Racial geography really interests me. I think too often white people steer clear of neighborhoods where mostly people of color live due to a feeling that those neighborhoods are “unsafe” when really we’re just being accidentally racist. I think it’s important to be aware of where people of different races live so we don’t accidentally prejudice services, investments, or attention to white neighborhoods while the neighborhoods of people of color suffer.
To that end, here is a map I made using 2010 Census block-level data. It shows which racial group made up the plurality of residents of that block (i.e. the biggest group, e.g. 38% – 33% – 25% – 4% even though it’s not a majority). A few notes:
- I want to also include indicators on this map of how big a plurality each block is, as well as the relative population of each block.
- The average population of the census blocks in Providence is about 75 people, the median is about 50.
- Remember that this is from 2010, and we’re almost halfway to the next decennial Census. It’s old data, but it’s precise data.
- Providence has sizable Cape Verdean and West African populations, and I’m not sure how they present in this data.
- Furthermore, there are distinctions between Irish, Italian, and hipster white Providence residents, as well as between Dominican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, and other Hispanic residents. These distinctions are relevant, but not captured in this data. I would love to capture them in future maps.
- Also, race is a social construct. My interest in studying it is mainly to fight racism.
