Beautiful Ohio
Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream,
While
above the Heavens in their glory gleam,
And the stars on
high
Twinkle in the sky,
Seeming in a paradise of love
divine,
Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine.
Beautiful
Ohio, in dreams again I see
Visions of what used to be.
– Original chorus of the state song (written by Ballard MacDonald in 1918)
Ohio. Southern Ohio to be exact. How has that vision of “paradise” and “love divine” materialized in the state and area I love? I decided to investigate some demographics for my part of Ohio – my hometown of Lucasville and my rural county of Scioto as they pertain to those who dwell here.
Lucasville In 1970
First, I found the following information concerning the racial composition of two townships in the Lucasville area (comprising most of the Valley School District) in the official 1970 Census (the year after I graduated Valley High School and indicative of the makeup during my teenage years).
In 1970 ...
Valley Township had a population of 2,529 and “0 Negro” and “2 Other” race totals.
Jefferson Township had a similar population of 2,400 and “1 Negro” and “5 Other” race totals.
The Scioto County population was listed as “75,545 White” and “1,319 Negro” with a total as 76,951, so I assume “87 Other.” The Portsmouth population counted “26,303 White” and “1,296 Negro,” with a total listed as 27,633, so I assume “34 Other.”
Back then, the area was not diverse. And, the present figures prove the same.
Present Lucasville Population
According to the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Data, Lucasville, Ohio has an estimated 2020 population of 1,503.*
The US Census estimated the 2018 population at 1,484.And, the last official US Census in 2010 recorded the population at 2,757.
According to this, Lucasville's population has decreased by -45.48% since the most recent census. Lucasville actually reached it's highest population of 2,919 in 2012.
* Remember these figures are for the census-designated place (CDP) of Lucasville, Ohio, not for the entire area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.5 square miles of which 2.5 square miles is land and 0.04 square miles, or 1.57%, is water. So, these figures do not represent the total population of Valley and Jefferson townships. I could not find these figures for 2010.
Racial Composition of Lucasville
** According to the most data from the Census of 2000 (Lucasville totaled 1,588 people, 589 households, and 448 families), the racial composition of Lucasville was:
White: 97.1%
Two or more races: 2.14%
Native American and Alaskan Native Alone: 0.25%
Asian Alone : 0.25%
African American Alone: 0.13%
Pacific Islander: 0.06%
Other race: 0.06%
** Figures found from the Census of 2010 seemed to include the population of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, now estimated to be 1,300 inmates. So, I assumed the closest breakdown of racial composition would be the 2000 Census. (I know 2020 figures of over 791 Black or African Americans for the town could not be right.)
In 2018 estimates, there were 77.1 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (1.47k people) in Lucasville than any other race or ethnicity. 1.28% of the people in Lucasville are hispanic (19 people).
As of 2018, data from Census Bureau American Community Survey 5 year estimate, reports 1.35% of Lucasville residents were born outside of the country (20 people), which is lower than the national average of 13.7%. In 2017 the rate was 0.901 meaning that the rate has been increasing.
By Contrast, Scioto Figures
By contrast, here are the 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census ((QuickFacts) for the racial composition of Scioto County, which totaled 75,314 …
White Alone, not Hispanic or Latino 94.4%
Black or African American 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino 1.4%
American Indian or Alaskan Native 0.5 %
Asian Alone 0.4%
Two or More Races 1.9%
Foreign-born persons for Scioto (2015-2019) 0.8%
(As of 2018, 0.932% of Scioto County, Ohio residents – 712 people – were born outside of the United States, which is lower than the national average of 13.7%. In 2017, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Scioto County, Ohio was 0.856%, meaning that the rate has been increasing. Source: Data USA)
In 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics estimated there were 28.4 million foreign-born people in the United States labor force, comprising 17.4 percent of the total force.
The Findings
These findings indicate very little change in racial diversity in my hometown of Lucasville, my county seat of Portsmouth, and my county of Scioto. It is evident that today most of the minority population in the county – approximately 5.6% of the total population – still lives in Portsmouth. And, the net change in the Black population from 1970 to today – 1,319 then and 2,034 now – reveals an increase of only 715 people over approximately 50 years.
It is also true that very few foreign-born people live in Scioto County – less than 1%. I would also assume the majority of them also live within the city limits.
The state, itself, is not that diverse in relation to other areas of the nation. In fact, Ohio ranks within the top 10 states lacking in diversity, according to a study in 2019 by personal finance website WalletHub. According to Statistical Atlas, And, Scioto ranks 39th in the state's 88 counties for lowest non-white population, 12th in percentage of highest White population – a 27.8 percentage point difference from Ohio's diverse race/ethnicity figures in general.
We here in Appalachian Southern Ohio live in a predominately White world that does not resemble at all the diverse makeup of the population of the United States. We are not part of the recent trend that shows an explosion in racial diversity.
Consider that the U.S. Census Bureau has just released (July 1, 2020) its last batch of race-ethnic population estimates in advance of the 2020 census, with data indicating that the national headcount will reveal a more diverse nation than was previously expected.
The new estimates by the bureau show that nearly four of 10 Americans identify with a race or ethnic group other than white, and suggest that the 2010 to 2020 decade will be the first in the nation’s history in which the white population declined in numbers.
