Eth 125 - Final Paper

Race and Your Community

xxxxx

ETH 125

October 24, 2010

Rene Majors

Race and Your Community

My name is xxxxxx. I am writing this paper not only because it is my final project but because it gives a first-person account to the issues and the face of my community. In this paper, I will discuss my local government, how the media portrays my race and neighborhood, the composition of the people of my community and the issues my race and community deal with every day.

I have lived in Florida for a . Over that time, I have noticed the makeup of my community, how it is changing and the racial attitudes of the people. The zip code I live in is xxxx. The xxxxx area is a large and still developing area. I live in the southwest region of Jacksonville that is commonly referred to as the Westside. The Westside of xxxxxx encompasses many neighborhoods such as xxxxx (where the naval base is located), xxxx, xxxx, xxxx and my neighborhood, Marietta.

According to the 2000 Census Demographic Profile, my area has 15,191 Whites, 1,803 African American, 510 Hispanics, and 464 Asians. Today those numbers are very much off. I do not have the exact numbers but I can provide an example. During June 2009, I remember visiting the local grocery store around a busy time of the day. African Americans made up only 10% of the customers in the store. In this case, African Americans account for 40% of the shoppers at my particular Publix Supermarket. I think the rise in African Americans and other minorities in my zip code is because of the public transportation system, the moderately priced new homes being built, and more people pushing past the notion of residential segregation.

Being an African American woman I glad that this area is becoming less segregated but fearful that the growing numbers of African Americans will bring negative influences to my community.

In my neighborhood, I am an African American woman who is a...