Arizona Electronic Atlas Learning Module

Arizona's Ethnic Demographics

PURPOSE:
To explore the distribution of various ethnic groups within Arizona and to consider the historical, social and economic factors which contributed to these patterns.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:
Undergraduate students and advanced secondary students; interested members of the general public.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will be able to describe aspects of both the historical and current demographics of African Americans and Chinese Americans in Arizona.

2. Students will be able to use the Arizona Electronic Atlas to make maps

3. Students will be able to use the Zoom In and Pan tools to manipulate maps.

4. Students will be able to use the Show Data tool.

5. Students will be able to perform Advanced Queries.

OUTLINE & SYNOPSIS:

Part I builds a foundation for completing the other two parts, so it should be completed first. Part III can be completed after Part I and without doing Part II.

Part I - An exploration of ethnic demographics at the county level in Arizona. Students will obtain figures on the ethnic composition of various Arizona counties.

Part II - An investigation of African American demographics in Phoenix. Students will compare the present distribution of African Americans in Phoenix to that of the 1920's.

Part III - Tucson's Chinatown, Then and Now. Students will use the Atlas to determine if a Chinese community that existed in the first half of the 20th century still exists.

PART I

1. Open the Arizona Electronic Atlas at http://atlas.library.arizona.edu/

2. Select "Make a Map" at the top left of the screen.

3. Select the "People and Society" map theme.

4. Allow the map to load, then click "Refresh" (this will enlarge the map)

5. Click "Overview Off" to remove the inset map (it will get in the way as you progress).

6. Scroll down the legend on the right hand side of the map, find the "People by County" folder and click on it.

7. Scroll down again and choose "2000 Percent African American by County ". Then click "Redraw Map."

8. Now you should have a map of Arizona showing the percentage of African Americans by county (from the 2000 census)

9. Use the legend on the right hand side of the map to interpret the map. Notice that you can only get a range, not an exact percentage of people.

10. To obtain exact figures click on the "Show Data" button at the top of the map. Then click on Cochise County. This will bring up a screen which looks like this:

11. Note that the percentage of African Americans in Cochise County as of the 2000 Census was 4.2%.

12. Repeat this process for counties of interest. At a minimum, record the data for both Pima and Maricopa Counties in the table below, as it will be needed later.

13. Using the process described in steps 7-11, the same information can be obtained for other ethnic groups in Arizona. Explore the data on one or two other ethnic groups of your choice using the same counties as you did for step 11. Produce a table or summary that describes what you found.

FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION:

• Discuss possible social, historical, and/or economic reasons that may have led to the patterns you found.
• Explore the ethnic demographics of other states and compare them to Arizona.
• Study other aspects of demography, such as age or gender (for example see the gender demographics module )

PART II

1. County level data obtained in Part I provides some general patterns, but does not show differences in ethnic demographics at the local level. This part of the module will allow for a more detailed look at African American demographics by going to the census tract level.

2. Staying in the "People and Society" map theme from above, click on the following choices in the legend: "2000 Census Tracts" and (by clicking on the "People by Census Tract" folder) "2000 Percent African American by Tract."

NOTE: the only other parts of the legend that should be clicked on are "2000 Census Places","2000 County Boundaries", and "Highways").

3. Click "Redraw Map."

4. It is necessary to "Zoom In" in order to see individual census tracts. Make sure the "Zoom In" tool (at the top of the map) is selected by clicking on it.

5. Using the mouse, draw a box around the Phoenix metropolitan area and let go of the mouse. The map will zoom in.

6. Click on the map again to "Zoom In" one more time. At this point you should see individual census tracts which will look square or rectangular in shape.

7. If you look at the legend, you will see what the different colors mean for each tract.

8. If you have zoomed into the central part of Phoenix, you should see three census tracts in orange. Look at the legend, which shows that these census tracts are comprised of between 36.38%-55.57% African Americans.

NOTE: If you don't see these tracts you probably zoomed into a different part of the city. You can move the map around by clicking on the "Pan" tool, and then dragging the map. Do this until you find the 3 census tracts mentioned above.

9. Look back at your data for African Americans in Maricopa County. How much does it differ from these census tracts?

10. In order to get more precise census figures do the following: Click on the "Show Data" tool and then click on one of the census tracts. Find and record both the 2000 % African American by census tract figure and the census tract number. For example, as shown below this is census tract is # 1160, and it is comprised of 54.5% African Americans).

11. Repeat this process for the other two census tracts.

12. These three census tracts, among all those in Phoenix, contain the largest percentage of African Americans. What we will investigate next is whether these census tracts were part of the earlier African American settlements in Phoenix. According to Whitaker (2000) there were two African American neighborhoods in Phoenix in the 1920's:

• between Washington Street, Buckeye Road, Central Avenue and Sixteenth Street
• between Seventh and Seventeenth Avenues, Madison Street and Buckeye Road

13. Are the three census tracts we identified the same area as the 1920's neighborhoods described by Whitaker or have African American settlement patterns changed in the last several decades?

14. To answer the question, we will obtain street maps of the three census tracts, and compare them to the boundaries of the 1920's neighborhoods. It will be necessary to go to the Census Bureau website to get street maps, as the Atlas does not contain them at this time. (NOTE: Open a new window to go the Census website-leave the Atlas window open for later use)

15. Go to http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en . On the left hand side menu click "Datasets"

16. On the right hand side menu click "Detailed Tables"

17. Under Select a Geographic Type choose "Census Tract" (under State).

18. Under Select a State choose "Arizona".

19. Under Select a County choose "Maricopa".

20. Scroll down the list of census tracts and find one of the tracts of interest. Select it and then click "Map It".

21. Print this map, and then continue this process to obtain maps for the other two census tracts.

22. Compare these maps to the boundaries of the 1920's neighborhoods and determine whether these are the same areas.

23. If you would like to see the current demographics of the 1920's neighborhoods you can do so using the Arizona Electronic Atlas.

