Diversity now the norm in area
Diversity now the norm in area
According to census, racial segregation is fading in Daytons suburbs.
Dayton Daily News
By Randy Tucker
December 16, 2010
ENGLEWOOD Drop in at the Kleptz YMCA in Englewood, and its clear that racial segregation is fading in the Dayton metropolitan area.
Officials at the Y say theyve attracted more racial and ethnic minority members than ever before as more middle-class blacks, Hispanics and others move into the predominantly white suburb.
Dieter Smiley, 18, and Aaron Montgomery, 19, are both black, Y members and prime examples of the population shifts that have increased diversity in the near-Dayton suburbs.
Their parents moved them to the area when they were in grade school. Smiley grew up in Englewood, while Montgomery was brought up in Huber Heights.
I was in the sixth grade when I came here, and there were only a handful of black kids at the school, said Smiley, referring to Northmoor Elementary. Now, you go to the high school (Northmont), and at least a third of the kids are nonwhite. Its a big difference.
That jibes with the results of a new U.S. Census Bureau survey of 10 million Americans that shows the United States has become significantly less polarized racially.
Smiley and Montgomery still live with their parents but are now attending college. Smiley is studying engineering at Ohio State, and Montgomery is a business major at Miami University.
Both say their neighborhoods have become more of a melting pot for people from different backgrounds.
The community today is pretty diverse, Montgomery said. Looking down the line, I want my kids to grow up in a neighborhood like this where they can see different people and learn about different cultures.
While the nation as a whole is making progress toward a more color-blind society, the census survey also shows that segregation remains the norm in many parts of the country.