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Assessment of Demographic situation in the city of Denver

   The main intention of this research project is to identify and study the interaction between the minorities living in Denver. This paper is intended to look into demographic situation in the city and its historical background.

   In the year 1864, Colonel John Chivington led a group of Colorado volunteer militia against a peaceful Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indian camp located west of Denver. Using both cavalry and cannon, they effectively wiped out this camp, killing an estimated 150 men, women, and children. History has recorded many of the very gruesome details of torture and corpse disfigurement committed and bragged about by the militia. This incident, now known as The Sand Creek Massacre, was widely celebrated in Denver as a major victory in the Indian wars (Boettcher, 1996).

   In the year 1914, the governor of Colorado sent Colorado militia to obliterate a coalmine workers camp located south of Pueblo Colorado near a coalmine owned by J. D. Rockefeller. Attacking with machine guns and an armored car, the militia killed twenty people, including twelve women and children. The Denver newspapers reported this as a victory over immigrant miners, who were being completely unreasonable in their demands against an American mining company. It is now known nationally as the Ludlow Massacre (The Ludlow Massacre, 2005).

   Clarence Morley, a high-ranking Ku Klux Klan officer, was elected governor of Colorado in 1925. Ben Stapleton was elected Mayor of Denver in 1923 with the help of the Ku Klux Klan and vowed “I will work with the Klan and for the Klan in the coming election heart and soul, and if I’m reelected, I will give the Klan the kind of administration it wants.” It is estimated that over 10% of the population of Denver during the years 1923 to 1931 were members of the Klan (Gonzoles, 1999).

   During World War 2, Colorado was host to one of the detention camps housing Japanese immigrants as well as American citizens of Japanese descent who were forcibly removed from the West coast of the United States. Newspaper reports from this time show many Denver citizens fully approved of this illegal incarceration (Japanese Internment, 2005)..

   Against this troubling backdrop are some promising statistics. Out of the past 22 years, Denver has had a minority group Mayor for twenty of those years. Racial and ethnic diversity has increased dramatically in the Denver area over the past decade. From 1990 to the year 2000, the population of minority group members increased approximately 30%. Along with this increase, the percentage of population achieving higher education status has increased as well, to the point where Denver now ranks number six among cities whose residents hold a bachelor’s degree (Census 2000).

   From a personal standpoint, I can state that minority issues do not have a very direct effect on me. As a member of the majority group, my interactions with minority group members are somewhat limited. Although there are a few Asian families living in my neighborhood, they tend to keep to themselves and so interactions are limited to a quick “Hi”, or wave. Not being exposed to many minority group members has the affect of desensitizing me to many racial issues. I, like many members of the majority group may feel that I am completely fair in all of my thoughts and actions regarding racial interactions. But the fact that we so seldom have a need to place this into practice, may show that there are racial issues that we simply have not recognized. The most directly visible effect race relations has on me, is in the voting booth. That is, should I vote for or against minority issues? What are the costs? What are the benefits? I may read a newspaper story regarding a racial issue, and think that isn’t fair, or there should be a law, but as it doesn’t really affect me, that’s as far as it goes. However, ignoring racial issues does not a great city make.

   If I look at my local community, I can see that the vast majority of members are just like me. That is white and middle class. I can see that our elected community leaders treat my group very well. Minority group members in some respects fair less well. Minorities lag in per capita income with African Americans making 56% of whites, and Hispanics fairing even less well at only 40% (Census 2000). Per capita income figures may skew family incomes, as minorities generally have larger families than majority groups, but these figures still show a vast disparity amongst the groups. One reason for this is job discrimination. According to today’s Denver post, while the Denver Fire Department in the past six years has hired 272 firefighters, including many minorities, no African Americans were hired. African Americans currently are represented at less than half their population percentage in the city (Washington, 2005).

   Relations amongst community members are generally good. Whites treat whites well and they generally treat minorities well too. An exception is that because this is generally a very politically conservative area, providing any type of government financial assistance to minorities is generally frowned upon. Programs such as affirmative action, extra financial assistance for minority schools, and public urban renewal projects generally don’t do well in the voting booth. Reverse discrimination issues occasionally come up, with white males stating they are placed at a disadvantage by the preferences given to minorities.

   As a member of the majority group, I do have an advantage in that most things in my community are geared to me. Local media, newspapers, TV, radio are all primarily directed to the white middle class. Most textbooks, work manuals etc. are addressed to a white middle class audience. Or someone who has the education of that group.

   Throughout the metropolitan area, elected community leaders tend to represent majority voters in their community. So where whites congregate we tend to elect white leaders. Where minorities congregate, we tend to elect minority leaders, be they African-American, Hispanic, Asian, etc. This tends to concentrate minority leaders in certain parts of the metropolitan area, and to quite an extent limits their political power. In many instances, this leads to minority needs being overshadowed by majority desires.

   While I can present my thoughts on race relations in Denver, I certainly can’t speak as one who has a great deal of experience in these matters. To provide a balanced view, and another perspective, I have enlisted the aid of local business owner, and minority group member, Gloria Gonzales. Ms. Gonzalez has been a member of the Denver community for over fifteen years and has been active in several community organizations during that time. She is an outspoken proponent of racial equality and civil rights and was very receptive to participating in this project.

   There are a number of issues that are very important to minority group members. Many of these tend not to be apparent to majority group members.

   Children come first among the concerns of minority groups. Knowing that education is key to well paying jobs and successful assimilation into society, minorities are very distressed at the 42% high school graduation rate for minority students in Denver schools. This compares to white students who graduate at a rate of 68% (Espinoza, 2005). Inner city schools find themselves at a funding disadvantage compared to suburban schools. Colorado schools are funded through local property taxes, and of course expensive property in the suburbs means more money for schools, while lower cost homes in the inner city areas leads to less school funding. High dropout rates lead to the next issue concerning children, that of drugs and gangs. Poor neighborhoods mean fewer jobs and high school dropouts only qualified for lower paying jobs. The allure of easy money in the drug trade leads to gang membership, criminal records, and a lower quality lifestyle (Gonzales, 2005).

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