The piano is an eloquent instrument of music that makes sounds come together in unison to create a melodic accompaniment. Caucasians and African-Americans in the metro area are the keys and if one disappears, it is then impossible for a masterpiece to be created.
The term white flight was coined after World-War II when African-Americans began to try to establish homes in America’s cities. Many of these men and women began to enter into the middle class. Racism led whites to attempt to force blacks out and eventually Caucasian Americans moved to the suburbs. This then caused races to form racially homogenous communities.
In the city of Jackson today, there are exactly 173,500 people while the entire metro area is comprised of 535,500 people. Since 1980, the city has dropped from 56 percent of the metro to less than 32 percent of the metro. That is a loss of exactly four people a day for 20 years total in Jackson. The middle class African-American and Caucasian American populations are leaving the area.
Former City Councilman Ben Allen is very optimistic about the future of Jackson, but knows a lot of hard work needs to be done to get the city back to where it once was.
“The city needs to be more aggressive in its acts, said Allen. “We have got to discover who we are and focus in on that, and not who we are not.”
Allen also feels that the citizens of Jackson need to have more confidence in the decisions that are being made for the betterment of the metro area.
“The public needs to have confidence in our school systems as well; a 30-year-old couple approached me who just moved here wanting to know where their four- and eight-year-old could attend school. We are surrounded by some level five schools all through the metro area so we need to support them, said Allen.”
According to cnnmoney.com, Jackson is the 11th ranked metro area city to launch a business based on the industries that dominate Jackson such as government, healthcare, and education.
Jeff Good, owner of Bravo’s, Broadstreet, and Sal and Mookies, can relate to starting his businesses and receiving the warmth and loyalty from customers from all parts of the metro area.
“Of course we are disappointed that we are losing population black and white, but we are here for everyone. Our business establishments my partner and I have are tireless lovers of our city, and we are into building our communities, said Good.”
The rebuilding of downtown Jackson has sparked the most attention in reasoning for flight.
“People coming back to the metro area have everything to do with the revitalization of downtown Jackson, said Allen. “The youth like to live in an urban environment that provides entertainment and this is why downtown needs to be priority.”
City Councilman Tony Yarber gave numerous reasons for flight and the decline in population in Jackson. “The perception of education and public safety shuns people away from the city. The city has not done a good job in recruiting middle class blacks and whites. The good thing is that we have shined the light on our short comings, and we are now trying to work on them for the betterment of our city.”
According to realestatemsn.com, Jackson ranks eighth in 10 of America’s top 10 shrinking cities. The website attributes professional and service professions to be the strongest, but then goes on to say that one in five Mississippians live below the poverty line.
Crime, education and leadership have been attributed to the reasons that Mississippi is not what it used to be, but plans are on the way for the metro area. Instead of the “South rising again,” some say the focus should be placed more on the advancement of Jackson and the metro area as a whole.
A melody is nothing without the accompaniment of the many keys it takes to produce a song of beauty. African-Americans and Caucasian Americans are needed to create harmonies that will ring throughout Jackson and the entire state.
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