.)
I was surprised to find that the province has a smaller share of black residents than Idaho, while famously multicultural Vancouver metro area has an even smaller share than the city of Boise. I was also interested to discover that Courtenay, a relatively rural part of Vancouver Island, is home to Canadian Forces Base Comox, a military site.
Those are the numbers. Now it’s probably about time to complement them with some of the region’s human stories by finally making a trip to Seattle’s Northwest African American Museum.
Notes and methods: For US jurisdictions, I used data from the US Census Bureau’s 2010 demographic profile, “Table GCT-P3: Race and Hispanic or Latino.” Data refer to residents who self-identify as “one race” and “Black or African American.” My tables exclude places with very small total populations. For BC, I used StatCan’s data from the 2006 Canadian Census, the most recent available. All data come from “Population Groups (28) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census – 20% Sample Data.” To increase the comparability to the US numbers, I counted only those who identified as a single race. Data in BC are for Census-defined metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.
Regrettably, US Census data for individual cities and places do not allow me to portray multi-racial identification for those who are part African, which I suspect overlooks a sizeable and important part of the Northwest’s population. Indeed, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington all have substantially more people classified as “two or more races” than those who self-identify as “one race” and “black,” but it is not possible to determine how many of these people are part black.
Thanks to Alan Durning, Nicole Bernard, and Rashad Morris, each of whom provided insight for this piece.
Eric de Place
I recommend Sarah Mirk’s recent article in the the Portland Mercury, “It’s Not About the Bikes” for a bit of the history of Portland’s black community, – http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/its-not-about-the-bikes/Content?oid=5619639.
Helen Silvis
I loved Sarah Mirk’s article, which builds on work done by my colleague Lisa Loving who first covered this issue here:
http://theskanner.com/article/Portland-Gentrification-The-North-Williams-Avenue-That-Was–1956-2011-08-09
Dan Petegorsky
Also the Urban League’s State of Black Oregon reports:
http://ulpdx.org/StateofBlackOregon.html
Charles Thornton
Would like to know more about eastern Washington. Blacks are spread out around the Spokane area. We don’t all live near the base (Airway Hts).
Susan Graham
Interesting article! Project RACE advocates for multiracial children, teens, adults and our families thought the US. It is not true that the breakdown of multiracial people are not available. The US Census Bureau has that data and should make it readily available to you. You may wish to try the race and ethnicity department at the census; N. Jones heads that division.
By the way, it’s very interesting that you refer to people who are part “African.” Studies show that more blacks in America prefer the term “black” to the term “African.” Whites who move to the United States from Africa are also African-American, but they are not black. Stories like this can be found on our website at projectrace.com or our blog: projectrace.blogspot.com
Eric de Place
Thanks for sharing your blog!
I wasn’t able to find the data online using the Census’ AmericanFactFinder interface. If someone can direct me to it, or provide contact info for someone who can, I’d be grateful.
My usage is, I believe, consistent with the terminology employed by the Census Bureau. In this post, I used African-American (and African-Canadian) interchangeably with black, in deference to the fact that Black History Month is now, apparently, officially called African American History Month, http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/.
But I quite agree that usage leaves much to be desired. Complicating matters, there are black people who are residents of the US, and therefore counted by the Census, but who are not Americans. As another example, we officially use the word “Asian” in official racial classificatons, though there are of course many people who live in Asia who are not of “Asian” descent.
Dawn
A further complication: what do you mean by “people of African descent”? We all came from Africa, if you trace our family trees back far enough.
Eric de Place
I just mean, “people who would self-identify as black or African American or African Canadian.”
Russ Childers
This is interesting, mans pretty much what I would have expected. It would also be interesting to see the numbers by county.
Russ Childers
That should have read: “and pretty much what I would have expected.”
Bernie Foster
good piece of reach and very interesting.
Marc
I find this article kind of interesting as a Black man who once lived in the Pacific Northwest(Everett,WA) and plans on returning. I’ve been living in the Atlanta area for over a decade. However, I still consider Cascadia home. I still root for the Seattle Mariners(and now the Seattle Sounders FC). This article(in my heart) hits home in many ways.
Nic
@Marc, do you find Washington to be a better place to live, over Atlanta? I am considering relocating from CA to WA, so I would definitely appreciate any pros and cons of living there. Thank you.
Anna
I appreciate your presentation of the data. As a statistician I feel that it is my duty to point out that you did not present statistically significant evidence based on your data to support the heavily implied causal relationship between a high population of blacks in the Northwest and the presence of military bases and/or prisons. In order to back up that opinion using your data you would need to actually test the hypothesis that there is an association between a high population of blacks and the presence of military bases and/or prisons. This would involve further data analysis, consultation with a statistician, and it may in fact not be possible given the small sample size of cities that you are considering. I strongly encourage you to consult a statistician to preview this and similar articles to prevent the inclusion of statistically unsound conclusions in future articles. A general rule of thumb when it comes to analyzing data: Present just the facts.
Pete
Will you be revisiting this topic with recent Census info?
Webster Chang
Hi Pete, most likely not. One reason is that in the decade since, a lot of this kind of data is increasingly accessible. For example, Jay Lee, one of Sightline’s Democracy program researchers who has a keen eye for demographic details, recommends this good mapping app from the Census. Navigate to “race alone” then “Black or African American” to see the same calculation for 2020 at the state, county, and tract level.