The reason I’m asking this is because this question got asked on another site and the answer given was “systemic racism”. But while I understand on the surface what systemic racism is, I’m not clear on the mechanics of how systemic racism as a concept is responsible for the correlation between the current racial demographics of cities like Detroit and Baltimore and their widespread poverty.

In other words, I’m imagining that racism, both historical and current is only part of the reason why America’s poorest cities also tend to be majority black. What are the other factors at play? Why don’t these cities escape the cycle of poverty?

Yes, I know I can “Google it”. That’s not the point. I’m asking those of you are knowledgeable in this subject to explain what you know. I’m admitting that I don’t know much about this.

Topics: cities, America, racism, urban living, demographics, poverty