MIXIS IN THE VILLAGE: Cincinnati in 2060: 1 in 7 of us will be Biracial By Mark Curnutte EAST PRICE HILL – Lydia Perez is 2 years old, with the curly black hair and dark eyes of her fathers Guatemalan heritage. Her complexion is fairer than his, more like that of her white mother, a woman of Appalachian descent who grew up in Lower Price Hill. Lydia is 1 of 50 people now counted as bi-racial in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. But by the time shes in her late 40s, in 2060, 1 in 7 people in our region will claim two or more races. This is your grandchilds Cincinnati: A place where a quarter of the people speak Spanish; where thousands more Latin Americans, East Africans, Asians and others live and work; and where increasing diversity is having profound influence on our families, schools, workplaces and politics. The changes are part of dramatic shifts projected across Americas heartland in the next 50 years. A new diversity index by USA Today suggests that many of our communities will look less like the Cincinnati we know today and more like multi-ethnic Austin, Texas, or suburban Washington, D.C. In many of our neighborhoods, chances will be 50/50 that the next person your child or grandchild meets in 2060 will be of a different race or ethnic background. In our eight closest-in counties, about one-third of us will be non-white, compared to 18 percent in 2010. The changes will not be universal, however. Hamilton County will have the most African-Americans. Butler County will have the heaviest concentration of Hispanics. And Warren County will be home to a large population of Asians. Clermont, Boone and Campbell counties, meanwhile, likely will remain heavily white. And Dearborn County will the whitest of all – a projected 96 percent. How we adapt to the coming changes will determine whether our communities become more diverse – or more intensely segregated. The challenge will be for some people to get over their fears and engage the new population, said David Prytherch, associate professor of geography at Miami University, who teaches courses in urban diversity. *Photos and video by Cara Owsley * see link for full story: cincinnati/longform/news/2014/10/21/cincinnati-will-like/17652185/
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:53:31 +0000
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