24. Go back to the map you made in the Arizona Electronic Atlas. Make sure you have only the following items checked on the legend: 2000 Census Places, 2000 County Boundaries, 2000 Census Tracts, and 2000 % African American by Tract (make sure to click Redraw Map if you had to make any changes)

25. Click on Advanced Query under Data Tools on the left of the map screen.

26. Using the dropdown boxes, produce a query that looks like this:

27. Hit Search. This will bring up a screen of search results. Look for the magnifying glass icon and click on it.

28. Now you will have a map of census tract 1140 (will be bright green), which is where the 1920's black neighborhood existed between Seventh and Seventeenth Avenues, Madison Street and Buckeye Road.

29. To find out the ethnic demographics of the tract click on the Show Data button and then click on the map. You will get a screen which will give you the % African American. Based on what you found, does the neighborhood still appear to be a predominantly African American neighborhood?

30. The same procedure can be followed for the other 1920's African American neighborhood bounded by Washington Street, Buckeye Road, Central Avenue and Sixteenth Street. The census tract number is 1143.02.

31. Question for discussion: What factors may account for the shift in population that has occurred?

FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION:

• Further investigate the settlement patterns, history and contributions of African Americans in Phoenix. The following resource may be helpful:
  
  Whitaker, Matthew C. (2000) The Rise of Black Phoenix: African American Migration, Settlement, and Community Development in Maricopa County, Arizona 1868-1930. The Journal of Negro History 85 (3): 197
  
• Investigate the settlement patterns, history, and contributions of African Americans in Tucson. The following resources may be helpful:
  
  African American settlers in Tucson : a report of the African American History Internship Project.
  
  Lawson, Harry. The history of African Americans in Tucson: an Afrocentric perspective
  
  In the Steps of Esteban: Tucson's African American Heritage http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/esteban/
  
  History paints a beautiful picture : a report on A-Mountain neighborhood history for the Casa Alegre mural project.
  
  
• Learn about Jim Crow laws and segregation policies that existed in Arizona and consider how they affected African American demographics. The following resources may be helpful:
  
  Gilt, Mary and John S. Gaff (1980) Joseph H. School Segregation in Arizona. Journal of Arizona History, (Winter 1980), 411-22.
  
  Hardway, Roger D (1986) Unlawful Love: A History of Arizona's Miscegenation Law. Journal of Arizona History 27 (Autumn 1986), 377-390.
  
  Luckingham, Bradford (1994) Minorities in Phoenix: A Profile of Mexican American Chinese American and African American Communities 1860-1992. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
  
  Washington, Booker T (1911) The Race Problem in Arizona. The Independent, 71 (October 1911) 909-13.

• Study the Civil Rights Movement in Arizona

PART III

The website "The Promise of Gold Mountain: Tucson's Chinese Heritage" references the location of a Chinatown in Tucson in the first half of the 20th century. We will use the Atlas to check and see if this chinatown still seems to exist, or whether other groups have moved into the area.

1. If you completed Part I or II of this module, return to your map and click Refresh to clear out all of your previous settings. Then go to step 4. If you did not complete Part I or II click on Make a Map in the Arizona Electronic Atlas (http://atlas.library.arizona.edu), and follow each of the steps below.

2. Choose the People and Society theme by clicking on it.

3. Let the page load, and then click Refresh, which will make the map larger.

4. On the right hand side of the map, click the People by County folder, then click 2000 Percent Asian (make sure that no other boxes are clicked on within the legend).

5. Click Redraw Map (also you might want to turn the overview map off as it will get in the way)

6. Click the Show Data button, then click on Pima County on the map.

7. A screen will pop up which will show the % of Asian Americans in Pima County based on the 2000 census. (write this figure down; we will use it for comparison purposes later on)

8. The Tucson Chinatown was bounded by Main, Meyer, Jackson and Broadway. This area today is census tract 1.

9. To bring up the demographics of census tract one, first click on the People by Census Tract folder, then click 2000 Asian American by tract, then Redraw Map. Click on Advanced Query, and then use the dropdown boxes to produce a query that looks like this:

10. Click Search. This will bring up a results screen with several census tracts all numbered census tract one. Choose the one that says perimeter 0.04136 by clicking on the magnifying glass in front of it.

11. Close out the search results and you will see that the map is now focused on census tract one in Pima County (it will be bright green).

12. Click on the Show Data button and then click on the map of the census tract. This will bring up the exact percentage of Asian Americans in this tract as of the 2000 census.

13. To find out the ethnic composition of this census tract, go back to the map, unclick % Asian American by Tract and instead choose a different group by clicking on it.

14. Click Redraw Map, then use the Show Data tool to bring up the data. Repeat this process for all ethnic groups of interest.

15. Based on what you have found, do you believe that this area could still be considered a "chinatown"?

16. Questions for discussion: What was wrong with using % Asian American to search for the presence of a chinatown? How could the problem be remedied? What percentage would you have accepted to still call the area a chinatown? 50%? 80%? 90%? What factors may have contributed to the demise of the Chinatown?

FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION:

• Research the settlement and history of other chinatowns across the nation
• Research Chinese settlement in Arizona
• Learn about the discrimination faced by the Chinese, especially in the Old West
• Find out about the migration and settlement of other Asians in Tucson or in Arizona
• Identify some of the economic factors which led to Chinese settlement in Tucson

REFERENCES

Whitaker, Matthew C. (2000) The Rise of Black Phoenix: African American Migration, Settlement, and Community Development in Maricopa County, Arizona 1868-1930. The Journal of Negro History 85 (3): 197