Black
History
Month february
T
o commemorate and celebrate the
18
and July 1, 2008 (16,400).
contributions to our nation made by Number of states with an estimated Among counties with total populations
people of African descent, American black population on July 1, 2008, of at le- of at least 10,000, Claiborne County, Miss.,
historian Carter G. Woodson established ast 1 million. New York, with 3.5 million, had the largest percent of population that
Black History Week. The first celebration led the way. The other 17 states on the list was black (84.4 percent). Claiborne led 77
occurred on Feb. 12, 1926. For many ye- were Alabama, California, Florida, Geor- majority-black counties or equivalents, all
ars, the second week of February was set gia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michi- of which were in the South. Source: Popu-
aside for this celebration to coincide with gan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Caro- lation estimates
the birthdays of abolitionist/editor Frede- lina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
rick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
30%
1976, as part of the nation’s bicentennial,
the week was expanded into Black His-
38%
The proportion of the black population
tory Month. Each year, U.S. presidents younger than 18 as of July 1, 2008. At the
proclaim February as National African- Percentage of Mississippi’s population other end of the spectrum, 8 percent of the
American History Month. that was black in 2008, highest of any black population was 65 and older.
state. Blacks also made up more than a Note: Unless otherwise noted, the es-
quarter of the population in Louisiana in timates in this section refer to the popu-
2008 (32 percent), Georgia (31 percent), lation that was either single-race black or
Maryland (30 percent), South Carolina black in combination with one or more
(29 percent) and Alabama (27 percent). other races.
They comprise 56 percent of the popula-
tion in the District of Columbia.
67,000
The increase in Georgia’s black popu-
lation between July 1, 2007, and July 1,
2008, which led all states. Texas (64,000),
North Carolina (45,000) and Florida
(41,000) also recorded large increases.
24
Number of states or equivalents in
Population
which blacks were the largest minority
41.1 million
group in 2008. These included Alabama,
Arkansas, Delaware, District of Colum-
As of July 1, 2008, the estimated po- bia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
pulation of black residents in the Uni- Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan,
ted States, including those of more than Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New
Serving Our Nation
one race. They made up 13.5 percent of York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
2.3 million
the total U.S. population. This figure re- South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West
presents an increase of more than a half- Virginia and Wisconsin. (Note: Minorities Number of single-race black military
million residents from one year earlier. are part of a group other than single-race veterans in the United States in 2008.
non-Hispanic white.) More military veterans are black than any
65.7 million
other minority group.
1.4 million
The projected black population of the
Education
United States (including those of more The number of blacks in Cook Coun-
83%
than one race) for July 1, 2050. On that ty, Ill., as of July 1, 2008, which led the
date, according to the projection, blacks nation’s counties in the number of people Among blacks 25 and older, the pro-
would constitute 15 percent of the nation’s of this racial category. Orleans Parish, La., portion who had at least a high school di-
total population. Source: Population pro- had the largest numerical increase in the ploma in 2008.
jections black population between July 1, 2007,
The Black E.O.E. Journal
www.blackeoejournal.com 77
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