As the United States becomes more and more racially and ethnically diverse, Scioto represents a disproportionately White region – not just “a little low” in diversity but six or seven times lower than the mixed racial/ethnic makeup of much of the rest of the country.
How much of this lack of makeup is due to the cultural environment itself? “When someone hears 'Appalachia,' the first thing that pops into their head isn’t an African American face, ever,” said Clark, 20, a student who is studying history at Southeast Community Technical College. “It’s kind of irritating.” Black Appalachians are largely forgotten,
“Usually, that population is forced to feel like a racial minority within a cultural minority, entirely invisible to those outside Appalachia,” said William Turner, research scientist leader at Prairie View A&M University in Texas.
(Emma Ockerman. “African Americans in Appalachia fight to be seen as a part of coal country.” The Washington Post. August 10, 2017.)
This idea of blacks being a minority within a minority is debilitating. The double whammy of being a forgotten population by race and by culture effectively diminishes much-needed growth and opportunity. After all, Appalachian stereotypes typically include “impoverished, lazy, rural, and rough around the edges.” Add to that the negative perceptions of Blacks perpetrated by Whites and their effects on shaping attitudes that breed oppression.
What Should We Make Of a Lack of Diversity?
Granted, the lack of economic opportunity here is undoubtedly to blame for the lack of diversity. We could also blame the lack of investment by the government for the difference in racial distinction. We live in a depressed – some would say “forgotten” region. We all know many of our high school graduates leave home to attend college or to attain work and never return.
However, racism – in all its obvious and hidden forms – has been an ugly reality of our Appalachian history. We must look at the history of prejudice and discrimination here to understand fully how we lack heterogeneity.
A long history of racism exists. Although slavery was not allowed in Ohio as part of the Constitution of 1803, most African Americans were not treated as equals to white people in the new state. Many Ohioans had come from Southern states that allowed slavery and were not willing to grant rights to African Americans. Ohio legislators implemented black laws in 1807 that greatly limited African Americans' rights. One must consider Scioto County was just a river's width from Kentucky – where the history of slavery dates from the earliest permanent European settlements in the state, until the end of the Civil War.
Although segregation was not the law in northern states like Ohio in the 1800s, de facto segregation (in practice but not necessarily ordained by law) was also a reality. In fact, most African Americans in Ohio cities lived in largely segregated neighborhoods. It is evident much of this segregation remains.
And, still, few Black residents or any people of color are represented in the highest ranks of local political leadership. Some residents of color say they face intolerant attitudes from public officials.
Consider that a 2017 article in The Columbus Dispatch reported on the lack of diverse teachers in Ohio schools. Then, around 93 percent of Ohio’s teachers were white, 4 percent were black, 0.7 percent were Hispanic, 0.4 percent were Asian and 0.1 percent identified as multiracial. Around 61.5 percent of Ohio’s Black teachers were found in 10 school districts: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron, East Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Trotwood-Madison (in suburban Dayton) and Shaker Heights (in suburban Cleveland).
As White privilege lingers in the 21st century, institutional and structural racism run deep. Aversive racism – bias without intent as opposed to overt racism – runs the deepest: people regard themselves as non-prejudice but at the same time possess conflicting, often non-conscious, negative feelings and beliefs about Blacks. Because aversively racist people endorse egalitarian values, their biases do not manifest in situations where there are clear social norms of right and wrong.
Whites often say they are “not racists.” The term “non-racist” has really historically been a term of denial. Meaning, it’s someone who is expressing racist ideas, or supporting racist policies, and when charged with being racist, they typically say, “No, I’m not racist.”
Consider how simply saying I'm not doing “that” does not evoke great change. Being non-racist is essentially passive in nature.
But as Ibram X. Kendi, American author and director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, reminds us, we should be “anti-racist.” In Kendi’s view, “there is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.’” That racism does not begin with the prejudice of individuals but with the policies of political and economic power. All policies, even the most trivial, are either racist or anti-racist, Kendi argues – they support equity or they don’t.
“Anti-racist” has a very clear conception of what it is – meaning if racist ideas suggest racial hierarchy, anti-racist ideas suggest racial equality. And if racist policies lead to racial inequity, anti-racist policy leads to racial equity.”
To me, that critical distinction has the power not only to enforce racial equality but also to provide much-needed change in the diversity of a population. Some would say, “We are what we are,” and they would not question the makeup of the population. I would answer, “We have become what we have become.” Until we actively effect changes that sustain the growth of minorities and racial diversity becomes a reality, a stagnated population here in Southern Ohio will struggle to survive.
“We change, and we’re deeply complex, and our definitions of ‘racist’ and ‘anti-racist’ must reflect that,” he told me. Those who aspire to anti-racism will, when accused of racism, seriously consider the charge and take corrective action. They will not claim to lack any racist bones. “The heartbeat of racism is denial,” he writes in his new book. “The heartbeat of antiracism is confession. ... Only racists shy away from the R-word.”
(David Montgomery. “The Anti-Racist Revelations of Ibram X. Kendi.” The Washington Post Magazine. October 14, 2019.)
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