Too white?
It was good to read a story Thursday in the Mon Valley 蘑菇视频 about a group of local leaders coming together to talk about the type of changes they’d like to see happen in Westmoreland County over the next 10 years.
It’s always great for people to get together and talk about the various problems and challenges facing local residents. Good ideas and proposals seem to gush forth from these meetings, and this session was no different as a number of interesting topics were discussed.
One problem that caught up our attention was the lack of diversity in the area. Monessen Councilman Ed Lea said he thinks it’s hurting the region.
“You don’t see a lot of minorities in jobs in the Valley,” Lea said. “In the whole region, I’m the only person of color on a council.”
Lea certainly has a point. A study by Brookings Institution report back in 2010 found that of the 100 largest metro areas in the United States, the Greater Pittsburgh Region ranked as having the second smallest share of blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Only the Scranton-Wilkes Barre region of northeastern Pennsylvania was whiter than we were.
Locally, Westmoreland County’s white population is tops at 96.5 percent followed by Washington County at 95.2 percent, Greene County at 94.6 percent and Fayette County at 93 percent. Overall, those numbers lag considerably behind Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. Pennsylvania’s white population is at 81 percent, while the entire country has a white population of 73 percent.
It’s also quite possible that the lack of minorities has contributed to the population decline which all four counties are experiencing.
Consider the following:
Fayette County’s population topped out at 200,999 and dropped to an estimated 133,628 by 2015. Since 1980, the county has seen its population drop by 25,789, a 16 percent decrease.
Westmoreland County’s population topped out at 392,294 in 1990 and dropped to an estimated 357,956 by 2015. That’s a population decline of 34,338 or almost 10 percent since 1990.
Washington County has seen its population drop from an all-time high of 217,271 in 1960 to an estimated 208,261 in 2015.That’s a population decline of 9,010 or approximately 4 percent.
Greene County has seen its population decline from a highwater mark of 44,671 in 1940 to an estimated 37,519 in 2015. After four decades of losing people, its population rebounded to 44,164 in 1990. But since then the county has had a population loss of 7,645 or almost 20 percent.
All of this has taken place while the population has grown rapidly in both Pennsylvania and across the country, thanks mainly to an influx of minorities, especially Hispanics. Pennsylvania’s population picked up almost a third from 9,900,180 in 1940 to 12,784,227 in 2010, while the population of the United States has nearly doubled from 151,325,798 in 1950 to 323,127,513 by 2010.
It’s clear that all four counties have to do a better job of attracting minorities, or their populations will continue to decline.
It’s not something you can snap your fingers and accomplish, but it’s not something that happens by accident either. It starts with each and everyone of us making newcomers, especially those of different colors and nationalities, feel welcome here.
Racial diversity isn’t just a slogan for the politically correct. It’s an important asset in today’s world. And unless this area becomes more racially diverse it’s population decline will likely continue, meaning fewer economic opportunities for everyone.