No Slowdown of Out-Migration of Black Residents from Chicago

"Chicago saw its population decline in 2018, the fourth year in a row. Since 2015, almost 50,000 black residents have left," writes Julie Bosman. She explores the exodus of African-Americans from Chicago through the experience of three generations of the White family.

The Whites have owned a house on the city’s West Side since the 1960s, but some family members have stayed while others have moved to the suburbs or cities far from Chicago.

For the older members of the White family, leaving Chicago was not their first choice. Others saw educational and economic opportunities outside of the city, including in places such as Houston. They say that they do not regret leaving and do not anticipate ever returning.

"[Blacks] have been driven out of the city by segregation, gun violence, discriminatory policing, racial disparities in employment, the uneven quality of public schools and frustration at life in neighborhoods whose once-humming commercial districts have gone quiet, as well as more universal urban complaints like rising rents and taxes," says Bosman.